The High Level Route

Continuing the theme of difficult conditions Henry Alex and James [split board snowboarder] met for an attempt on the Haute Route. This was to be Henry's 2nd attempt having been thwarted by the weather on the previous attempt at the Mt Fort Hut a couple of years ago This is what happened. We met and had a days initiation skiing around Les Grands Montets in good powder snow conditions but crap ski touring conditions - ie lots of snow but unstable weather with poor visibility and very high winds. Saturday 21st We set off from the Grands Montets in strong winds. So much so that the cable car closed just behind us leaving us virtually on our own. There was group putting a track in above us who had left from the Argentiere Hut. So we decided to give it a go despite the indifferent weather. We made it to the Trient Hut in deep snow . We were the only group to make it through and we were alone in the Trient Hut. Over night there was an almighty storm which put down a meter of snow. Sunday 22nd We left the Hut in waist deep snow and no visibility. We cautiously edged our way towards the Col des Ecandies before fighting our way up in shoulder deep snow. The reward was un tracked windless powder, virtually to the Village of Champex. From there we transferred to Verbier and the Mt Fort Hut. Monday 23rd We left the Mt Fort at 7.00am in good weather and took in the summit of the Rosa Blanche before finding some exceptional snow on the descent to the Prafleuri Hut which was full of the Swiss Army who were preparing the way for the famous Patrouille des Glaciers http://www.pdg.ch/ Tuesday 24th. This was always going to be a difficult day for James our split boarder because of the traverse above Lac Dix. It wasn't helped by the return of the bad weather. Wednesday 25th. We left the Dix Hut around 7.00am in very strong winds. As we climbed up to the summit of the Pigne d'Arolla it was gail force. The descent down to the Vignettes Hut was difficult and dangerous. A slab was kicked off and tripped us up and sent a couple of us on an unwanted toboggan down the slope. During the afternoon and the evening the dreaded Foehn wind got stronger and stronger. Thursday 26th We awoke at 5 .00am and the wind was howling. There was no choice to to descend down to the village of Arolla thus concluding a very adventurous ski tour even if we did not make it all the way to Zermatt. Still we were the only team to set off from Chamonix and get as far Arolla.

April showers bring unstable ski touring conditions

Peter Folkman had a long term plan to head to the Dolomites for some ski touring. It became apparent that there was no snow.
We changed plans and agreed to head to the Bernese Oberland, but as our week got nearer it was clear that the weather was not going to be co operative for Hut to Hut touring.
Nevertheless we did get some good skiing in.

The stand out days were our descent of the glacier de Morte behind La Flegere where we had knee deep un tracked snow to ski.

It did snow a lot and we had a day skiing the top of Grands Montets in poor visibility but lots of fluffy snow. Plus some crevasse rescue

I think the most rewarding day was when we drove around to Arpy next to La Thuile and climbed the Punte Crocce. This is a wonderful ski tour that leaves from the road head and winds its way up through the trees to a summit with an old Napoleonic ruined Fort with a wonderful view point. Almost as a bonus we had excellent skiing back to the Land Rover. Even better saw no one.

The Bernese High Level Route: Diablerets to Kandersteg

The ski tour from Les Diablerets to Kandersteg is one of the finest multi day ski tours in the alps. Chris Dovell and Lia Heisters and I have just completed it.
One of the things which was truly exceptional about this particular ski tour, was how quiet it was
In total we saw a handful of people on the whole expedition. On two of the days we saw no one.

This was what we did.

1st day climbed the Summit of Les Diablerets which is the most westerly mountain in the Oberland

Day 2 .Left the Prarochet Refuge at 7.00am and skied down to Col du Sanetch and then continued to the summit of the Wildhorn.[3248] We skied down to the Cabanne des Audannes

Day 3 In poor visibility we left at around 7.00am and traversed to the Wildstrubel Hutte- possibly one of the best run refuges in the whole of the Alps thanks to the efforts of the wonderful Heinz and Margret.
Day 4 Over onto the summit of the Wisshore. [2904m] [secret listening post for the CIA] and then down onto the glacier Plaine Morte before climbing to the summit of the Wilstrubel[3244m] in fairly windy conditions.
Then a ski down with fresh snow and fresh tracks before a short skin up to the Lammeren Hutte.
Day 5. It was snowing quite hard and the visibility was not good. So we gingerly left the Hutte around 7.30 am and navigated our way over a col before the visibility improved so that we could enjoy some good skiing where we joined a track which eventually lead us back to the cable car which took us down to Kandersteg

Ski Tour from Italy to Switzerland and back again

Charles Sherwood and his daughter Tabatha and I have just finished a wonderful ski tour.
It was Tabatha's 1st ski tour and it had just about everything from really bad snow to light fluffy powder. The one thing it didn't have was bad weather.
We started with a warm up run by skiing the Vallee Blanche , then in the afternoon we drove around to Champoluc [part of the huge Monte Rosa lift system]
The next morning we packed our ski touring kit and headed for our 1st night in the Vigevano Refuge. We spent the day teaching Tabatha how to use the skins and how to deal with awful horrible snow, which wasn't the original plan - but it is what it is.
After a great night in the Vigevano we headed up and climbed Vincent Pyramid 4200 meters. We then had the added bonus of brilliant snow on the descent back to the Mantova Refuge.
The next morning we left the refuge at 6.45am. two and a bit hours later we arrived at the Col de Lys. From there it was 2700meters of wonderful snow down the Grenz glacier all the way into Zermatt.

