Sylvie Phobie, Barberine

The last few days have seen the foehn wind blow into Chamonix and as ever it's brought humid, warm and unsettled weather with it. It also seems to affect peoples' mindset and the locals in the Valley will tell you that everyone goes a bit loopy when the foehn arrives. 

Keen to get out in the hills without doing anything loopy, Phil and I decided on a day climbing at Barberine. I'd almost written off rock climbing to a decent level this summer due to a shoulder injury, but Barberine is slabby and I figured it would be a good place to see just what I can and can't do right now. The good news is that slabs seem fine and steep pulls are not entirely impossible if at the right angle, so maybe I could be out on the rock after all this summer and not just pottering around on alpine scrambles.

We decided to do "Sylphie Phobie", on the far left of the crag and shot up the lower pitches without incident to reach the midway ledge. By this stage we were both suffering with our feet (it was SO hot!) and general lethargy, possibly due to the humidity but more likely explained by the thought of a beer on the balcony at home, so after a very enjoyable lunch on the comfortable ledge we'd reached, we decided that we'd had enough for the day and headed down. 

Phil enjoying the shade after some sweaty slab climbing.

Wrestling with the Coke/Orangina dilemma.

Conditions right now are really tough to read so Phil and I are super keen on a mission for the weekend but struggling to figure out the best option. We've got ideas in Cham, the Ecrins, Italy and Zermatt so we could end up anywhere! Psyche is high though so whether we're wearing ski or rock boots, I'll hopefully have a good tale to tell by Monday!

Lyngen report and Chamonix conditions

I'm now back in Cham after an epic trip to Lyngen and with kit sorted and laundry done, I've finally got round to sorting through photos so here are some of my favourites.

The bare essentials!

Heading for the Tomas Couloir on an atmospheric day.

Ellensdalstinden W Couloir.

Skin up, ski down.

On top of Sultinden.

Phil adding his signature next to mine.

From a strong field, this was probably the best panoramic I got on the trip. If you click on the photo you can just about make out some reindeer on the shore in the bottom left.

Drying cod heads. The smell was even worse than I imagined it would be when I walked up to them.

Matt and Phil putting the World to rights over lunch.

My first moose spotting!

Phil on our last day.

Say no more.

 Overall I felt that Lyngen was mind blowing. It lived up to and surpassed any expectations I had and the highest praise I can give it is that I'd go back in a flash. I should admit here however that we got exceptional conditions in terms of snow and weather and just about everyone said that we had hit the best fortnight of the season. I guess the sun shines on the righteous!

I'm now back in Cham and things look pretty typical for May - not much sun, plenty of rain but some really nice quiet days when you do get out in the hills. People are still skiing up high and I might get out on the planks over the next month but I think climbing season is getting underway. I'll report on here once conditions allow me to get into the hills.

More Lyngen

When I get back to Cham I'm going to put a small trip report on about Lyngen, but suffice to say that it is still not rubbish!

We seem to have encountered exceptional conditions for this time of year and we're skiing perfect powder every day, plus we're now at the Magic Mountain Lodge in Lyngseidet, being plied with superb food and wine, so life is pretty rosy.

Here's some photos - 

First few days in Lyngen

It's not rubbish!

A frantic few weeks.

Apologies for the lack of blog activity recently, I've had a whirlwind few weeks and have had pretty minimal mountain days in amongst work, weddings and some quality leisure time!

I'm now in the Lyngen Alps of northern Norway, with 8 days of (hopefully) superb touring ahead of me so I'll try to put some photos up on here when time allows.

In the meantime, here's a few shots from a random but extremely enjoyable couple of weeks!

Bridgnorth, Shropshire. A lovely place but quite a contrast to...

...Monaco! There's something so satisfying about eating cheap pizzas on the harbour front, next to 100 million Euro boats.

A quick run in one of the less salubrious parts of Valencia, Spain. 

Lyngen. We've only done a quick half day tour so far but the hype seems well worth it. Photo Phil Ebert.

I'll be back to Cham by the second week of May so stay tuned for updates on how things are shaping up for summer.

Grand Montets Powder

Having been away from Cham for a week or so, I got back to some pretty poor weather over the first part of the weekend. However, the sun was supposed to be out on Sunday morning so Tom, Sophie, Sharon and I headed up to Grand Montets and were rewarded with some superb powder.

The snow had fallen on a really icy layer so you couldn't really rip it but after a long spell of warm weather it felt great to ski some cold stuff.

Sharon skiing off the top bin.

Sophie under the crevasses on the front face.

Cold smoke!

A final run down the Lavancher bowl.

As ever at GM, things got tracked out pretty quickly so we were home by 1. The weather is now back to grim but it will hopefully be tanking down with snow at altitude! 

Verbier

The snow forecast to arrive at high altitude earlier this week never really materialised, despite heavy rain down in the Valley, so after considering various adventurous options, Matt, Phil, Nora, Robin and I opted just to go to Verbier and ski the amazing lift system over there.

The terrain in Verbier is absolutely incredible and although the snow wasn't up to much, we had a brilliant day skiing everything from steep couloirs to mushy blue runs in everything from powder to crust and deep slush. I only seem to go to Verbier early and late in the season but having found yet more terrain over there, I think a powder weekend next January could be in order - it really is a great place to ski in just about any conditions.

Amazing scenery looking towards the Matterhorn from the top of Mont Fort.

Nora loving the low angled powder!

Nora styling it.

Matt jibbing on the way back to the Siviez lift.

Weird snow crevasses above the Dam.

Industrial skiing!

Phil was sure he knew where he was going.

Matt too.

An athlete's lunch.

The team under Mont Gele.

Phil and Robin with the Bec de Rosses behind.

Style personified from Phil on the airbag.

Aiguille Pourrie E Face

With the chance to get out for a morning, I was looking for something steep-ish, with quick access and (hopefully) decent snow. The E Face of the Aiguille Pourrie, accessed from the Cornu chairlift at Brevent, fit the bill so I teamed up with British guide Robin Beadle for a quick hit. 

The access from the Brevent lift system couldn't be easier but conditions for skinning aren't great so we bootpacked (instead of skinning) to the Col de la Gliere and onto the summit of the Pourrie. We had originally planned to go to the Col and just see what looked good but once we saw an American guide and his client skiing the Pourrie in good spring snow, our minds were made up.

American guide and client (high on the slope on the right) kindly checking whether the snow was any good. Photo Robin Beadle.

The skiing was excellent and the snow forgiving enough to make it all feel pretty steady but really fun. Having got down with time to spare, we skinned back up for another lap and the snow was even better for having had a further hour of sun on it.

Me heading out onto the better snow. Photo Robin Beadle.

First turn - the snow was awesome! Photo Robin Beadle.

Me heading in for a second lap. Photo Robin Beadle.

Robin at the bottom of the face.

Once done we skied out on what was left of the Lachenal piste and headed home via some extremely slushy blue runs and the Brevent lifts. An awesome half day hit!