Part 1 of this post focused on the motivation behind becoming a backcountry skier, Part 2 of this focused on Safety, and this section will focus on Equipment. I have already covered the Safety Equipment required in Avalanche zones so we will just be talking about the hardware for getting around in the BC.

So – what equipment do you need to go backcountry skiing. Well the short answer is none! There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from slinging your skis over your shoulder and going for a walk to an untouched area. Plenty of top-notch skiing is accessed by a short bootpack from the top of a lift, however the further you intend to venture, the more this can be assisted by specialist equipment.

Hiking Up

Backcountry skiing is a world awash with equipment – obsessed with shaving grams with exotic materials. But in this article we will focus on the bare minimum equipment required for a hitherto Alpine Skier to venture into some slackcountry/backcountry lines.

Fundamentally the two most important items are Touring Bindings and Skins. There are devices called Alpine Trekkers that even remove the need for touring bindings, but having been on a long tour with a group member using trekkers, I cannot recommend them in any way shape or form.

Touring bindings accept either an Alpine or Touring Boot, and have two modes – one where the heel is locked down for skiing, and one where the boot is allowed to pivot at the toe permitting a walking stride. Skins are a strip of material, with nylon or mohair on one side, and sticky glue on the other. The material has a plush direction which means that when the skins are stuck on the ski, the plush allows them to glide forward but prevents them from sliding backwards. The combination of these two pieces of equipment means that you can walk up the hills, and then ski back down. We will talk about Touring boots a little later on, and while they are a very useful piece of equipment, they aren’t 100% necessary for an Alpine skier dipping their toes into the touring world.

Nicole Skinning

Touring Bindings

Touring Bindings have evolved from fairly flimsy arrangements that were quite unsuitable for vigorous downhill skiing, to modern day equipment which permits efficient uphill movement and uncompromised descents. Marker, with their introduction of the Duke/Baron range really blew this market wide open. While the weight of these bindings is generally considered too heavy for serious backcountry skiing, they have maximum DIN ratings of 16-13 respectively which cater for the most aggressive of skiers.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Dynafit range of bindings – these are a super-minimal, lightweight touring binding designed to power skiers deep into the backcountry. Their secret is that they are suitable for some rather hardcore descents as well, which is belied by their mousetrap-like appearance. Most of the crazy ski touring/ski mountaineering exploits you see on the net are done on Dynafits, but their design means that they are not much fun on firm snow due to the rigid ride created by their lack of elasticity provided by a conventional style bindings. Dynafit have recently released a model called The Beast which is designed to address these shortcomings. Dynafit bindings also require special inserts in the boot toe/heel – these are pretty commonplace amongst Touring boots but not generally available in Alpine boots.

So as with many aspects of backcountry equipment we are seeing a convergence of traditional Alpine companies heading towards BC gear, and traditional Backcountry companies beginning to cater for people that want to ski fast, on big skis, and hit jumps in the BC. However for somebody just starting out in the BC it would be better to opt for a binding such as the Baron or Marker Tour F10/F12, or the Salomon Guardian/Atomic Tracker. The reason I say this is that they have barely compromised ‘skiability’ and it also reduces the cost of entry as a ski mounted with these bindings can also be used in-resort whereas Dynafit generally lends itself to a touring specific rig.

Marker Baron Alpine Touring Binding

Skins

Skins are a pretty simple proposition – firstly find a skin that will cover most of the base of your ski – choose a skin width that matches or is slightly less than the width of your ski tip, and use the supplied cutting tool to trim them to shape. More experienced backcountry users opt for less skin coverage on their bases but for a beginner it is better to have full coverage to reduce backwards slipping on icy sidehills etc. It is very important to take good care of your skins, especially the glue. Always use the supplied ‘cheat sheets’ to cover the glue when packing skins away, and keep them stored in their bag so no debris can get stuck in the glue – once it’s in there, it will be there forever. When you are a long way from home, the most important thing in your backcountry kit is the glue on your skins, so take care of them. Some people even store their skins in the freezer over summer to keep the glue in prime shape. When going through changes of temperature it’s possible for ice to form on the skin plush which then collects large amounts of snow – you can rub some wax on the skins to alleviate this, or even chocolate works due to the fat content. I’ve got some funny looks rubbing chocolate onto my skins, but it was much better than persisiting with 6″ of snow caked on the bottom.

Fixing Skins

G3 Alpinist Climbing Skins

Skis

It’s not necessary to have an Touring specific ski as any alpine ski will do, but there are a few characteristics that are useful. A waist width of 90-100mm is recommended unless you’re regularly touring in heavy snow areas like Utah or Japan. 90-100mm will allow you to deal with most conditions that the BC can present – not too wide for icy steeps, but enough girth to make the deeper snow enjoyable. Tip rocker is a fantastic feature, as you encounter all kinds of crusts in the BC, but a twin-tip can be very annoying. It’s very useful to be able to stick your ski tail deep into the snow, when fitting skins or even pegging a tent. Also twintips can get annoying & tangled when doing kick turns. Tail rocker is fine, but as long as it’s not accompanied by a noticeable twin.

