The descent of Rum Doodle

There exists a hazy aerial photograph on which both Will & I had spotted an intriguing white line many years ago. While I am generally busy working in the winter, Will had a lot more time to explore and after several eventful failed attempts finally managed to locate the entrance to (and descend) what has since become known as 'Rum Doodle' couloir, named after his favourite book - W.E.Bowman's wonderful 1956 parody of the grand mountaineering expedition books of the period (if you haven't read the book go away now, read it then come back...).

This line had been on my hit-list for many years, but lack of time, conditions or partners had always conspired against. Today finally everything lined up!

A short walk followed by a surprisingly good mix of spring snow and powder on the first descent took us to the main climb of the day:

Our second warm-up run was even better than the first...:

With the most snow recorded for 40+ years it should have come as no surprise to find the automatic weather station almost buried...:

Greg questing in search of the entry to the fabled Rum Doodle couloir:

There it is!

Greg checking the piton for the first rap:

Looking down the main event:

Greg on the first abseil:

Conditions = 'acceptable':

The second 'abseil' (in a normal snow year...) - we skipped this with a short straight-line... amazing how much speed you pick-up in a short space!

More good turns in the lower section of the couloir:

A quick 300m vertical dropped us back up and over for our last ski down - we were fully braced for this to be a crust-fest but were pleasantly surprised by heavy but very skiable powder all the way down!:

A grand day out with over 2000m of really good skiing - hats off to Will for persevering with the exploration all those years ago...
Will be raising a glass to you tonight!

"I put my breakfast aside and went to Pong’s tent. I found him filing a fork into a bowl. He took no notice of me. After a while he laid down the fork and began to grate a piece of rock. I thought I had better let him get used to my presence before trying to communicate with him; so I sat down and watched him. After chopping up a portion of climbing rope and mincing an old sock he threw everything into a pan of pemmican stew and stirred for five minutes, adding sand and paraffin to taste. Finally, he strained it, spread some of it on a slice of leather, and took a hearty bite."

Will Eaton (1974-2013)

Well, its a sad time. My good friend and partner on some classic adventures was killed in an avalanche while ski touring with some friends on the Grande Casse on Thursday.

Will was one of life's good guys - he had the amazing ability to turn a random stranger into a lifelong friend in the space of 5 minutes. He also had a superhuman ability to seemingly survive on no more than 5 hours sleep a night - linking up full, early-start steep skiing days with evenings of work followed by a social into the early hours, only to repeat it all the next day!

We had recently spent 5 amazing days skiing in Lofoten, and the last time I saw him was classic Will - we were so busy chatting over coffee in Oslo airport that he had to run full speed to catch his flight before they shut the gate...



One of our first adventures.. Sache-Pourri traverse after a very late night with Laurent the gardien in the Mt Pourri refuge. The picture sums up Will - always smiling no matter what...

Will was always keen for an adventure - no matter how far-fetched the idea was:

Cave-skiing from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

Will hadn't bought a lift ticket for ages, and his fitness was kept topped up by regular (daily?) outings in his 'backyard' in Les Avals - its fair to say he knew this place better than anyone - he still had a couple of lines to show me... I guess I will just have to find 'Rumdoodle' and the others for myself now...

In 2011 he found a new line on the Rateau - and took me back the next time to repeat 'Keyhole couloir':









Will's legendary fitness wasn't just confined to skis - every time I went cycling with him was the same... I would be blowing hard on the way up some big col, and Will would be cruising along in his baggy shorts chatting away quite happily, seemingly putting in no effort other than to chase down the odd serious lycra-merchant who dared overtake us :-)

See you next time mate... hope the skies are blue and the powder is soft and deep wherever you are...

Courchevel Powder from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

3 Valleys Esoterica from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

48 hours in the Haute Maurienne from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

Dent Parrachée - East Face from Simon Christy on Vimeo.

Presten couloir (Fishy Tales part 5)

After a week ski touring in Lofoten with Ian, Mark, Nick and Mike it was time for a switch. The venue stayed the same, but the players were different. Having dropped the guys off in Evenes I promptly picked up Will, who had arrived on the same flight, and we headed back out to Lofoten, picking up Chipie en route, having made his way by boat(s) and bus from Tromso...

With little time but keen to make the most of the stabilising snowpack and the current spell of good weather we needed a relatively short objective for an evening session and the Presten couloir seemed perfect for this - roadside, 500m high, with the steepness starting almost from the car door:



The Presten couloir is at centre of the picture above - the big rock buttress to the right is the Presten or 'Priest' itself and is home to some high quality rock climbing.

Easy access by definition... park in the layby at the bottom of the couloir, open your car door and start climbing!



The first 100m of the couloir are skinnable in good conditions, but soon the angle kicks up and skis go on the pack:





The higher you climb the more impressive the scenery becomes:



Will breaking trail up to the narrows just below half height - often the crux of the couloir (and a mixed/water ice step) this was completely filled in with snow:



The top 300m of the couloir remain narrow, with the angle hovering about the 45º mark (though I have seen clinometer-measured quotes of 50...) - the last 30m to the col were a little scratchy, with a very thin (to non-existent) covering of snow over frozen grass and moss - fine on the way up, 'interesting' on the way down...

Will about to negotiate the frozen grass and moss section at the top - a delicate start to the descent!



Chipie in the upper section the couloir - steep and tight here:









Will threading his way through the boulder choke section:



Atmospheric skiing in the couloir with rock walls towering on either side (Chipie is in there if you look closely!):



Happy campers in the evening sun!




Chipie pulling the new freestyle move: "air to beach"



5 minutes drive took us to the Climber's Café for a pint of very expensive beer to celebrate mopped up with Mateo's fine cod stew!