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Tag: ski conditions alps

Col des Cristaux

3rd May 2019 by rosshewittguiding Leave a comment

Posted in skiingTagged argentiere basin, argentiere glacier, col des cristaux, guiding, mountain guide, piotr badowski, powder, ross hewitt, Ross Hewitt Guiding, ski alpinism, ski conditions alps, ski guide, ski mountaineering, ski touring, skiing, steep

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As the rain 🌧 poured down, We all shredded brown, Imagination running wild, We hoped it would be all time, First turn in Tof knocked it down, I went back to shredding the brown, Waiting for more pow to come on down, I gave my legs a hiding, Until I could do no more riding, Then a birdie told me, About how she got high, Skiing the great funnel in the sky, Off I went and met some guys, All looking to get high skiing the great funnel in the sky. Merci a @gabrivas et @jomidol pour les virages

Brownpow today.

Tournier into Col du Plan Some days go like clockwork like the last time I skied Col du Plan in less than an hour. This wasn’t one of those days. The Midi opened late which I hate as it seems to fuck things up and eat into your window. The storm cycle had put heavy plaster on the face and we abandoned plans for the bigger lines. My go pro decided to come unstuck from my helmet on the ridge and fall in the snow at my feet 😅. Tof ripped out the biggest propagating slab I’ve seen on the North Face taking it down to the black ice in places. After a phone call it was clear I couldn’t leave a brother in the war zone on his own and It took me a long time to dig down to an ice anchor and get another rope to get across the ice. Then the fog came...FFS. What happened to the bluebird forecast? More stressful waiting. The consolation was a good lower couloir enabling us to straight line through the choke and avoid the rappel. Then Bird was MIA eventually arriving in town after been stuck in a cloudy cookoos nest up there all day unable to fly. Relief. Never a dull moment on the Midi. Thanks for the adventure @tof_henry and the extra rope @birdwhere

➡️right to check out our location. It looks flat...usually we avoid hop turns...except when your on a snow smear a few meters wide averaging 50 degrees with around 600 m exposure to the deck

Ski descent of Aiguille du Plan North Face with @mikeyarno...Last year I was ready to go on this.After a sticky snowfall,conditions on the traverse looked amazing & I spent a day contacting everyone looking for a partner-they all politely declined.That night I went to bed with my bag packed with 120 m of rope,pitons,nuts,cams,screws & no avi kit-ready for a solo mission.Next day the Midi broke down, Victor de la Rue’s team choppered up & the opportunity was lost.This year the Alps went through a heatwave in February & the mountains were dry and boney.I’d been talking to Mike about big adventures in May but was second guessing whether to commit the time knowing it could be a duster, a decision made all the more difficult when someone offered me a sack of silver to do a job. Then May came about bringing a second winter & I became determined to get this one done. Funny as it may seem for a skier to say this but I just watched ‘Dawn Wall’ as was inspired by @tommycaldwell’s drive & tenacity for a project & deep down knew that these kind of days are priceless - I turned down the job. Mike was still free and psyched but living in Aosta he was blind to conditions,totally reliant on my judgement...I knew from glancing at the face driving down valley conditions were good but I didn’t have a high resolution photo of the face to carefully examine the boundaries of skiable snow and where to rap.Sunday evening had the mountains shrouded In cloud with all forecasts showing strong wind we decided to hold. I woke up on Monday & there was almost no wind.Had I missed the chance?I knew a clear day would mean the hot westerly sun would bake the last spine on the traverse with ice glaze, perhaps requiring a reset storm...Michelle had a flight to Uk at lunch but could tell I was distracted & she came with me to photograph the line and work out the plan. Under the first serac there was this beautiful snaking spine of snow catching the sun that begged to be ridden.The forecast still showed high wind but I figured once below 3400 m we might get some shelter from the Blatiere and we decided to go adventuring #fitness #skiing #nature #mountains #outdoors #health #training

Ski descent of The North Face of Aiguille du Plan. I haven’t been on an adventure this year and with the usual Midi North Face freeride runs a bit scoured after the wind it was time to go on one. That spine after the first serac looked sick and was calling. @mikeyarno was psyched out of his mind and off we went conditions are sub optimal after the NE hurricane but we accepted that and I wanted to hit this route before the traverse got baked. Faceted snow climbing, Scottish style wind, spindrift, the unknown, maximum exposure, great snow where it counted, a mind blowing spine, a couple of transitions, loose flakes, a pendulum that ripped a ski and axe off my pack. I would say that was an adventure. @patagonia_snow @patagonia @blackcrows_skis @plum_officiel @petzl_official @julbo_eyewear @sapaudiabrewing.co @conceptchamonix #skiing #powder #steepskiing #fitness #health #nutrition #training #nature #mountains #outdoors #outside #chamonix #chamonixmontblanc #chamlive

That perfect moment when you switch off the mind, commit and ride as hard as you can 🚀🚀🚀. A fabulous run opening the Col du Plan on the North Face of the Midi with @pe_papy_millet who was on 🔥and @birdwhere who flew home off the serac. Photo by the legend @jonathan.charlet 🙏 @patagonia @patagonia_snow @blackcrows_skis @plum_officiel @petzl_official @sapaudiabrewing.co @conceptchamonix #chamonix #chamlive #montblanc #aiguilledumidi #skiing #steepskiing #freeride #skitouring #powder #rosshewittguiding #training #nutrition #health #fitness #nature #outdoors #outside #mountains

Sunday run with @michelleblaydon

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As the rain 🌧 poured down, We all shredded brown, Imagination running wild, We hoped it would be all time, First turn in Tof knocked it down, I went back to shredding the brown, Waiting for more pow to come on down, I gave my legs a hiding, Until I could do no more riding, Then a birdie told me, About how she got high, Skiing the great funnel in the sky, Off I went and met some guys, All looking to get high skiing the great funnel in the sky. Merci a @gabrivas et @jomidol pour les virages

Brownpow today.

