Mont Gelé

Bill Mills reads his book outside the Refugio Crete Seche

After 12 years of ski touring together [not including the hiatus of Covid] It becomes increasingly difficult to find truely unique and interesting places to ski tour with Bill Mills and Greg Knott.  Yet still a good problem to have...

 After some thought, I phoned the guardian of the Refugio Crete Seche to discover if the place was open.  It was one of those good news bad news stories.  Firstly the bad news: It wasn't open - then the good news-They would open it early just  for us.  So we could continue with our plan to climb Mt Gele a very remote and beautiful mountain on the Swiss/Italain border.

Yet on our first day together the weather was unstable - so we contented ourselves by staying in the Chamonix area and by climbing the Aiguille Charlanon.

Perfect snow

welcome to Aguille Rouges

This proved to be a good choice because the snow was wonderful and despite having climbed this peak many times, this was the best skiing I had ever had on the peak.

The next day we headed of to Italy through the Mt Blanc tunnel. We drove down to Aosta afterwhich we headed up the very long and remote Valpeline valley to the village of Bionaz.  Here we took the road which eventually becomes a dirt track. [Mountain Guides using the refugio get dispensation to drive up the track.]. This was all very well but at one of the steep corners we ran into un navigable snow.

Er What Now?

Not wishing to be defeated, nor wanting to walk up the road carrying skis.  I attached Trac Grabber™to all four wheels engauged low-ratio locked the differential and then proceeded to go absolutely nowhere.  

The Trac Grabbers were completly fucking useless. So we dumped the car and walked.  As we should have done in the first place.

a long hot walk.

 

Fortunately it wasnt actually that long before we did hit continuious snow,  which meant that if we had negociated the bend in the road  we would still have had to abandon the car.  Plus we could put the skins on the skis and progress like ski tourers.  

It was hard work getting to the Refugio because it was hot.  We were relieved to arrive.  We were met by the quietly impressive Sophie who is the guardian of the Refugio.  She provided us with beer.  In the end there were only seven of us staying the night.

The next morning we had breakfast at 5.30hrs.  We were a way by 6.15hrs.  There had been a good overnight freeze and conditions were optimum.  

Bill with an amazing back drop.

Picnic below the summit.

It took just under 5 hours to arrive on the summit.  The majority of the ascent is quite straight forward until your about a 100 meters below the top. From where its nescesarry to complete the climb on foot.

The summit has a great big wooden cross fixed to it.  It made a useful thing to grab onto and avoid falling a long way into Switzerland.

Me & Bill clinging to the summit cross.

I'd like to report that the ski back to the refugio was magnificent.  But it was not.  The first portion of skiing was in breakable crust.  The skiing did then get better the lower we got, but we never did find sublime spring snow.  Mind you 5 hours up and 1 hour down still means its always  better than walking.

Approaching the snowy Refugio from above.

We arrived back - to find a full blown party kicking off.  There must have been a hundred people sitting out side the building in various states of undress, drinking copious amounts of Processcco/beer or what ever. I had enough sun.   I went inside and went to sleep.

It had always been our plan to spend a second night.  Yet it was a contrast to the previous night - The refugio was packed with Italians all determined to have a good time - It seemed like chaos to us.

The next morning - Sunday -  the majority of people left early at around 5.00hrs in an attempt to climb what we had climbed the previous day - Mt Gele.  However it had been cloudy overnight and there was seemingly no freeze, which was going to make the conditions unsafe.

Our intention had been to climb another peak and then ski back to the car.  Yet it became quickly apparent that with out a hard freeze we were in danger of being caught it a big wet avalanche.  So we retreated back to the car- then back to Chamonix.

On our final day we went to Grands Montets and climbed up over the col de Rachasse before heading of in a huge circular descent of the Argentire glacier taking in the spectacular seracs of the Rognan glacier.

Argentiere Glacier

Col du Chardonnet

Skiing underneath the huge North Face of Les Doites

Seracs of Rognan glacier