extreme skiing – Page 2 – Ross Hewitt Guiding

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.

178 Nocta and PLUM Yak

Tom negotiating the lower rocks.

Under the Grand Capucin

The route climbs behind the left hand spires onto the serac bench then up the headwall behind where our tracks can be seen.

Petit Mont Blanc – North East / Bonatti Couloir

3rd Mar 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

Its was always going to be a long day, especially with the amount of bad weather we have had this winter that has prevented us getting tour fit. It was deep going in. Then it got deeper. By late afternoon as the couloir steepened up it got ridiculously deep where I expected it to get faster for booting. Even with snow plates I was waist deep and trenching, the others up to their chests in my trench. Our team of 5 were cooked. We called a stop about 150 m from the top and skied amazing pow in the glow of the evening light. Thanks to Michelle Blaydon, Kirsti Lehtimaki, Cedric Bernardini and Robes Parron for a stunning day.

Meanwhile on the Remote Planet Hoth

2nd Mar 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

I did a couple of training laps on the Midi West last week, one with Searler who broke himself on the Para Face at high speed and retired wounded in action, and one solo where an Italian lady fell down the icy Rond in front of me and got evacuated by heli, though I think it was more of a shock than any specific injury. Great turns and amazing snow.

Sunlight and Storm

1st Mar 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

We started the day in the sun with a cables then a Marbree run. By 1030 it was getting hot in the sun and we relocated to Courmayeur to ski the central BB Couloir on the Dolonne Face.