Tournier into Col du Plan Some days go like clockwork like the last time I skied Col du Plan in less than an hour. This wasn’t one of those days. The Midi opened late which I hate as it seems to fuck things up and eat into your window. The storm cycle had put heavy plaster on the face and we abandoned plans for the bigger lines. My go pro decided to come unstuck from my helmet on the ridge and fall in the snow at my feet 😅. Tof ripped out the biggest propagating slab I’ve seen on the North Face taking it down to the black ice in places. After a phone call it was clear I couldn’t leave a brother in the war zone on his own and It took me a long time to dig down to an ice anchor and get another rope to get across the ice. Then the fog came...FFS. What happened to the bluebird forecast? More stressful waiting. The consolation was a good lower couloir enabling us to straight line through the choke and avoid the rappel. Then Bird was MIA eventually arriving in town after been stuck in a cloudy cookoos nest up there all day unable to fly. Relief. Never a dull moment on the Midi. Thanks for the adventure @tof_henry and the extra rope @birdwhere

➡️right to check out our location. It looks flat...usually we avoid hop turns...except when your on a snow smear a few meters wide averaging 50 degrees with around 600 m exposure to the deck

Ski descent of Aiguille du Plan North Face with @mikeyarno...Last year I was ready to go on this.After a sticky snowfall,conditions on the traverse looked amazing & I spent a day contacting everyone looking for a partner-they all politely declined.That night I went to bed with my bag packed with 120 m of rope,pitons,nuts,cams,screws & no avi kit-ready for a solo mission.Next day the Midi broke down, Victor de la Rue’s team choppered up & the opportunity was lost.This year the Alps went through a heatwave in February & the mountains were dry and boney.I’d been talking to Mike about big adventures in May but was second guessing whether to commit the time knowing it could be a duster, a decision made all the more difficult when someone offered me a sack of silver to do a job. Then May came about bringing a second winter & I became determined to get this one done. Funny as it may seem for a skier to say this but I just watched ‘Dawn Wall’ as was inspired by @tommycaldwell’s drive & tenacity for a project & deep down knew that these kind of days are priceless - I turned down the job. Mike was still free and psyched but living in Aosta he was blind to conditions,totally reliant on my judgement...I knew from glancing at the face driving down valley conditions were good but I didn’t have a high resolution photo of the face to carefully examine the boundaries of skiable snow and where to rap.Sunday evening had the mountains shrouded In cloud with all forecasts showing strong wind we decided to hold. I woke up on Monday & there was almost no wind.Had I missed the chance?I knew a clear day would mean the hot westerly sun would bake the last spine on the traverse with ice glaze, perhaps requiring a reset storm...Michelle had a flight to Uk at lunch but could tell I was distracted & she came with me to photograph the line and work out the plan. Under the first serac there was this beautiful snaking spine of snow catching the sun that begged to be ridden.The forecast still showed high wind but I figured once below 3400 m we might get some shelter from the Blatiere and we decided to go adventuring #fitness #skiing #nature #mountains #outdoors #health #training

Ski descent of The North Face of Aiguille du Plan. I haven’t been on an adventure this year and with the usual Midi North Face freeride runs a bit scoured after the wind it was time to go on one. That spine after the first serac looked sick and was calling. @mikeyarno was psyched out of his mind and off we went conditions are sub optimal after the NE hurricane but we accepted that and I wanted to hit this route before the traverse got baked. Faceted snow climbing, Scottish style wind, spindrift, the unknown, maximum exposure, great snow where it counted, a mind blowing spine, a couple of transitions, loose flakes, a pendulum that ripped a ski and axe off my pack. I would say that was an adventure. @patagonia_snow @patagonia @blackcrows_skis @plum_officiel @petzl_official @julbo_eyewear @sapaudiabrewing.co @conceptchamonix #skiing #powder #steepskiing #fitness #health #nutrition #training #nature #mountains #outdoors #outside #chamonix #chamonixmontblanc #chamlive

That perfect moment when you switch off the mind, commit and ride as hard as you can 🚀🚀🚀. A fabulous run opening the Col du Plan on the North Face of the Midi with @pe_papy_millet who was on 🔥and @birdwhere who flew home off the serac. Photo by the legend @jonathan.charlet 🙏 @patagonia @patagonia_snow @blackcrows_skis @plum_officiel @petzl_official @sapaudiabrewing.co @conceptchamonix #chamonix #chamlive #montblanc #aiguilledumidi #skiing #steepskiing #freeride #skitouring #powder #rosshewittguiding #training #nutrition #health #fitness #nature #outdoors #outside #mountains

Sunday run with @michelleblaydon

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