Once you decide to venture further into the BC then the weight of skis becomes a factor. Many companies have lighter weight versions of their skis like the Blizzard Kabookie I took to France, which is a lighter weight version of the Bonafide, and then there are dedicated BC ski companies like Dynafit and Black Diamond. My first touring skis were a pair of Volkl Gotamas that were previously my alpine powder skis – they weren’t perfect but I had spent up big on the rest of my touring gear and remounted them & used them until they died. It was fine and they worked for a number of trips until I could replace them with something more suitable.

2013 Blizzard Kabookie

Boots

As mentioned earlier touring boots aren’t 100% necessary to begin ski touring, but if the bug hits you will want them before long. They are generally categorised by their lighter weight, switchable walk mode and a grippy sole, often made from Vibram. The walk mode allows the cuff to pivot well back beyond vertical and the grippy sole is a godsend when scrambling around. There are many other features of touring boots but these are the three which categorise them in comparison to Alpine boots. Many touring boots also feature the heel/toe fittings for Dynafit Bindings, and it’s worth noting that unless your Alpine binding has an adjustable toe height that a touring sole will not necessarily fit in the binding and release correctly.

As with the touring bindings, we are seeing a convergence of traditional Alpine companies like Tecnica, Salomon etc producing backcountry models, and traditional BC companies like Dynafit and Scarpa producing stiffer models for skiers who want to go faster and drive bigger skis in the BC.

As for specific models – well that’s up to your bootfitter. Every foot is different, and the various brands suit different shapes so consult a good quality local bootfitter for a recommendation.

Dynafit Vulcan Touring Boot

Other

You don’t need specialist poles to begin ski touring, but as with boots if you find you like it, you will want to get new poles. Good touring poles are lightweight, adjustable in length and have a foam or rubber grip that extends below the usual handle so you can keep your hands level on sidehills.

There are plenty of other ancillary items that you will use to make life easier & safer in the Backcountry, like a good quality Backpack, Ski Crampons plus a multitude of other items which go beyond the scope of this article as a guide for beginners. And that’s even before we get into the clothing!!!

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require any assistance with gear to get you going in the BC – we are stocking a small range of items which will continue to expand & reflect our on personal expansion into Backcountry skiing.

aussieskier Tee

Blizzard Skis have grown to become an extremely popular ski in overseas markets, with their Free Mountain range of skis extremely highly acclaimed in the US market. Their flagship ski – the Bonafide – sold out in the US last November and is in high demand. In fact we already sold three pairs just through word-of-mouth before we added them to our store!

Nicole and I took Blizzard Kabookies to France this year and were amazed with their performance and versatility – check out my review on the product page. The Cochise is a hit with 108mm waist and burly construction and the Black Pearl the pick of the womens range.

Key to the Free Mountain range is their FlipCore technology, a fresh approach to rockered skis wich provides versatility in all kinds of snow without compromising stability or performance. Read more about FlipCore here.

We are thrilled to offer their 2013 range, with the 2014 models to be added shortly. the 2014 Blizzard Brahma is a ski that we are keenly anticipating – for years the Line Prophet 90 has been our favoured all-mountain tool but the new K2 Rictor 90 and Brahma are heirs apparent to the title – we can’t wait to battle it out.

So browse the range, and get in touch with us if you need more info.

Jerome suggested sleeping in the Argentiere Refuge and climbing the Milieu Glacier which cleaves the east face of the Aiguille d’Argentiere, but I suggested a ski tour in the Vallee Blanche up to a location called Breche Puiseux. Given our relative lack of climbing this trip due to the abundance of powder skiing straight off the lift Jerome was a little concerned that the 1100m climb including a 300m bootpack could be beyond us, but it was definitely a location that was worth the effort, and we could also turn back at any time.

I was drawn to the Breche Puiseux simply because every guidebook and blog I had read states that it’s one of the most stunning ski tours in the Mont Blanc Massif. We weren’t disappointed.

Aiguille du Midi

We weren’t the only people gunning for the Aiguille du Midi in the morning – it was clear that it was going to be the only sunny day for the week so everybody earmarked it as their day to go to the Vallee Blanche – even with a 7:40am arrival we didn’t get in the first cable car, but that was partly due to some signature French lack of organisation and queueing protocol. We raced down the Arete in record time which probably bought us back the 15 mins we lost by being in the second tram and we were soon on our way.

We decided to ski the Moyen Envers line as that would take us to the Salle a Manger where we would cross the glacier and commence skinning up the other side. It was a game of aspects, as is often the case in spring. There was a lovely coating of fresh snow on top but the consistency underneath varied and we veered way skier’s right to a more shady aspect that led to some lovely skiing.

Jerome and the Vallee Noire in the BG

Nicole’s Tracks in the Moyen Envers

It was another line we had not yet skied in the Vallee Blanche so it was good to see a new angle on the features and lines we had previously skied.

