April was a fine month with good weather and stable snow conditions allowing many long days to the mountain tops from the valley floor – mainly with the Finnish crew of Mikko and Lauri. We went to the Chardonnet West – Trident linkup, Moine Banane (with talented photographer Aaron Rolph), Central peak of Tricot, Aiguille de Mesure North Face, Mt Oreb North Face.
Weird environmental seem to be happening more frequently these past years. From the 600 mm of rain that fell in the Alp Maritime in 12 hours this autumn, to this weird Martian day I woke up to in a strange bed heavily hungover after Searle’s birthday party, trying to make sense of what was going on. Turns out it was possible the biggest Sahara sand storm on record which transported sand as far as Finland. We went out kite skiing, enjjoying the wind and marvelling at the deposits of sand on our clothing, later to learn the sand had traces of Cesium 137 from the 1960’s French nuclear tests in Algeria – a paper mask might not stop covid but it may have been useful to avoid inhaling too much of that into our lungs!
A dry November and December was followed by the mother of all January’s. Without the usual ski resort avi control the steep sided Chamonix valley started to feel a little like it did in ’99 when houses were destroyed by avalanche with their occupants. Fortune seemed to favour us and the weather broke long enough for some essential avalanche control work by heli deployed daisy bell.
February was another drought and after skiing Pointe Percee North Face on disgusting snow, it was time to change tactics and look for better options. A ski and fly out the Pas de Chevre was a extrordinary experience for me, skiing those big open powder slopes then flying effortlessly over the combat zones down to beers in the sun at Argentiere. I’m a novice paraglider and it was my first time employing ski n fly tactics in the mountains. Pas de Chevre was one of my big goals for this winter and boom, it happened like clock work. For me ski n fly will be my future tactic of choice for the big lines like the Peuterey Ridge, I just need to keep building my experience and abilities slowly and surely.
While it was dry and hot we took to our bikes exploring Annecy venues around Semnoz, Talloire and Yeyrier, all so good and a pleasure to have bigger vistas than in our tight sided valley.
Another day I joined Ben Tibbetts and Valentine Favre (World skimo champion who just did Chamonix – Zermatt in 26 hours (https://runthealps.com/something-truly-badass-just-happened-in-the-alps/?fbclid=IwAR0pl0cuuOaaHf-2naRvW3cJRYl1SU_XJmcgkzgdkWIKJhbvAGzsavxL89c ) to ski up Mont Gele in Italy’s beautiful Valpelline. This is a great client day and there is a beautiful refuge and bivi hut to break the 1900 m into 2 days. The summit has incredible 360 views from Mont Blanc – Grand Jorasses – Grand Combin – Dent Blanche – Dent d’Herens – Monte Rosa.
Finally the snow returned and with it motivation to ski lines. The talented photographer Aaron Rolph joined myself and Tom for a lush day on the Premier Pointe de Tricot’s North East couloir which was almost despatched at pedal to the metal velocity. A few fabulous days at Skyway with friends followed, notably Luca Pandolfi. We skied Entreves, Marbrees, the lower trees – high quality snow on world class runs, just having fun, with lots of friends around us, eating and drinking like you do in Italy. It was an incredible shock and saddening to hear of Luca’s passing in an avalanche on the Monday in his homeland near Grand St Bernhard. His gentle loving nature, enthusiasm and happiness will be sorely missed.
Then it was time to hit the Swiss lift systems where we explored the untracked forests finding a plethora of untapped sick pillow lines down 40 degree glades. This was a massive moral boost and just so much fun having spent most of the winter touring for every single metre! During this period we revisited the Orny Couloirs, enjoying the return to the high mountain.
More recently my focus has been closer to home on the big runs in the Argentiere basin. After a lifetime of living out of hotels and refuges as an engineer or guide, I prefer to sleep in my own bed and have a longer day from the valley floor. In the last week we did 4 day trips to the basin to ski the Cristaux, Argentiere Y couloir, South Face of the Chardonnet and Col des Courtes. These are big days in anyone’s books and I’ve called upon my summer 5000 m vert bike missions on my Nomad to power a pair of 100 mm skis and maestrale’s up and back. I’d love to get my hands on a pair of Scarpa F1 LTs for the bigger end of season missions but seems Brexit and confinements is making my chances of getting a pair from the UK non existent. Oh well, I shall keep going with what I got for now!
During a fortuitous meeting in the street with Ben Tibbetts a few weeks ago, he kindly shared the news that Jon Bracey ad himself had made a rare ascent of the Loschental Breithorn North Face…the seed was planted and I was psyched to go have an adventure.
