Go West! Big mountains, big lines. Alpine freeriding / Mont Blanc, Chamonix

Go West! A diary from the steep face mecca.

After a winter in Salzburger Land that provided us with some skiing highlights, it was time to crown the season with a few highlights on a trip to the western Alps. The big mountains were calling us, we heeded the call and made a determined pilgrimage to Chamonix - the Mecca of ambitious off-piste skiing - on the afternoon of Maundy Thursday.

Highly motivated and with lots of ideas in our heads, we arrived in Argentiere on Good Friday rested and on time for the start. In addition to the perfect weather, the Munich crew of Claudia, Alex and Thomas were already waiting for us there. They had come straight from a road trip to Italy and wanted to spend a few days in the Mont Blanc massif to round off their trip. We had decided to check the conditions on the first day of our trip and took the Grand Montets cable car to the top. However, as a slightly longer queue had already formed at the second section, we changed our plan and continued on the Bochard cable car. We eagerly made our way to the start of the Couloir Poubelle, lo and behold, there was only one person ahead of us and the couloir was still completely untracked. The snow looked very good, we quickly got our ropes out of the backpack and off we went abseiling.

Our high expectations were not disappointed, there was about 20-30 cm of fresh powder in the couloir and the downhill fun knew no bounds. Even the Nant Blanc glacier at the end of the "Poubelle" was only marked by a few tiny tracks and was great fun. Then it got exciting: what would the marginal moraine of the Mer de Glace look like? We finally found a narrow gully in which it was still reasonably possible to "ski down" and which was also safe from falling rocks. A perfect first warm-up run, so it can go on like this. Once we arrived in Chamonix, we quickly took the Aiguille du Midi cable car to the top. As the time was already very advanced, we decided to take the Envers du Plan variant at Vallee Blanche and so a very good first day came to an end.

Poubelle Couloir from Georg H. on Vimeo

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of good weather here in Chamonix and so there were two down days. These days were perfect for practising the basics, such as crevasse rescue, or for visiting the Alpine Museum.

Easter Monday, dream conditions and yet a flop

After the best weather was forecast for Easter Monday, we wanted to secure tickets for one of the first gondolas on the Aiguille du Midi on Easter Saturday. Unfortunately, we were already too late, which meant that we had to leave very early on Monday to get an early gondola at the ticket office. We were already half an hour before the ticket office opened and were quite optimistic that we would get to the top quickly, as we had the Gervasutti Couloir on the Tour Rond on our agenda. Shortly before the ticket office opened, an announcement was made that the first gondola would not be leaving at 7:30 a.m. as planned, but only at 9:00 a.m. due to a technical problem. Crap, the schedule could be tight. So first croissant and coffee. We didn't get to the Aiguille Du Midi until 9:45. A stormy and, above all, very cold wind awaited us there.

No time to lose now, so we set off straight away towards the Tour Rond with our hoods up. The next shock on the way. More fresh snow than expected, how were we supposed to make tracks? One group was already skinning up and we thought "...go ahead, we'll catch up comfortably..." Our plan worked perfectly for the first few meters of altitude, but this group did not make their way to the Tour Rond. So we had to put on our ropes at the Brenva glacier and make our own tracks.

Meter by meter, we struggled through the storm in knee- to waist-deep snow towards the Tour Rond and the Gervasutti. We made very slow progress and quickly realized that we wouldn't be skiing the couloir today. When another skin gave up the ghost, we had to retreat. So a very exhausting day came to an end without any sense of achievement, but the view of the wonderful Mont Blanc massif made up for all the exertions of the day.

Tuesday: Cosmique day

Due to all the fresh snow, we decided to leave the skins in our backpacks on Tuesday and ski the Couloir Cosmique, which is very easy to reach from the mountain station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car. This time we had a reservation, so we took the second gondola up and went straight to the start of the gully. Two teams were already busy abseiling before us, so we had a little time to enjoy the view and memorize where the others were standing. The wind from the previous day had blown out the upper section of the gully and the snow was quite hard, so it took three abseils to reach a place where we could put our skis on reasonably comfortably.

After a short slide, the snow became softer and we were able to make our first turns, and the further down we went, the more beautiful it became. We relaxed as we cruised out of the lower section, which leads into the Glacier Rond variant. After enjoying the view of the breathtaking Bosson Glacier for a while, we started the traverse back to the Plan de l'Aiguille. This traverse was very fast, as the Glacier Rond hanging glacier is also located there. Time and again, such glaciers cause icefalls that can trigger devastating (ice) avalanches. This horror scenario happened about a week after our traverse. You can find out more about this problem at the following TGR link

We stopped halfway and looked wistfully down the slopes to Chamonix - should we really skip them to take the cable car down or should we go for powder and walk? Powder, of course, and so we enjoyed a dream descent over wide slopes with a view of the green valley. The rest of the descent was not unexciting either, we fought our way down a steep climb as far as we could with our skis on our feet towards the Mont Blanc tunnel. The snow reached further than expected and so we only had to walk for 15 minutes until we arrived at the tunnel portal. From there, however, the walk back to the Aiguillle cable car took a while due to the summer temperatures. However, the €6 beer in the village tasted a lot better afterwards and we ended this dream day comfortably in the sun.