Nicole and the Seracs du Geant

Vallee Blanche and Mont Blanc du Tacul Behind

From the Salle a Manger it was time to put on our skins and begin the 800m vert skin up to the base of the bootpack. Nicole forged ahead into the maze of kick turns set by the first people up the track whereas Jerome and I chose to go wider on to the glacier to avoid the wasted effort of so many switchbacks.

Jerome skinning up the Glacier des Periades

It soon became apparent why this tour is a true classic of the area – the valley we were climbing was capped on one side with the imposing Dent due Geant and the finer features of Les Periades on the opposite flank. It was truly stunning. Also the breeze kept the temperatures somewhat cool which undoubtedly aided our pace.

Dent du Geant standing guard

Skinning below Les Periades

It was great to look behind us at the Vallee Blanche and check out one of our favourite lines, the Grand Envers du Plan.

Looking back across at the Envers du Plan

Richard putting in the hard yards

800 metres was gained in a reasonable time of 3 hours meaning we were a little behind the 300m vert/hr that we often aim for. We had a quick bite to eat and it was time to put our skis on our packs, put on our crampons and grab ice axes for the long bootpack up the couloir.

Jerome made sure that we had the gas in the tank for the climb, as it was easy enough to turn around where we were, but downclimbing the couloir would have been horrid so we needed to make sure we had enough to get to the top. We didn’t hesitate so he put us on the rope and we started our way up

Time for spiky metal things

Bootting up the Couloir

I never find bootpacking particularly attractive but we were lucky in this occasion in that the track was set by a petite, but totally bad-ass mountain guide, which meant nice small steps. Being a shortass, long steps in a bootpack are the bane of my existence, so despite it being 300m of pain going straight up, the conditions themselves couldn’t have been better.

Don’t look down!

After the suffer-fest we had made it, 1100m ascended which was our biggest ever ascent in a single ski tour. There was a whipping wind at the top which meant for a quick addition of layers, and our gloves which had become wet in the climb froze absolutely solid.

Cold at the top!

Somewhere along the way nobody had warned Nicole that there was going to be a rappel after the climb. Not sure what she was expecting after booting up a massive chute, but after admonishing the boys we waited for a couple of skiers ahead of us and made our way down. It’s becoming quite comfortable and I went down so quickly that I ended up going off-line which was interesting, if the rope unhooked itself from the rock that I diverted it over that could have been an interesting, but all worked out well.

Richard rappelling

Nicole rapelling

The rappel

At the bottom of the rappel we raced to get our crampons off and skis on so we could get out into the sun and get some feeling back into our fingers, at which time it dawned on us the sheer, completely and utterly stunning setting that we were standing amongst.

The delicate towers of the Periades reminded me of the National Parks in Utah that I frequented during my time in the US but the imposing feature on the far side of the basin was the immense monolith that is the Grandes Jorasses. The North Face of the Grandes Jorasses is one of the prized mountaineering ascents in the Alps and just as when we climbed to the base of the Dru earlier in the week it was a privelege to see such an enormous climb up close. It dominated the landscape and occupied our camera lens!

Les Periades. Stunning.

Richard & Nicole under Les Periades

Grandes Jorasses North Face

Forgoing a steeper exit to the Mont Mallet glacier that we were ascending, we veered skier’s right in order to chase some more consistent snow conditions. There were about a dozen ski tourers ahead of us on the climb but their tracks were nowhere to be seen and we laughed our way to the valley floor with hundreds of turns in the fresh.

Mmmm Glacier Pow!

Richard & Nicole w/ Grandes Jorasses

Mmmm Glacier Pow!

Mmmm Glacier Pow!

Richard scoping his line, Grandes Jorasses above.

Glacier pow under Grandes Jorasses

For some reason I decided to do some Powder 8′s in Jerome’s tracks, this kept on going for literally hundreds of turns, Nicole was in hysterics as she came down behind.

Powder 8′s

After what seemed like an eternity of fresh tracks we made it to the flat glacier floor of the Leschaux Glacier where the vista to our right began to be occupied by the Talefre Basin and the Aiguille Verte.

On the Leschaux Glacier

Looking up the Talefre Basin and Aiguille Verte

In fading sun we cruised along the flats to the junction of the Mer de Glace and finally began to see some other skiers who were late in their descent on the Vallee Blanche.

On the Leschaux Glacier near Mer de Glace

On the Leschaux Glacier near Mer de Glace

The shadows were lengthening and the slush was refreezing, it was quite late in the day and we narrowly missed the last train to Montenvers. I was quietly very happy with this, I don’t mind the hike up the moraine wall and it was such an epic day I felt that the only true way to complete it would be to ski to the valley floor. The track had deteriorated in a couple of spots so we needed to take off our skis and walk a little. I didn’t care in the slightest.

It was an absolutely epic day. I was so glad I had insisted on this itinerary, even given Jerome’s doubts we would make it up the climb.

