Rain stops play

6 hours walking for 2 pitches of climbing... not a great ratio...

On Sunday, I fought the crowds on the Montenvers train and down the ladders onto the Mer de Glace:



3 sweaty hours later I met up with Ross, Dan and Ev who had come up the day before and had been enjoying the awesome granite climbing up on the Pointe des Nantillons. Not wanting to spend €50 a night on the hut we were using the cheaper option of bivvying, and there can't be many finer spots. One view from the bivvy site (Dru & Aiguille Verte in background):



Unfortunately despite a good, dry forecast for the next day 2 pitches up the route a light drizzle began to fall. Not a problem with the great friction of the granite, but as the rain gave way to hail/sleet things definitely were getting too slippery. 2 quick abseils saw us back at our gear, and with the others running out of food no option but to head back down the valley... Oh well, better luck next time...

More Maurienne rock..

Some pictures from the 'Dame du Carro' climb on Monday, thanks to Dominique:

Maurienne rock climbing

After a week of colder weather the forecast was good for the day yesterday, and Dominique called me keen for a climb in the Maurienne valley. A pre-dawn start saw us heading over the Col De L'Iseran and down to Bonneval at the head of the Maurienne. 3 hours walk got us to the bottom of the 'Dame du Carro' on the Cime du Carro, and 9 pitches of quality steep gneiss.



The summit sits on the French/Italian border and gave a spectacular panorama from the Gran Paradiso, through the Valais peaks, round to Mont Blanc, the Ecrins very clear, and the South side of the Maurienne - Ciamarella, Albaron. An interesting abseil descent (hmm) got us back to earth, and a well earned drink back at the Refuge du Carro:




Here's a couple of pictures of the South Ridge of the Pointe des Creux Noirs above Pralognan, which gave an interesting day out soloing a few weeks ago:

In memoriam: Reg Clarke

I first met Reg about 9 years ago, and had the pleasure of skiing with him many times in the years since then on the Jagged Globe courses of which he was a confirmed regular.
Reg always had a wise word (or 10), but was also a source of some hilarious moments, and much amusement, generally all retold over a glass of "95% water" (as he always put it), and was appreciated by everyone who met him.
Reg passed away in his beloved Alps last week, and leaves a big gap to be filled...

Summer sun

Finally an update for the blog...spring skiing unfortunately didn't quite live up to expectations thanks to a combination of a dodgy knee, a virus, and weather playing tricks...having sat in the rain for the first 2 weeks of June I headed offshore into the North Sea for some rope access work at which point the weather cleared and some legendary slopes saw massed descents...

Oh well, there's always next year!

Meantime its currently 30 degrees here in Bozel, and the weather has been pretty stable on the whole, with a few good sorties in the last couple of weeks here in the Vanoise:





Back to the skiing there have been a few keenies out, with the Couturier on the Verte and the NE on the Courtes seeing descents about a week ago, following a snowy storm cycle. Dedication...or madness?

La Face du jour

Today I went for an explore in the Tarentaise to the North face of the Pierre Pointe.
Situated in an isolated valley above the picturesque villages of Le Monal and Le Clou this is a great place to escape the crowds (I didn't see another soul all day - the odd marmot excepted).
The "Rampe Nord" on Pierre Pointe is a stunning line taking the obvious left to right rising ramp line on the picture below:



This is a fairly serious proposition, weighing in at 5.3 on the "cheek-clench" scale, featuring 800m of 45º with some steeper pitches thrown in, all with a fair bit of exposure, as from halfway up the initial ramp the rest of the route takes place with cliffs below.
Unfortunately a couple of slightly cloudy nights had affected the snowpack which despite being north-facing was pretty rotten, making for a frustrating approach to the face. The couloir itself was in reasonable shape, with a light layer of fluff overlying some more or less solid/refrozen snow underneath...and despite appearances from afar had continuous skiable snow with only a couple of narrow sections.
600m up the face and the trail-breaking was taking its toll. Clouds were boiling up behind the summit ridge, and I thought I heard a rumble of thunder (storms forecast for this afternoon...) so the decision was made to leave the last 300m to the summit for another day. The snow on the face proved to be very skiable (as long as you didn't think about the cliffs below..) right down to the sluff cone below, followed by a long haul back through the porridge to the car.
I'll definitely be back to finish the job at some point though - stunning line, quiet valley - what more can you ask for? (other than clear nights to get the snowpack refreezing again..)

Dome des Nants, Couloir WNW

After a false start yesterday morning due to weather, and a minor delay this morning (don't forget your boots Will!), I headed up to Pralognan with Will to ski the WNW couloir off the Dome des Nants. This classic 5.2 rated ski is not often in condition, but word on the street was it had a good fill of snow in the crucial and exposed upper section...

Leaving the car at Pont de Gerlon we had a bit of walk up the road and then set about the 1950m of skinning to take us up to the Dome at 3570m, right on top of the Glacier de la Vanoise "ice-cap". After a long slog we emerged on top to a perfect panorama, with only a few banks of cloud to spoil the view: Mt Blanc, Grandes Jorasses, Grande Casse, Mont Pourri, Grand Combin etc etc...

Will near the top of the Dome des Nants:



The top of the couloir is protected by a huge serac band, with corniced ridges either side, so finding a viewpoint to scope the entry wasn't easy but eventually we sussed our route, which looked well skiable.
Despite some patches of cloud that had been lingering the snow on the top ramp was already transformed and nicely soft on top, which gave us a boost of confidence to drop down the first ramp and get a closer look:



After this ramp the couloir is immediately exposed, picking its way round rock buttresses on 45º slopes, with cliffs underneath until you drop into the main couloir.
Will entering the narrower section:



A handy viewpoint:



Working down towards the main couloir:



Still a bit of exposure, but great snow all the way:



Into the main couloir, the exposure to the cliffs below ends here...but the monster serac looms overhead...:



And looking down:



In all the couloir gives a good 800m of steady steepness. Conditions were great with good spring snow on the right, a small runnel down the middle, and some softer but heavy snow over a firm base on the left. Out the bottom of the couloir we hit some great open slopes of perfect spring snow, until it all started getting rather mushy at 2100m.

Looking back up, bottom section the couloir clearly visible, top obscured by cliffs & cloud:



From here down to the road turned into a bit of a 'combat ski', with a fine mixture of shrubbery, mushy snow and a few rocks. Will going for the direct line:



A short walk back to the car and it was time for a well-earned beer back in Bozel!