Couloir Cosmique Part 1 from Georg H. on Vimeo.

Couloir Cosmique Part 2 from Georg H. on Vimeo.

Weather forecast for Wednesday: "Sunny and friendly until midday"

So a shorter tour, the Couloir Chevalier on the Petit Aiguille Verte was the obvious choice and proved to be the right one. The Grand Montets cable car took us up and after a short traverse we were already at the start of the gully, or rather gullies. There were several lines running up the wall and we were still wondering which one to choose. A passing group then asked the lone guy, who was also getting ready to tackle one of the couloirs, for its name and so we knew.
We decided to stick to our original plan and not join the other guy in the neighboring Gigord Couloir, which our guide rated as "TD"..... "Cobbler stick to your last......"

Overcoming the bergschrund turned out to be "interesting" due to the amount of snow and the poor visibility of the snow bridges and cost us some time and nerves, but with our combined strength we finally made it. We fought our way through waist-high snow until the gully steepened and became narrower and were glad to finally come across hard snow in the "Sluffrinne". But after a short time it started to "rain" heavily from this very gully, snow and chunks of ice whizzed past us (and Chris' head) and we had to keep dodging into the soft snow next to it. The culprits were quickly identified, two teams who were entering the gully from above and roping up. They explained to us that they had come up via the north face, an easy route that saves time but doesn't allow us to assess the conditions in the gully. We finished our ascent a few meters below the exit and dug ourselves a small platform to strap on our skis.

The descent was easy and the snow was still good, after a few minutes we were back at the Argentiere glacier and enjoyed the magnificent panorama and the lunch we had brought with us. In the afternoon, the temperatures climbed sharply again and so, after a descent in the spring snow, we spent our time drying our equipment and drinking a few beers on the terrace. The sky also started to darken towards the evening and after checking the weather forecast, it was clear that we probably wouldn't be able to start any major undertakings the next day.

Couloir Chevalier from Georg H. on Vimeo.

Thursday started with a leisurely breakfast

We then drove to Sallanche to visit the local sports stores. The selection was truly enormous and we spent the whole morning looking at climbing equipment and buying one or two items. After a hearty lunch, we headed back towards Argentiere. On the way, we also replenished our muffin supplies to be prepared for the next day. After all, a proper chocolate muffin is part of the standard equipment of every serious alpinist, along with an ice axe and crampons. As the weather wasn't exactly inviting for skiing, the afternoon was used to prepare the equipment for the last tour of the trip and give it another good boil.

An exhausting "free day"

Friday morning, bright sunshine and we take one of the first gondolas up to the Aiguillle du Midi to try the Gervasutti Couloir on the Tour Ronde once again. This time the snow conditions are good, the wind-pressed surface holds and so we are at the start after just 45 minutes, four days earlier it had taken us a whole three hours.

Crossing the bergschrund turned out to be a little more challenging than originally expected, but with the help of an ice screw we were able to get into the frozen left-hand part of the gully and found very pleasant climbing conditions. After about an hour, we had already reached the end of the gully, which was filled with snow throughout, and after a brief discussion we decided not to climb to the summit of the Tour Ronde. Instead, we made ourselves a "cozy" resting place under a rock ledge and waited for the sun. It came after a while, but it wasn't strong enough to soften the snow properly.

After an hour's wait, we started the descent in challenging conditions, full concentration until the end, but it was still beautiful. After the jump over the bergschrund, we were able to relax and make some nice turns before treating ourselves to a snack with a view back down the gully. While looking through the supplies, I noticed that my last muffin was missing and there was only one that could be considered for the brazen theft. Despite trying to escape, the thief had to pay for his greed...

Couloir Gervasutti - Tour Ronde from Georg H. on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, this successful Chamonix trip came to an end far too quickly and we set off for home in a good mood. We already knew one thing when we got into the car: "We'll be back, no question!"

Overview of the couloirs we rode with difficulty, gradient and length

Argentiere:

Poubelles Couloir, "AD", 40°-45°/ 250 m

Chevalier Couloir, "D", 45°-50°/ 350 m

Chamonix:

Cosmiques Couloir, "D", 45°-50°/ 800 m

Geant:

Gervasutti Couloir on the Tour Rond, "D+", 45°-50°/ 200 m

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