It had absolutely everything I look forward to in a day in Chamonix – express lift into a high alpine glacier, gut-busting ski tour to a remote location, endless powder turns and amazing scenery. Everything that I had read about the Breche Puiseux ski tour was correct and if anything understated. While the pure powder in the Couloir Rectiligne was probably the best skiing of the trip, this was easily the best day.

A true classic and a privilege to have completed it.

Low cloud in the valley but some visibility up top, plus some recent new snow, led us to the Aiguille du Midi where we would ski the Grand Envers du Plan line, but around the Refuge du Requin we intended to put on our skins and climb about 400m to ski an isolated couloir.

As is often the case we punched through into the blue on the lift, and made our way quickly down the Arete and traversed into the Grand Envers. We did notice the cloud rising and that only the highest of peaks were poking through like the Grand Jorasses/Dent du Geant complex, and also the very tips of the Aiguille Verte and Les Courtes. This was a portent of things to come.

Aiguille du Plan and Aiguille Verte above the clouds

Arete & Grandes Jorasses above the clouds

Aiguille du Midi Ice Tunnel

Aiguille du Midi Arete

Aiguille du Midi Tram

This was my third time skiing this line and for a number of reasons I had skied the top 45deg pitch very tentatively and it had been irking me for years. Not this time, everything was perfect and I made lovely GS turns in the powder all the way down.

We then skied the second drop in a similar manner, big turns in nice snow, only a small jump over the crevasse that crosses this pitch and things got a little murky when we reached the safe zone at the bottom of this pitch.

Second Drop – Grand Envers du Plan

Nicole Skiing Second Drop – Grand Envers du Plan

Nicole Skiing Second Drop – Grand Envers du Plan

Richard & Nicole – Grand Envers du Plan

As you can see from the pics of Nicole skiing the second drop the visibility was beginning to deteriorate.

A few hundred metres lower and we were in an absolute pea soup that even Mt Buller would be proud of. Normally we don’t care about fog as we’re used to it, however in this case we were on a steep, open glacier with crevasses everywhere and had to descend about another 1500m to safety.

Jerome’s familiarity with the area was our saving grace, as the fog rolled in and out he was able to spot various landmarks and use them to assist our tentative descent. The worst part was that the skiing was dust on moguls – in visibility he would have been able to find a different aspect line with smooth snow underneath but the visibility forced us to ski from landmark to landmark. We found our way to the Refuge du Requin where we stopped for a coffee and bite to eat – our ski touring objective was well and truly canned by this stage and we just needed to survival ski down to town. We skied the last face below the refuge down to the Mer de Glace and then poled along the 10km or so of flat glacier with perhaps 5m of visibility. Someone had put a track in but we stopped regularly to make sure that it was the correct thing to do to follow!

It was like skiing Baldy at Mt Buller in typical fog conditions, but perhaps for maybe 20-30 times its length – pretty much wearing a white blindfold! Eventually we reached the stairs to the Montenvers train, it was only about 1pm but the entire valley was socked in, so the only thing to do was to head to Elevation for a beer and a burger and plan tomorrow’s skiing!

Richard & Jerome with an Elevation Burger

We timed this to coincide with the finals of the Freeride World Tour but unfortunately due to weather they brought the event forward by one day. We would have loved to have seen our friends Lorraine Huber and Stefan Hausl compete, but that would have meant missing a day of powder skiing. We explained this when we caught up with them and they understood completely!

It’s a pretty simple affair arriving in Verbier from Chamonix – we took the train from Vallorcine which is a stunning and precarious little single track line that spends most of it’s time skirting a massive gorge before the steep descent into the Rhone valley where you change trains at Martigny to Le Chable, and catch a bus or gondola up to Verbier.

Our good friend Julian Griffiths owns a great ski school in Verbier (gratuitous plug – European Snowsport) and he put us up in a great apartment right in the centre of town.

The main street was pumping with the sponsors of the FWT going all-out which further enhanced Verbier’s reputation as a serious party town.

Part of the reason we wanted to come back to Verbier is that we had spent a week there in 2010 but for a number of reasons left feeling like we hadn’t really explored it. I had also wanted to ski with Australian Mountain Guide John Falkiner for very long time and it was very fortuitous that he was available for the weekend. John began as a ski instructor at Mt Buller and was one of the first wave of instructors to become APSI certified and became one of the early examiners. During this time he became a strong freestyle skier and starred in many movies including being a James Bond villain in a couple of the classic ski segments. A telemark pioneer, he has made many first descents in the Alps on freeheel gear. He was the first Australian to become an IFMGA certified guide and has skied and guided all around the world.

Unfortunately the weather was not overly co-operative but we still made the best of it. The backside of Mont Fort was the pretty obvious first stop for exploration. The warm temps that clagged the snow on our ski yesterday had not missed Verbier either so the directive was to stay high and ski north facing slopes. So we made our way to Mont Fort, skied a small way down then made a short bootpack up to a col on the top of the Glacier do Mont Fort. The snow was lovely and we had an epic descent all the way to the dam.

