Tour Ronde Brenva

This week I have had the fortune and pleasure of two runs down in the Brenva cirque in great powder throughout the 2000 m + descent. The first run entered the Brenva Glacier down Couloir Cache, the second time we took the South West Couloir from the summit of Tour Ronde. This time I enjoyed the company of Michelle and Andy Benson.Tour Ronde Brenva-2Tour Ronde Brenva-3Tour Ronde Brenva-5Tour Ronde Brenva-10Tour Ronde Brenva-13Tour Ronde Brenva-16Tour Ronde Brenva-18Tour Ronde Brenva-19Tour Ronde Brenva-27Tour Ronde Brenva-28

The Brenva Face of Mont Blanc in the background.Tour Ronde Brenva-34

The amazing backdrop of the icy North Face of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, first skied by Anselme Baud and Patrick Vallencent, and its impressive rocky East Face which has only been skied by Italian Maestro Stephano de Benedetti in the early 80’s. De Benedetti poetically describes his motivation and rewards for taking on the immense psychological challenges of Big Mountain Skiing in the clip below from the movie ‘Steep’. Check it out:

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Traverse of Courtes and South West Couloir

Yesterday I had a memorable adventure going solo to the Courtes to ski the South West couloir. Les Courtes at 3856 m is an amazing steep skiing mountain with routes of equal quality in both the North and South Faces. Here are some photos from the trip.Courtes SW CouloirCourtes SW Couloir-2Courtes SW Couloir-6Courtes SW Couloir-8Courtes SW Couloir-10Courtes SW Couloir-4Courtes SW Couloir-13

The start of the ski line just below the summit.Courtes SW Couloir-24Courtes SW Couloir-26Courtes SW Couloir-33Courtes SW Couloir-29Courtes SW Couloir-34

The abseil line down the V gully in the centre of the photo.Courtes SW Couloir-37

The line taking the leftwards diagonal from the summit to the cliff at the base.Courtes SW Couloir-36A 1.5 m high crown half way down the line which forced me to ski onto the spur on lookers right.

More Couloir Cache Photos

Sylvain sent me through his photos from yesterday’s run:Couloir Cache-2 Couloir Cache-3 Couloir Cache-4With a lot of fresh cooking in this suntrap I tied on to make the traverse to the couloir.Couloir Cache-5 Couloir Cache-6 Couloir Cache-7 Couloir Cache-8 Couloir Cache-9 Couloir Cache-10 Couloir Cache-11 Couloir Cache-12 Couloir Cache-13 Couloir Cache-14 Couloir Cache-15 Couloir Cache-16 Couloir Cache-17 Couloir Cache-18 Couloir Cache-19 Couloir Cache-20 Couloir Cache-21 Couloir Cache

Couloir Cache

 

 

5 star day out in the Brenva cirque with Sylvain Reynaud. Never had it so good from the top to the bottom on this 2000 m run. 
Couloir Cache

The Couloir starts at the demi-lune. A very exposed traverse gains the entrance.Couloir CacheCouloir Cache-3CouloirCache-4Couloir Cache-5Couloir Cache-6Couloir Cache-7Couloir Cache-8Couloir Cache-9Couloir Cache-10Brenva Cache-11Brenva Cache-13Brenva Cache-14Brenva

Italy

I was trying out a new compact the other day in Italy but didn’t quite suss it out while on the hoof. However there were a couple of ok shots. Italian snacks kept us going until we got home for a proper feed.Helbronner Michelle BlaydonHelbronner Michelle Blaydon-2 Helbronner_-3

Luca getting excited about his dough boobie.Helbronner_-2

Luca didnt make these pizzas.
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