Ski Touring the Haute Route in the French Alps
RAMSAY THOMAS. He said: "Come ski the Haute Route with the finest friends you've never met." He said: "Ski Here Now." He said: "The turn you just made is the best turn you have ever made." He said: "The turn you are about to make is the best turn you will ever make." He said: "I no longer try to shape the trip; I now permit the trip to shape me." He said: "This is not a guided trip per se. Each of you will be part of the decision making process and be responsible for your selves. Some of you may have less experience than others and that's fine. I've guided the Haute route before, I am familiar with it and ready to manage risk, find the way in a white out, carry out a rescue if needed and so forth. But I won't wipe your ass or carry your pack. My intention is to have fun with my friends and do some great skiing."
The plan was simple: invite a bunch of friends to ski Haute Route. Kind of guided, kind of not. A variety of high quality people most of whom have never met, but who should enjoy each other. Never say "no". Stay loose. See what happens.
My own journey began with the usual pre-trip frenzy, a visit to the wonderful-not JFK airport, and a quick ride to Geneva on a Air Suisse jet. A few hours later found me checking into an attic room at the Hotel Louvre in mythical Chamonix, with Mont Blanc towering overhead, croissants at every corner, and narrow twisting lanes with few cars. I pulled my rusty French out from high-school days, but soon found the residents very friendly, and about 20% Brits anyway.
After a little wandering of the streets and a jet-lagged, sleepless night, we hopped on the Aiguille du Midi Telepherique and gained a quick 10,000 feet for the classic run down the Vallee Blanche. Bluebird skies and 18" of fresh pow-pow greeted us after a week of bad weather in the area. Just a little shakedown run to check out the new gear.
This also gave us the first chance to meet our new best friends. Everything "seemed" under control, but...
Since there were a fair handful of guide-candidates in the group, we would break into smaller groups each day and have some guide training, while having fun with our friends. The first test was short-roping down the ridge from the Aiguille du Midi, which went smoothly. In this photo, Ramsay, as head guide, is helping each of us put our skis on. Man, the guy never quits.
Here’s Heather McCoy, who always seems to have a big smile on her face (you’ll found out why, later).
And Paul Gitterman, who freed his heels and freed his mind – and rips like a fiend.
Here, John Bicknell shows his experience as a guide - checking Bob's beacon while carrying Chip in his Black Diamond Snow Pack.
Fresh powder and great scenery. Short sections of great turns were separated by long traverses to avoid crevasses on the glacier.
Ramsay demonstrates his best short radius turn technique… Actually, the powder stiffened up quickly in the high altitude sun, and we seek and find steeper terrain to compensate.
After lunch at a convenient hut, we head down toward the Mer de Glace. Traffic from the hut funnels into limited terrain, forcing us to chew the used. Ah, should have gotten up earlier…
Finally on the almost flat Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice), the crew admires the icefall just upcanyon.
Sliding casually downcanyon, we stop at an ice cave for a little frolicking. Here, Heather is being lowered most of the way to the bottom of a killer little ice grotto.
The Mer de Glace leads to a short telepherique off the glacier, then to the Montenvers train, that descends the final 3000 feet back to Chamonix. Everyone’s real excited to be heading back into town.
(Here's a really cool 3-D fly-by of Mont Blanc, if you have a decent connection. Clic Here)
Day 1 found us up early and waiting in line to get the first tram at the Grand Motet ski area. OK, 3rd tram, still too early for Chip here.
Day One was going to be a rough day.
Cafe and croissants in Cham, walk to the telepherique. Take two trams up a couple thousand feet, ski down a couple thousand feet, cross a glacier, then a really tough 300 foot climb to the hut. More cafe, maybe some pastries, a little beacon practice... Yeah, good to start with a rough day.
Here's John B, Paul and Chip hanging at the top of the Montet..
The Montet tops out up close to the famous North Face of the Dru. Amazing! Mont Blanc standing guard in the background.
Surprise, surprise. Small world department - ran into Ed from Bozeman (friend of a friend) at the top of the Montet. Here Ed demonstrates what happens when you suddenly take your sunglasses off at 11,000 feet.
A quick ski brought us to a fine view of the glacier below and our terrain for the next day or so.
A few thousand feet of skiing brings us down to the Argentier Glacier, which we cross and climb to the Hut on the other side. The next day we briefly ski down the glacier, then skin 3000 feet up the Col de Chardonnet.
A couple thousand feet of turns and it’s time to pull out the skins.
An early finish allows us to practise with the beacons for a bit. We found the Argentier, our only French Hut, crowded, humid and quite charming. Good thing it was our first hut. They went uphill from there.
Day 2 is, no kidding, a long and difficult day. An early start gets us good climbing conditions for the Col, and sunrise on the Aiguille Verte.
John and Ken, anxious to get going.
The neve was perfect and the air was cold, the climb protected from the sun by the Aiguille de Chardonnet until noon. Initially somewhat steep and scary, we soon got used to the exposure, thanks to the exceptional grip of our Ski Crampons.
Despite our best efforts, (my little group at least) ended up at the back of the pack. Conditions at the top of the Col vary, but usually require a technical lower on the other side. With 100-200 people blasting through in a few hours, it can be a real carnival. Thankfully, Ramsay had things under control, and got us through the festival quickly.
Here, Ramsay lowers Bob down the 60 degree slope.
The top of the col also gave us a great view across the mountains of Italy and Switzerland all the way to the Matterhorn (arrow).
John Voelker enjoys lunch at the top of the col
From the Col de Chardonnet, we traverse high along the edge of the glacier to catch the 2nd pass on the left, the Fenetre, that leads to Switzerland and the Trient Hut.
The climb to the Fenetre was steep but short. My “Wasatch Style” kick turns proved inadequate, as Ramsay was sure to point out, just trying to be helpful. Thankfully, the crest of the Fenetre was extremely mild.
Here, Bob and Ramsay enjoy a brief break at the top of the Fenetre.
From the Fenetre, a very mild traverse brought us around the top of a low angle glacial cirque to a short but exciting downhill to the Trient Hut.
The Trient Hut was much, much nicer than the Argentier. Maybe having the bathroom as a separate building had something to do with it... Here's the sunset, reflected off the outhouse roof.