John and Nicole, Backside Mont Fort

John and Nicole, Backside Mont Fort

Nicole, Backside Mont Fort

Nicole, Backside Mont Fort

You then push along a trail for quite some distance along the Lac de Cleuson until you reach the dam wall. There are some shady trees facing north below the dam so John thought we would drop in there to see if the snow was nice. The first 2 turns were.

Dam Wall

The thing that struck us about Verbier in comparison to Chamonix is the endless terrain – where Chamonix is often restricted by enormous steeps, crevassed glaciers, overhanging seracs etc Verbier has much more wide open skier accessible terrain. Avalanche danger still needs to be front of mind but a lot of the objective hazards present in Chamonix don’t need to be negotiated.

Endless Terrain – Backside Mont Fort

Dam Wall

After our adventure on the Mont Fort backside we headed for another Verbier classic the Vallon d’Arbi. This is easily accessed from the bottom of a piste that we skied many times in 2010 but due to inexperience and lack of avalanche gear/knowledge we left it alone. We found some nice shady north facing snow near the top and as we descended further we were in the familiar feeling for Australians of slush underfoot. Again this zone exemplified the amount of skiable terrain and Verbier’s standing as a freeride paradise.

Vallon d’Arbi

Vallon d’Arbi

After our descent to La Tsoumaz it was late in the day with not much left to explore so we had a fantastic traditional Swiss lunch with John in the Savoleyres area before skiing down to Verbier to end our day. It was great to see a couple of zones that we missed when on our own and we are confident that if we had a good handle on the avalanche conditions we’d be able to head back without a guide.

We woke to flat light and more cloudy skies in Verbier on Sunday, not really the day that you would ski by choice but as we were there and we had John booked we made the best of it. He wanted to take us ski touring on the ridge line that extends upwards from Bruson but the flat light would have made for a relatively ordinary descent, so we decided to try our luck in Italy. We never have to have our arm twisted to head to Italy – at the very least you will get a great coffee and an excellent lunch!

We weren’t in luck, when we crossed the border we were greeted with a thick fog, so that immediately ruled out the ski tour that was being considered. Another guide friend of John’s was in the area and reported that the snow that had fallen wasn’t deep enough to cover the underlying crust, so going into the trees was a far too energetic option with far too little reward for effort. However this little resort that I don’t think I’m going to name had about 10cm of fresh on the pistes and maybe half a dozen other skiers so we had a great time in the new snow either directly on or next to the marked trails. It was certainly not an epic day but very pleasant to have soft snow under your feet. However it was great to have a good look around this place as it has amazing potential as a little powder skiing gem in the right conditions, and not too far from Chamonix either. Plus the coffee is excellent.

It wasn’t a day for taking pictures. Here’s one:

Somewhere in Italy…

After our day we went to a superb Italian restaurant lower down the valley, which I don’t think was a coincidence was full of Verbier guides & their clients, after which we wound our way back up toward the Mont Blanc tunnel where John very graciously dropped us at our door.

While the weather conspired against us we considered this an excellent reconnaissance weekend to check out some potentially fantastic skiing all within an hour or so of driving from Chamonix.

John has also asked for any of our readers who know him to keep in touch – we had a great time talking about ‘the old days’ at Buller and the various identities, and John would love the chance to ski with more Australians who head to this part of the world. You can check out his website and contact details at johnfalkiner.com

We started early and got on the first tram at Grands Montets, and after a quick coffee it was time to get stuck into it.

From the top of Grands Montets

Looking across to Col du Chardonnet

We went wide skier’s right on the glacier and found some lovely powder snow. It’s not for the faint hearted out there due to the crevasses but as usual Jerome found a route that was entirely safe and with untouched snow. 900m of virgin powder to get the day started is always nice.

Richard on Glacier des Rognons

Our tracks on Glacier des Rognons

Looking up the Argentiere Glacier

You then cross the Argentiere glacier and put your skins on & climb up the opposite side. The first section was the hardest with steep kick turns on the moraine, and then it was a pretty pedestrian 600 or so metres of climbing. The weather certainly warmed up and the heat sapped our pace a little bit, but there was no need to rush so we took it all in our stride.

Crossing the Argentiere Glacier

Skinning up to Col du Passon

Skinning up to Col du Passon

It’s nice exploring new areas as you get new views and perspectives on the classic Chamonix features. This time it was a great view back to Grands Montets and no doubt these photos will be studied to find some nice lines.

Argentiere Glacier Icefall

Looking back at Grands Montets

The team having some lunch

We reached the base of the couloir and transitioned to bootpacking, Nicole elected to be short-roped with Jerome whereas I preferred the freedom of going solo with Ice Axe and Crampons. The snow was perfect and the crampons were probably overkill but they don’t detract from the climb so it was good to have them. Before long we were at the Col and ready to ski down.

The skies began to turn grey in anticipation of the incoming poor weather for the weekend, but while the light was a little flat you could still see well enough to have a great time.

