ski mountaineering – Page 7 – Ross Hewitt Guiding

Y Couloir, Aiguille d’Argentiere

21st Mar 2015by rosshewittguiding1 Comment

All the North wind we have had has filled in the right hand branch of Y Couloir really well this year and I have been wanting to go there for some time. I was weighing up going solo to Croullante or going to the Y but persistent afternoon cloud on the Aiguille du Midi made it an easy decision to go for Y off the first Grands Montets bin. Late in the afternoon my friend Kirsti Lehtimaki from EPIC TV messaged me saying she wanted to ski and had a friend coming too. Next morning her friend Matthieu Vigier came along with Chloe Laget and Couttet Berbere so we had a sociable skin up the classic Millieu Glacier. The lack of snow meant very firm conditions on the way up and we used ski crampons for the 1400 m climb.

On the summit there was a cold 5 kph wind blowing and I didnt linger long wanting to find the entry to the couloir, having only skied the left branch before. In the couloir it was thankfully a bit warmer and after passing 5 m of rocks at the top we put on our skis on flat corning spring snow.

Y Couloir (TD, 45 degrees, 5.1/5.2 600 m) as seen from Col des Courtes. Its the big line branching below the summit of the Aiguille d’Argentiere (3901m). Y Couloir with the 60 m step at the base with the stunning golden granite spires.

Julbo Aerospace goggles – the ultimate variable venting bootpacking and touring goggle. The big lines of Couturier and Au Coeur du Monde or Col Aiguille Verte right hand (1st and only? descent by the Scottish extreme ski legends Paul MacLeod and Ewen Moffat with the Dane Thomas Husted in 2001).

The North Wall of the Argentiere Glacier – a lifetime of extreme ski dreams in one place.

Me happy on the summit.

I was really happy to see such good conditions and lots of direct sun.

Matthieu skiing cautiously between softer patches. The Black Crows Navis Freebird is an astonishingly good ski.

Kirsti skiing ice axe in hand!

Me in the upper section, Thanks to Kirsti Lehtimaki for the photo.

Still on firm snow at this point and putting in the chop turns to avoid any uncontrollable build up of speed.

Skiing After the Wind

15th Mar 2015by rosshewittguiding1 Comment

A fantastic day out with the Finnish House Mafia team to the Breche Tacul which offers jaw dropping views to the mythical North Face of the Grandes Jorasses. Its been 6 months since we were all climbing there in all time conditions and the face now looks a lot drier but still good enough for young Brit Tom Ballard to solo the Colton Macintyre in 3 hours on March 8th. A great effort considering how dry the upper pitches look.

Our ski descent was on sublime spring corn with buttery turns with the only negative for Friday 13th being my Sony RX100 dying after a fews years hard service. Many thanks to Mika Merikanto for the photos. Check out his awesome photography and blog at http://mikumerikanto.blogspot.fr/

Me with the Jorasses in the back ground.

The Navis Freebird is proving to be an all time favourite touring ski of mine.

Mikko H and Jesper

Mikko above and below

Mika MerikantoMy last ever shot before my Sony RX100 died.

A Day with The Girls

28th Feb 2015by rosshewittguiding1 Comment

Drawn to the Dark Side

26th Feb 2015by rosshewittguiding3 Comments

Hotter than the Sahara.

Its times like these you need spanking paddles on your feet. Born in the Chamonix Valley these preceded poor imitations such as ‘verts’ and enable easy bootpacking in chest deep powder.

Minna about to cut the snow on the rope.

Making the turns count in the hanging couloir above the cliff before we went over the marshmallow on the left to the hanging snowfield.

Someone needs to put in a bolt anchor in these climate change years as the old one on the spur is out of reach with skis on now forcing a tough transition to boots to bounce test the dark age slings. There’s good rock on skiers right that doesn’t have water ice under the snow like old anchor on the rib, perfect for skiing into the anchor. Titty deep, you can’t argue with that.

Cold snow lying undisturbed with handfuls of hoar frost, above and below the last layer.After the technical turns in the couloir it was stunning to just let rip down the meadows to Buet.

High Trail Evotec Glueless Climbing Skins Review

4th Nov 2014by rosshewittguidingLeave a comment

I was sent a pair of these skins to test at the end of the last season so they have been burning a hole in the box waiting to get out. As I collected my ski pass the other day it seemed like it was the right time to cut the skins for my Black Crows Corvus. For the last five years I have religiously used Black Diamond STS mohair mix so they set the benchmark for comparisons.

So how does a glue-less skin work? The Swiss made High Trail use a silicon based coating which creates a molecular bond to adhere to the ski. They come in a stylish box with a very effective Stanley knife style skin cutter, stuff bag, and comprehensive instructions on how to fit them. For all of you who will only read the instructions as a last resort, there is a useful video here for fitting the skins. The product has a high quality feel and appearance as you would expect from a Swiss made item, only time will tell on the performance.

The thing that remains to be seen is how well these skins hold up in wet or cold conditions and the overall durability of the glue-less system. Unlike conventional glue, the coating can’t simply be reapplied. One major benefit is that the skins are much easier to peal off a wide freeride ski. Weight wise there is nothing in it. The tail of the skin has a easily adjustable clip that looks more robust that the Black Diamond skin tails which tend to perish after a season or two.

So all we need now in Europe is for it to snow so I can really put them to the test!