west couloir – Ross Hewitt Guiding

Chamonix 2018 went down as one of those all time seasons. Sometimes when you in the midst of it all skiing routes and planning the next one, there is so little time to see just how good it was. But putting these clips toegther made me realise how lucky we were. Even more so because in the preseason and about to depart for New Zealand’s Caroline Face, I got injured with a sequestrated L5-S1. Hobbling around Cham in mortal agony with a paralysed sciatic nerve that caused my glutes and calf muscles to wither and die, a successful ski season with around 15 North Face runs seemed a very unrealistic goal. Thanks to all those obsessive ski bums who I shared those turns with, those that sacrifice it all, coming from round the World, to ski down Chamonix’s big mountains.

Epic snow conditions in the West Couloir this week. Deep consistent snow taking the angle off and especially appreciated especially for the huck over the lower icefall. Trenching our way up to the little col took a bit of effort with snow above head height but worth it in the end! It was especially sweet getting it done after waking up to snowfall outside, and then a small window with the Foehn coming in after and slamming it shut again.

My camera was malfunctioning for some weird reason that I cant figure out (glad I carried all that weight for nothing) so thanks to Luca Pandolfi and Dave Searle for their photos below. All unmarked photos are courtesy of Dave.