Bootpack up to Col du Passon

On the Glacier du Tour

Richard On the Glacier du Tour

Richard On the Glacier du Tour

Richard On the Glacier du Tour

Richard On the Glacier du Tour

Even though the Passon is a very popular ski tour the Tour Glacier is vast and we skied lovely untracked powder from 3000m down to about 2000m where the warmth began to affect the snow quality.

Jerome Chillin’

Richard’s Tracks

Jerome Loving It!

The last few hundred metres were a pretty sloppy affair, but before long we popped out on the beginner piste at Le Tour. This ski tour is unusual in that you aren’t punished for an epic descent with a horrendous combat ski along some creek bed which is often the case over here. Even though the snow was pretty snotty for us, this has the potential to have epic powder right to the valley floor in the right conditions.

Looking back up from Le Tour

We then jumped on the bus back to Grands Montets to get the car and Jerome drove us to Vallorcine so we could take the train to Verbier for the weekend. Jerome had a long-standing booking with clients for the weekend so we thought we would do some sightseeing and we were fortunate enough to find a gap in the bookings for legendary Australian Mountain Guide John Falkiner who would show us around his adopted home area of Verbier.

All tuckered out on the train to Verbier

Col du Passon is a great option with one lift ride and a modest climb netting almost 2500m vert of fantastic skiing. Well worth checking out.

In fact, I think this was probably the best skiing I’ve done in Cham in 4 trips over about 10 weeks in the area.

We left Grands Montets yesterday during a snowstorm and knew that if we returned early today we would be rewarded. The sun was out this morning and we got there early – I even had my beacon this time – and made it on the first tram to the top which is always a treat. Jerome had an inkling that the Pas de Chevre sector would be good skiing, but we were slightly cautioned by the aspect and the wind direction of the storm. This turned out to be completely unfounded as after 2 turns on wind affected snow it became magically light powder.

Lenticular Cloud over Mont Blanc from Grands Montets

Nicole in powder at top of Pas de Chevre

We decided to ski the Couloir Rectiligne which is a classic of the area, a direct shot of about 500m vertical with a pitch of about 42 degrees. As the slope rolled over Jerome had us stand in a safe spot while he inspected the entrance to the couloir, there was no evidence at all of windslab so it was safe to ski. The top few metres was a bit of a sideslip, but due to the massive snow this season it was pretty benign, apparently in lower years the entrance can be a bit hair-raising.

Jerome checking out Couloir Rectiligne

Nicole sidestepping in

Once we were in it became apparent that we had totally scored. We were the first people to ski it since the big snowstorm. Jerome couldn’t believe his luck – we have had a joke over the years that in Cham you’re never first – there’s always someone fitter, faster, more motivated or crazier than you who will get it before you.

Jerome can’t believe we’re first!

But here we were standing at the top of an untouched couloir, no more than a couple of hundred metres from the top of a ski lift.

There was only one thing to do – rip the shit out of it. Once Jerome had checked out the top section he pulled over and let me ski the bulk of it first.

Richard loving it

Nicole loving it

Richard in the Distance

It was quite simply the best skiing I had done in Chamonix, and perhaps the best pitch of skiing of my life. Hundreds of vertical metres of steep, untracked, bottomless powder, all in a stupendously aesthetic setting of a dead straight, perfect couloir with enormous walls on either side and a great view ahead.

When I pulled up at the end of the couloir I literally had a tear in my eye I was so taken by the quality of what I had just skied. There are no words.

From the top of the lift to the bottom of the glacier we skied 1000m vert of perfect powder where the only tracks we crossed were our own.

Richard at the bottom

CLAIM!

But that wasn’t the end of it. Not by a long shot.

We had a think about what to do next – we could race down to the bottom and then head somewhere else for sloppy seconds, but we looked around the valley we were in and there was not a track to be seen & we knew we could do something special. So we skied down to the bottom of the glacier and then put our skins on with the objective of climbing up to the base of the Dru – the massive monolith that towers over Chamonix & one of the most challenging mountaineering ascents in the Alps.

Skinning under the Dru

Checking out the Serenity

The crew under the Dru

Looking up it was hard to fathom that the top was a whole kilometer above. As usual in Chamonix your sense of scale constantly needs recalibration and this was no exception.

After our climb we transitioned into ski mode and found the most lovely snow imaginable, all the way down to the moraine.

Boot to knee deep blower pow on top and not a skerrick of base to be felt underneath – this is a very seldom skied part of the range. Fast, open turns were the order of the day for another 1000m vertical.

Richard skiing pow

Richard skiing pow

Nicole skiing pow

Jerome is happy!

Nicole skiing pow

Richard skiing pow under the Dru

Everyone opened the taps and had an absolute blast all the way down to the moraine.

Despite the Pas de Chevre being a Chamonix classic it was our first time in this area, there are a number of reasons why but the condition of the exit to the Mer de Glace being one of them. On the three occasions earlier this trip where we have skied down the Mer de Glace and climbed the moraine or to the Montenvers train I’ve looked across at the final descent from the Pas de Chevre and not been particularly excited, But it really wasn’t that bad.

