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The Glacier Rond (seen under the moon) is an highly accessible, asthetic and classic way down from the Midi. It provides a beautiful sustained slope of 50-40 degrees with an awesome ambience and tasty exposure. Unfortuneately, for most of the season there has been exposed blue glacial ice on the upper slopes. Yesterday however, after recent sizeable snowfalls, shin deep pow was glued to the glacier. By the end of the day the face had aquired small moguls, as numerous riders enjoyed the prime conditions. The entrance to the Exit Couloir was quite rocky but skiable, although some might prefer to rap in. And the pow was superb all the way down the para slopes to the abandoned lift station. It is worth checking out the Edge of Never, a book and film centered on the death of Trevor Peterson in the Exit Couloir of the Rond, and his son who skis it with the help of local big mountain legends. Unfortuneately the film seems too contrived, and plays to over hysterical stereotypes of Chamonix as the 'Death Sport Capital of the World'.
Haute Pursuit are one of the main sponsors of the first Eco Expo, which is
"an event that will help people understand how to protect our environment, in particular the Chamonix Valley and therefore live, work, ski in and enjoy this beautiful area in a more sustainable way."
For those of us living in and visiting the Chamonix Valley, climate change is not abstract science, but is in your face everytime you venture into the mountains. Standing today by the sign on the stairs to the Montevers telecabine, it showed the level the Mer de Glace reached in 1990. A good 100m, or 500 steps beneath me. We invite you to join us at the Eco Expo on April 29th at the Hotel Les Aiglons, Chamonix.
One of my all time favourite zones to ride snow, is the Plan d'Aguille ( the Midi lift midstation). If you veture off the beaten runs and don't mind the odd bit of bushwacking, deep fluffy pillows and incredible terrain are the norm.
Yesterday we got a nice alpine 2pm start, and headed up to see if we could find the mythical Glacier du Mort. The snow elsewhere has suffered recently from sun and wind, but the Aguille Rouge has countless beautiful sheltered couloirs and faces. After skinning from the telepherique car park (it was closed due to wind) and another 1000m or so of skinning and bootpacking, we were rewarded with sweet sweet pow down the Glacier du Mort.
The Glacier Rond (seen under the moon) is an highly accessible, asthetic and classic way down from the Midi. It provides a beautiful sustained slope of 50-40 degrees with an awesome ambience and tasty exposure. Unfortuneately, for most of the season there has been exposed blue glacial ice on the upper slopes. Yesterday however, after recent sizeable snowfalls, shin deep pow was glued to the glacier. By the end of the day the face had aquired small moguls, as numerous riders enjoyed the prime conditions. The entrance to the Exit Couloir was quite rocky but skiable, although some might prefer to rap in. And the pow was superb all the way down the para slopes to the abandoned lift station. It is worth checking out the Edge of Never, a book and film centered on the death of Trevor Peterson in the Exit Couloir of the Rond, and his son who skis it with the help of local big mountain legends. Unfortuneately the film seems too contrived, and plays to over hysterical stereotypes of Chamonix as the 'Death Sport Capital of the World'.
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