Chamonix Springtime Steepness

The last month has many of the classic big lines come into condition with heavy May snowfalls. There aren't many places (probably nowhere else) in the world where you can one minute be sipping a cafe au lait, and the next minute be dropping into a 50-55 face of snow, ice and rock. Thats freedom.Vive le Chamonix freeride. Below is a brief selection of some springtime skiing, and some exquisite alpine granite.

Unplanned bivi at 4000m. Chilly but with a nice view. Entrance is by my feet.

On the way up.

On the way down.

Pow on the Midi north face.

Granite as good as it gets.

Glacier Rond

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'.

Edge of Never trailor

Eco Expo

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.

Beyond the Alps

Spot us. The pristine Pillier Gauche

Temperatures are rising, spring is truly here. With the unseasonably warm weather, it is a perfect time to get out exploring. Crack out the skins and get hiking. We even managed to find some old buttery pow on the faces above the Glacier d'Entreves, the Col du Passon, and the Glacier du Mort. After several days of blissful touring, we headed south to search out warm sunny limestone climbing amid a Mediterranean paradise. With only a few hours by road separating Chamonix from the Med, pourqui pas. Which is why we run bespoke holidays to both. Get on it.

Time to play

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.

Glacier du Mort

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.

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.