There was a short fixed rope over an icy steep drop, but given we were wearing our harnesses & Jerome had a rope he took the precaution of rappelling us down, and after some route finding on the moraine with pretty mixed conditions we found the exit chute, which was nowhere near as bad as it looks from across the valley. Apart from the fallen rocks mixed into the snow, of which I think I hit every one. My poor skis.

Short rappel

Exit couloir

We then crossed the base of the Mer de Glace and joined the hike up the opposite moraine with the hordes of Vallee Blanche skiers and then took the James Bond trail all the way down to town.

It was about 2pm at that stage, and we could have made a run for the Grands Montets again, but would have been cutting it fine and also just skiing slops, so given the quality of the day we decided to put it in the bank and call it quits. It was just a sensational day, we are still pinching ourselves at the quality of what we managed to ski.

The Dru

The storm that was forecast materialised in spades and we were hit with powder fever. We hooked up with some old friends from Buller, Christophe & Samala, and her sister Naomi who area all spending the winter in Cham. They regularly ski with the guide ‘FanFan’ so we arranged a ski day after the storm to chase some powder.

It was a weird feeling – after our years working in the US it was common to get powder fever in the morning and race to the first lift. But Chamonix is a little different – if there’s been a big snowfall the lifts don’t generally open. There had been at least 20cm in the lower reaches of town with rumours of much more up high. As the storm had pushed up from the south there was even more on the Italian side but lifts weren’t open so there wasn’t much point in heading there.

Our plan was to head to the Aiguille mid-station and ski some powder in the trees – but as we were waiting at the station we found out that when the lift opened at 11 it would be all the way to the top, and furthermore when we got up there the sun came out! Fanfan suggested skiing the Couloir des Cosmiques but the reception to that was not overly welcomed. With two mothers of 5 total kids in the group the requirement was zero-risk so we elected to ski a more conventional Vallee Blanche line.

Obligatory shot of the Arete from the Bridge

We descended the arete which is now becoming alarmingly comfortable for us, and traversed along the ridge to the top of the Grand Envers variation, upon which was had collected a conference of freeriders, each waiting for the other to drop first. 150cm had fallen during this storm up at the Aiguille and avalanche mitigation was front of mind.

Nicole & Naomi waiting for the conference to finish

Blowing snow, looking across to Italy

Conference at the Grand Envers

After about 20 minutes of mexican standoff where nobody dared drop the first 45deg pitch we bailed on that idea and took a more shallow angled route.

Mexican Standoff Over

After dropping in it was amazing – absolute bottomless pow, so deep that turning really wasn’t necessary at all, just some bounces with token pole plants to make it look like skiing. But at the bottom of each pitch some serious trail breaking needed to be done.

No action shots were taken as it was quite a serious situation – we were instructed to ski one by one from safe zone to safe zone with no stopping, so while I’d love to have proof of how good it was up there you’re just going to have to believe me. We did kick off a few minor slides as we went down but everything was manageable.

Looking back up at the Aiguille

In the Trenches

These guys missed the track. Sucks to be them!

In the Trenches

The powder was untracked from the top to the glacier below, only in the lower reaches did we start feeling the bottom but even then we could work the aspects and have a smooth run.

Freshies lower down

Then it was the usual conveyor belt along the Mer de Glace to the lower reaches of the glacier, then the moraine hike and the James Bond trail to town.

We got back in good time and felt like another run, so we headed to the mid-station and traversed far skier’s right and skied some great pow until it got warm down into the trees. Even this area was quite active with avalanches so we obeyed good protocol which again meant no photos!

This sounds like quite a benign day and lack of photos to support the evidence, but it really was quite a remarkable day. There was an unfathomable amount of new snow up on the upper reaches of the Aiguille and on the pitches where it was steep enough to actually ski it, the quality was superb. But the euphoria of the snow was tempered with the graveness of the situation regarding the safety, we were in extremely good hands and never felt particularly unsafe, but by the same token people not under such expert supervision could have been far less lucky.

Day 14 – Les Grands Montets

After the previous day’s blue sky powder bonanza, round II of the storm rolled in. We headed to Grands Montets as the top tram didn’t open the day before but was set to open.

Unfortunately I totally fucked it up by forgetting my beacon, only realising when in the line for the second tram. Jerome had some spares in the car so I headed down but that meant that we were on the 4th top tram instead of the second.

The first run down was untracked but slightly heavy powder in really flat light. It was nice, but I was just not feeling right. In hindsight forgetting the beacon showed that I was not quite with it. I was tempted to call it after that run but there was a Dynastar demo center at the mid station so I went in and asked for some fat skis. It was the second time in two days that I was offered something narrower and shorter than I walked in holding – Dynastar Cham 97 175cm vs my 180cm 98mm Blizzard Kabookies. When I stopped laughing I grabbed a pair of 189cm Cham 127mm and headed back up.

