Despite a poor forecast, I was pretty confident of getting plenty done this weekend and so it proved but it wasn't quite as planned. Friday looked like it would be dire so Peter and I stuck to a day skiing the lifts but as it turned out the sun was shining most of the day and we maybe could have climbed. The skiing was ok, but with it having rained up to 2500 metres (!) you needed to go high and have a bit of local knowledge to find any good snow but we managed it, skiing off the Herse lift at Grand Montets.
Peter's skis after going on a little run of their own!!!
Saturday was also forecast as poor so Tom and I headed over to Courmayeur for some more skiing. Courmayeur is usually amazing and it delivered yet again! We skiied a couple of tree lines in the morning then in the afternoon we headed up the Arp and the Youla and were rewarded with some amazing skiing and incredible views. It was a couple of very tired but happy skiers who finally got back to the car as night fell.
Watch your pole straps don't get caught in your ABS handle....
Top the Arp
Another gentle run from TomFinally, we decided to give climbing a go on sunday. We had initially hoped to head to the back of the Argentiere basin for a look at the Charlet Ghilini, but the sheer amount of snow that had fallen soon put us off that idea. Looking for something a bit closer we went to have a look at the routes on the Grand Montets ridge but they all looked pretty buried under snow and uninviting. We couldn't help noticing how good the snow in the Chevalier couloir looked though... However, after plodding up to the couloir for 10 minutes or so, we began to have our doubts about snow stability, and being armed only with climbing kit and no avalanche gear besides transceivers we backed off.
It's a "Non" to the Chevalier
I think that when the weather settles down some of the big ski lines may be in excellent condition. Things like the Chevalier, Col des Cristaux etc. are usually mid to late winter lines but I think they could be good soon. Here's hoping!
Having finally accepted that we wouldn't be getting any alpine routes done this weekend we settled for some dry tooling at Le Fayet, which was as savage as ever.
Finally, I have been experimenting more with my headcam so here is my first go at a skiing video, plus a bit of cheeky dry tooling thrown in for good measure at the end.