With lockdown rules in France allowing professionally registered guides to train during lockdown, a controversial privilege that I am forever grateful, I had been training hard with some very long days on my bike. My legs were strong but I hadn’t worn crampons or been in the alpine for 2 months and was completely unacclimatised. James Clapham would partner me on the climb and conversely he was climbing fit, but looking after a toddler at home hadn’t left much time for cardio. It sounded like with some team work we would complement each others strengths well.
Off we went to Switzerland with heavy bags and light hearts, our spirits lifted by seeing something other than the sides of the Chamonix Valley after a month of lockdown. We planned to park at the roadhead in Fafleralp but to our dismay the authorities had closed the road for winter at Blatten, despite a distinct lack of snow. When the point of the trip was to catch up on lost time in the mountains, whats another 4 km added to the approach?! I usually hate walking as biking and skiing are such superior methods of transport, but after a month at home I loved just being outside and feeling alive in nature. The conversation flowed keeping our minds off the effort and we steadily gained height passing some steep icy grass, only to be forced to wage war on evil crusty faceted glacier snow. Our intention to climb and scope out the first pitch faded with the failing light and we settled on making our home for the night and the lengthy process of melting snow and hydrating.
We had a relatively civilised (for alpine climbing) 4 am ‘reveil’ and listened to the purr of the stove from the warm of our sleeping bags. After a quick breakfast, it was a pair of reluctant alpinists that swapped the warm comfort of our down cocoons for the frosty night air, knowing the quicker we got moving, the quicker we would get warm. The full moon that had risen as soon as we went to bed and kept out tent illuminated all night, set the moment we got going and plunged us into inky darkness. At the buttress James traversed off into the dark on a snow ramp with increasing exposure. The boys had warned us of compact rock with sparse protection and James did well to find a decent belay. As I followed the rope the precarious nature of the climbing and the unfamiliarity of mixed climbing was making itself felt. The route was pretty dry and it was more effective to crimp small edges rather than dry tool. The next pitch was lower angle and easier, but I found thin delaminated ice and only found one piece in a 60 m pitch that might hold anything. My belay was akin to Gogarth style affair in an attempt to distribute the load across multiple less than ideal pieces.
The next pitch was the main deal with steep rock plastered with blobs of neve, thin delaminating water ice making you wary and hard to spot protection arriving just at the right moment. James was in his element and quickly sent it. I followed absorbed in the delicate and interesting climbing feeling fully back in my comfort zone and trusting my feet. After collecting the gear from James, I led off and a short step was followed by the conspicuous elliptical snowfield we had spotted from below that joined the upper icefield. It was time to unrope and pick up the pace as we had a long day ahead.
At 11 am I made the last few metres onto the summit ridge and stepped out of the frosty shade and into the sunlight. The snow capped Alps stretched out to the horizons all around, a subliminal moment after a month of ‘confinement’. We paused for a moment to eat before continuing up the PD+ ridge and traversing the summit to the Biechglacier. The day was far from over with shocking snow conditions on the descent down the glacier and on the far side Biechpass but we got off the rough terrain in daylight which was a big relief for tired minds and tweaked ankles. As the forest trail gave way to the last 4 km of tarmac, the moon rose and we made the last section without headtorches.
The best ski runs from 2020. We started the season down under. New Zealand must be one of my alternative spiritual homes, a place I’ve visited several times and feel completely at home. For skiing it’s like my Super Bowl. You may make all the moves and just be out of luck with high winds making you question the sanity of opening the outside door. But make the finals and on ‘The Day’ NZ will show you her magic and allow you play your A game. With @davejsearle we added a 700 m line to the Caroline Face, skied the 2nd known descent of Bowie Couloir and did another lap on the East Face of Cook. Back in Chamonix just as the season got good lockdown came and we had a wait of 2 months confined to our homes before restarting the season with a run on the Midi North Face to start the high mountain season. Dreaming of skiing during lockdown 2, hopefully it will be over soon.
Spring 2020 in France was a strict 2 month lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. I didn’t see a soul for 55 days except for the gendarmes policing the lockdown outside my house, freely handing out fines to the unfortunates for minor misdemeanours. As soon as lock down lifted I went back to my spiritual home in the mountains with my friends and skied the North Face of Aiguille du Midi. What joy to be back skiing after a 2 month hiatus. The post lock down season would be a short one for me with the lift only open at the weekends and a massive project on a scale that was hard to comprehend drawing all my energy. However we made some nice days, Tacul, Gervasutti Couloir, Contamine Negri, and Col de la Brenva to finish the season. Soft spring snow made for relaxed skiing and some cloud in the Brenva Cirque made everything feel very atmospheric, oh an a massive rimaye at the bottom made for an exciting exit onto the debris cone. The slog back up the Valley Blanche in desert heat wasn’t so fun but the bars were open that night for the first time and the cold beer never tasted so good.
Ross Hewitt Guiding 