Unfortunately the fog had really rolled in which meant no chance of heading on to the glacier so we had to stick to the beaten track which was pretty chopped powder. The skis helped but it was still pretty average. This pretty much finished me off so I headed inside not wanting to wear myself out further or hurt myself, and Nicole and Jerome headed up for 3 more laps. They said the vis came and went, they found some good snow and did one run where they skied along the tongue of the Glacier d’Argentiere which was fun until it turned into the usual low down combat skiing.

Not a day for photos – here’s one from the first run:

Nicole Grands Montets Braille Powder

So we did a warm up in Vallons and went back up to check out the Trifides couloir, which is another of La Grave’s more famous lines. It was around 40-45deg in steepness and the snow was firm but grippy. After a bit of rockhopping in the entrance we were in the couloir and had a great time. Good challenging steepness without being too steep or scary.

Rock Hopping in the Trifides Entrance

Rock Hopping in the Trifides Entrance

Nicole in Trifides Couloir – Steep

Trifides Couloir above Richard’s Helmet

Trifides Couloirs – La Grave

After Trifides we headed up to the 3200m station for lunch as we wanted to give the lower face of La Vaute time to thaw. After lunch we headed up to the top of the poma at 3500m and skied some mellow glacier pow while looking for the entrance

Glacier Pow above La Vaute

As it rolled over and got steeper the snow became wind-affected and quite tricky to ski. Similar to the snow in Pan de Rideau but without the 50deg steepness attached, it definitely required some new techniques, some of which were more effective than aesthetic. The crust was definitely breakable and a jump turn would have had your skis buried and your body going over the high-side like an out of control motorcycle racer.

I’m fond of the saying ‘It’s not that you can’t ski bumps, it’s that you can’t ski, and the bumps just prove it’ – and the wind affected snow we were finding in La Grave was definitely proof that if you subsituted ‘windslab’ for ‘bumps’ in that sentence it would hold just as true. The legendary Doug Coombs who passed away in La Grave in 2006 also had a saying ‘There’s no such thing as shitty snow, just shitty skiers’. La Grave was proving this to us in spades. I can’t remember a time when I learned so much about my skiing in just 3 short days as I did in La Grave.

Entering La Vaute – La Grave

In La Vaute – La Grave

The couloir gradually narrowed and steepened until we found the rappel zone, Jerome dug out the anchor and started preparing his rope. I had done quite a bit more rope work than Nicole in previous years including a couple in Chamonix in 2012 so I was quite comfortable with the setup but this was Nicole’s first effort and she performed admirably.

Jerome preparing the rappel – La Vaute – La Grave

The Rappel from above

Nicole starting the Rappel

Richard on the rappel into La Vaute

Richard Rappelling – La Vaute – La Grave

La Vaute translates to ‘The Vault’ in English and it’s easy to see why as you make your way down the couloir – enormous rock walls on each side and above, the only access is via a rope and the only sign of civilisation is the road thousands of metres below.

La Vaute – La Grave

Richard & Nicole skiing La Vaute – La Grave

La Vaute – La Grave

The snow remained windpacked and shitty, right up until the point where we transitioned into the zone where it had thawed in the previous weeks and refrozen, where we found wafer-thin drifts of fresh windblown snow resting as a thin veneer on top of the brown refrozen slush & frozen avalanche debris.

The warming that was forecast for the afternoon never eventuated due to grey skies forming in advance of an approaching storm.

I’ve often mentioned that in France you have to pay for an epic descent with a horrible runout, but this was taking it to the next level. Absolutely rock hard, sheet ice slick faces with the occasional mogul to get in the way. It was combat skiing at it’s absolute finest, and we skied very gingerly as a fall would have resulted in a large slide.

It was actually so bad that it was good, the kind of skiing where you just grit your teeth and get stuck into it – again La Grave proving that the mountain is boss.

Getting shitty at the bottom – La Vaute – La Grave

Shitty at the bottom – La Vaute – La Grave

Finally at the Valley – La Vaute – La Grave

I will do a proper review later in the trip but by this stage we are absolutely smitten with our new Blizzard Kabookies. Yet again we’ve ended up on the same skis due to women’s models not being imported into Australia in lengths above about 160, but we are absolutely stoked with our purchase. I am on the 180 and Nicole is on the 173, we have mounted them with our Dynafit touring bindings and given them a good workout in a wide range of conditions.

We LOVE our skis!

And so ended our trip to La Grave – Jerome hitchhiked back up to the car and came back down the road to pick us up and we began the 4 hour journey back to Cham with the excitement of a storm brewing and more powder.

I couldn’t be happier with our three days in La Grave. I have wanted to ski there for a very long time, and it possesses that rare and exceptional honour of living up to it’s reputation, and exceeding it by a great deal.

It is a true challenge of the all facets that make up an expert skier, technically, physically & psychologically. It exposes any weakness more brutally than any other ski area I’ve seen. Even Chamonix for all it’s hardcore elements also has the more benign resorts in the valley allowing you to take a softer option.

I can’t wait to go back.