canon – Ross Hewitt Guiding

Camping Time

1st Apr 2014by rosshewittguiding3 Comments

This week we Dave Searle and myself went back to the Miage Glacier under Mont Blanc’s Himalayan sized West Face with the idea to have a semi-rest day and camp on day 1 and then get and early start and ski a line mid-morning before it got too hot. I had some expedition kit to test out so this provided the perfect opportunity.

At the foot of the Miage. We soon got bored of load carrying in the heat and set up camp.

Chilling out in the evening.

My touring set up this season.

Dave’s disco tent

Our line for the day on looker’s right

Dave at the start of the 1100 m bootpack

The shrund was bottomless and we roped up

Sunrise

Upwards, on and on.

The snow deteriorated due to being worked by spindrift so we skied the good stuff

Friday’s Freeride

29th Mar 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

I headed into the neighbour’s back garden the other day with the usual suspects; Liz Daley (armed with her perma-stoke), Davide de Masi and Dave Searle. Our efforts were well rewarded and we found exceptional rip-able powder waiting for us in this long hallway. A fantastic day which was ended with a beer ontop of a mountain in the sun.

All quiet, the cirque to ourselves

Let the dance begin Perma-stoke Searler, Liz and de Masi wishing they had spanking paddles (snow plates) in the deep pow

This is going to be sick

Dave Searle

Liz Daley

Davide de Masi superstylinOur line
Heading to the bar for a well earned cold beer

Couturier-Whymper on La Verte

13th Mar 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

Dave Searle and myself have been wanting to do a traverse of the Verte for a couple of years now combining climbing Couturier and skiing Whymper onsight. After all the free-riding in January and February I was up for an alpine traverse trip like this which offers so much in the way of adventure, challenge, unknown, excitement and great training. The Aiguille Verte is an amazing mountain at 4122 m and all its routes are long and demanding. We were joined by Mikko Heimonen.
C0uturier

Aiguille Verte on the far right with the 1000 m Couturier Couloir descending direct from the summit.

The sunny side of Aiguille Verte, Whymper Couloir descends right of the summit.
Couturier Whymper La Verte Couturier Whymper La Verte Seale Heimonen-4

Nearing the top of the Couloir and the end of the neve with black ice and seracs looming. Couturier Whymper La Verte Seale Heimonen-6

We threaded the seracs along a ramp in the sun above the rock. Couturier Whymper La Verte Seale Heimonen-7 Mikko on the Verte for the first time.

Almost feeling Himalayan due to the cold, with 40 kph wind we were glad to get off the austere north side and into the sun.

Summit of the Verte for me!

Panorama Aiguille Leschaux to Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc and the Chamonix Aiguilles The wind tugged at our skis along the exposed ridge.
Couturier Whymper La Verte Seale Heimonen-15

The snow stayed pretty frozen with the wind.

Chute Central

10th Mar 2014by rosshewittguiding1 Comment

This week I headed back to the Miage area to ski some more of those massive 1000 m couloir lines with Michelle Blaydon, Kirsti Lehtimaki and Mikko Heimonen who had just landed in Chamonix. The powder has all been blown away leaving hard edge-able wind buff which made the boot pack a joy. First up was the line lookers left of the Bonatti which is reminiscent of a Domilimiti line with huge walls souring high above our heads. This line is overlooked since it doesn’t top out on the ridge but with 850 m vertical of skiing I don’t care. Probably the best couloir I have skied in the Mont Blanc Massif with a few hundred metres of 50 degrees at the top and an exciting ramp above some mixed ground. Second up was the 1200 m Domenech Couloir on the Aiguille de l’Aigle which we onsighted from the top. We arrived back at Zerotta in the Courmayeur ski area early afternoon and enjoyed relaxing in the sun and eating pizza and having a beer!

Michelle skiing. Petit Mont Blanc North East Face_-19

Kirsti on the changing lines pitch.

Kirsti skiing the lower couloir.

Time to relax!

The Devil’s Spires

6th Mar 2014by rosshewittguiding1 Comment

I had been wanting to ski the Macho Couloir off Col Diable for a while now but finding a partner who was free was proving challenging. My Black Crows team mate Tom Grant arrived back in Chamonix with his usual high level of psych and he was willing to go do whatever was good. It all looked set, the only minor setback was Tom being kicked out of the first cable car for missing a payment on his season ski pass. With that sorted he managed to jump the queue and caught me up as I ambled down the valley blanche scoping out conditions en route. Good job he did catch me up as it was super deep and we had to trench our way up sustained 50 degree slopes to the col, arriving there pretty tired mid afternoon after 5-6 hours of uphill. The ski down was exceptional with overhead blower and the 125 under foot Noctas eating it up, we just had to take care not to get sluffed off the face. Amazing conditions and just as well, this route is steep, exposed and technical. I loved it. High on the ridge amongst the spires staring down at the Grand and Petit Capucins hundreds of metres below. I bet it would feel really steep in spring snow.