Col de Cristaux

Col de CristauxMichelle has been wanting to go to Col de Cristaux for a while now so I’d been saving it up for a nice sunny spring day when things would soften up. We were joined by fellow Aberdonian climber-skiers Sandy Simpson and Andy Inglis a very social lap on this Chamonix Classic from the sunny right hand finish.

I was surprised to see a large team start up the face behind us when were we 3/4 of the way up. As things were softening up fast and I started to ski down towards them, they appeared quite distressed by the volume of sluff that the skiers on the (other) direct finish were sending down. Surely if you didn’t manage to get out of bed early enough to start with the others, you would question the wisdom of questing up a route knowing people will be skiing down and dislodging anything from 1 to 1000 Te of snow? Would you go onto a big ice route behind people without expecting to get a lot of ice in the face? A few years ago another team followed us up the ice route Omega on the Petit Jorasses. By the end both of them were bloodied and bruised from direct hits from falling ice. It certainly spoiled my day knowing that anything we dislodged was going to harm them to some degree. Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-7

Sandy booting it.Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-11 Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-14 Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-16

Spot the guy climbing.Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-17 Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-23

This guy definitely felt the need to get a bit more rad than necessary for a 5.1.Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-30

Michelle all cosy in a down jacket. The boys were down to mankinis.Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-35 Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-44 Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-45 Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-48 Cristaux Michelle Blaydon-55

Last of the Lift Served Powder

 

 

Its been a long powder season and this could be the last of it. We enjoyed a few laps on the Midi to get the most out of it.

I’m psyched to get a few steep ski mountaineering routes done now. Envers & CosmiquesJohn Minogue getting his first face shot of the day.

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Betony up to her thighs.Envers & Cosmiques-29Michelle carving

Envers & Cosmiques-37Into the Cosmiques

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Envers & Cosmiques-69Jake Morgan popping his cosmic virginity – what a day to choose. We went staight back up for more.

Envers & Cosmiques-72Luca joins us for a 5 o’clock run.

Envers & Cosmiques-73Enticing creamy pow

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