Cosmiques Couloir Beta

The Cosmiques Couloir gives a total of 2800m of skiing with one lift and almost no hiking. It is certainly not extreme, but provides a much spicier and more interesting way off the Midi than the standard Valle Blanche. As of writing, there has been nowhere near enough snow to ski in directly, and around 90m of rapping is required before putting skis on. The entrance is just behind the Cosmiques hut and reasonable anchors can be found in situ, but take some tat. The couloir ranges from 45 to 35 degrees most of the way, and is never that exposed. Perfect for some practice on the steeps. Just don't hang around beneath the Tacul seracs, I've seen a few big ones go. To access to huge powderfields of the para slopes between the old and new lifts, hit the rightward traverse off the Bosson, but this area can be very slabby and is super exposed. The Ronde Glacier is another very accessible line, having tried to ski it recently, I can report it is in pretty awful nic, with unconsolidated snow being scraped off blue glacial ice with every turn.

Finding Powder

The half-term holidays are here and it's not snowed heavily in the Chamonix valley for a little while now, but Haute Pursuit are proving that there is still powder to be skied, if you look for it and put some effort in to get to it. Andy Phillips of Haute Pursuit, along with Paddy Cunningham, hit the Pas de Chevre (accessed from the top lift of the Grand Montets) on Saturday 13th of February. After fighting down the Central Couloir over some horrible ice and moguls and round open crevasses, an hour's skinning up towards the base of Les Drus, revealed about 600m of fresh lines. Paddy's whoops of delight as he dropped in confirmed how good the snow was. Whilst we wait for the next dump and the half-term holidays makers enjoy the glorious sunshine, all at Haute Pursuit will be getting out their touring gear to go in search of more hidden powder!

Belle Italia

Crowds too hectic at the Grand Montets? Never in Italy. Haute Pursuit found big open untouched powder faces on the Italian side on Sunday. And the sun was scorchio. Book yourself a Haute Pursuit transfer for early in the morning and get out there and rip it. Thanks to David for the awesome photos.

Luxury and adrenaline

Last weekend a major London based broker took a three day break with us and were treated to snow, action, luxury and Haute Pursuit perfection. A fully tailored schedule was provided, and Action Outdoors's chalet Vincent offered our clients a full on premier chalet experience. Sunday turned out to be a primo powder day, and we also enjoyed the best of the World Freeride Tour action.

Click here to check out Candide Thovex's winning run.

Awesome.

Snow and more snow

The awesome snowfalls of last Friday and Saturday have provided some great conditions this week, and the dumping has now resumed with 15 to 40 cm being put down today. Superb powder was enjoyed this morning by Haute Pursuit on the slopes of the Plan d'Aguille.

Argentiere Hut dug out and ready to use

Team Haute Pursuit then ventured onto the Argentiere basin to spend the night in the winter room, only to find the door buried under 10 feet of snow! The good news is that it is now possible to drop down a snow hole and through the door. There is also a very nice wood burning stove and enough blankets not to need a sleeping bag. Climbing the Swiss Route on the Courtes was aborted, but there is now an in-situ trench to aid any subsequent attempts.

Haute Pursuit Alpinism

Despite a general lack of ice in the mountains, Tom Grant from Haute Pursuit and Hamish Dunn, left the Midi at 7am on the morning of the 20th for an attempt on Super Couloir, a classic mixed and ice line on the east face of the Tacul. After an arduous approach of snow swimming, they climbed the first 2 pitches of the direct start which is in unusually good condition. After another couple pitches of thin ice, the pair descended the Valle Blanche in the dark.