Tour de France 2010

Le Tour du France Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz. 189 km in total.

Haute Pursuit and 15 happy clients visited Morzine in the Portes du Soleil for étape 8 of le tour. An early start from Chamonix at 7am ensured a good spot on the final hill climb from Morzine to Avoriaz a 13.6 km to 6.1 %: category 1 in blistering hot heat. The winner of the day was Schleck with a few riders coming off their bikes earlier on and a quick visit to see Lance at his hotel afterwards before catching Spain win the world cup final back in glorious Chamonix.

Epic Alpine Rock

With some stable weather and dry rock, its been a perfect time to get out and climb long rock routes in the mountains. Thanks to Davide de Masi for the great pics and company on the Cordier Piller of the Grand Charmoz.

A few days later I climbed the Walker spur which was quite dry (good rock climbing conditions) but subject to some serious rockfall. Our camera broke but here is a pic of the north face of the Grand Jorasse, the Walker being the prominent spur on the left. The scale of the face is huge, rising from 3000m altitude to 4200 at the summit.

Summer Powder Skiing and Mixed Climbing!

Check out this video of us on the Frendo Spur, an ultra classic on the North Face of the Aiguille d'Midi.

http://www.vimeo.com/12989626

And taking advantage of a mid-summer dump!

http://www.vimeo.com/12820593

The City Golf Championships!

Haute Pursuit is proud to present the inaugural City Golf Championships! Click above on the photo Check out our new website and the Championships blog on the right.

Tales from the Interseason

May and June are two of the best months to be in the Alps, when the streets are quiet and the high mountains are still fresh with snow. Whether you come for the views from the Midi (see above sunset on Mont Blanc) or to enjoy the greatest playground on earth for alpinism and snowsports, its the place. The top of the Aiguille d'Midi from which this pic was taken ranks as one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world and has the highest vertical ascent of any cable car in the world.

On the famous arete leading up to the lift station with the cable car in the background.

On route to another alpine failure. The legendary north face of the Grand Jorasse.

Soaking up the exposure on the easy ultra classic Cosmiques Arete. This route is incredible accessible with great climbing and is a superb introduction to the range.

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