After a luxurious night in the world famous Riffelalp Hotel we skied down to Furi and picked up the Kliene Matterhorn cable car. From there we skied down the piste back into Italy before peeling off the track and heading down the breathtaking descent down to Champalouc and the car. Click on the tittle to see the whole trip. or paste this link

http://www.kodakgallery.eu.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&localeid=en_GB_EURO&collid=65916206733.8176815832233.1332939119345&page=1

Stair way to heavenly skiing

Just spent 4 days with Mark Locke and Ian Hutchinson. It was hot and it just seemed to get hotter, but because the sun stayed out we managed to find some sublime spring snow.
The most notable was on the Glacier du Toule. Every turn was fantastic but timing was critical. It was too hot and therefore dangerous for a second run so we consoled our selves with a very good run down the Italian side of the Valley Blanche.

Yesterday we skied the Berard Valley again find great spring snow.

Today we skied at Les Grands Montets where the weather was indifferent and the light was flat but we still had a run down the Argentiere glacier and a decent lunch at the Chalet Lognon

A Day off School and a trip out with Mum & Dad

Sophie was given permission by her teacher to skip school and ski the Vallee Blanche with her Mum & Dad.
Sophie scuttled down the ridge and then zoomed down the main section before being treated to seeing her first mountain rescue as some idiot on his own with no Guide fell in a crevasse at the start of the Requin Ice Fall.
We were back at Montenvers by 12.45am .

Meanwhile over in Alpe d'Huez Florence came first [in her age group] in the French National Ski Championships competeing in the Super Giant Slalom.

And over in Germany on a school exchange the biggest Dangerous Sister, Andrea has taken up 5 meter high board diving and the Luge.

High Winds and French love of Train Strikes

The seemingly endless love of striking has made the logistics of getting back from various ski tours a challenge.

Before this I skied the Valley Blanche a couple of times. Bitter winds made the descent of the ridge testing. Too much so for one particular skier who might possibly go to the top of the league table for the shortest ever attempt to ski the VB. It lasted half a turn before he fell over and dislocated his shoulder. The resucue helicopter had fun and games finding a place to land because of all the skiers and the high wind.
Conditions were much better lower down and we even found some fresh snow.

On Saturday I did the Col Crochue/ Col Berard ski tour with Reuben Berg. At the top of the 1st col it was very windy and the snow was like concrete, yet when we got into the Berard Valley we found the snow had been unaffected by the wind and we got fresh tracks. After a quick beer we moved to the Gare to wait for the train which never came because there was a strike. Good of them to tell us.

On Sunday I headed back on the same tour but this time with Richard Lewis , who had requested that he wanted to go home very tired. Therefore we headed up and over the Breche Berard. A couple hours extra up hill. But it was worth it because we found really good snow for the descent. It was once down that we had the fun and games with the replacement bus for the striking train. The issue was the bus wasn't big enough and a load of people got left behind.

To day I skied at Le Tour with Catherine Lucy-Kate and Helen - mothers who had escaped from their children for a days off piste skiing.

Les Dent du Valerettes

Drove round to Monthey in the Valais and met up with Richard Lewis for an ascent of the Dent du Valerettes. Stunning views toward lake Geneva and on the other side the Dent du Midi. A great summit with snow considerably better than anything recently.

Now its too hot!

Mike Flynn joined me for 3 days - the brief was to ski interesting off piste. "Interesting" it was. Good snow it wasn't. This was because the temperature shot up and everything turned to mush. Then it would freeze over night and the snow turned to ice. This was cyclic the result being snow that was like concrete.
Still it is what it is. Fortunately Mike was as good a skier as Guide is going to get to ski with. Mike was fazed by nothing. On our first day we skied off piste at Le Tour and this was good especially on the north facing slopes, yet our last descent was very heavy and soggy as we skied down to the car.
The next day I decided to ski the Pas de Chevere - Chamonix's second most famous off piste run. This was decidedly icy at the top. By the time we got to the Mer des Glace it was super hot and an avalanche took out the train track on the Montenvers.
On our third day we did the famous ski tour the col, col Crochue Berard. Beautiful weather but poor snow.

It has been very cold

Three or four seasons ago when it was raining at 3000 meters in January I promised I would never complain about being cold again. We craved cold. Then in the last two weeks when the temperature rarely crept above -15 degrees c and for a lot of the time dived below -20 I began to change my mind.

Diesel fueld Cars were constantly breaking down because the fuel was waxing in the tanks and the normally fast flowing rivers froze over. Yet it was fantastic as the snow has stayed fresh and powdery. Recently the temperature has crept up and in the sun its very warm.

I have done lots of different things with lots of different people . Recently the standout descent was down the Possettes Gullies behind Le Tour to Le Buet. I did this with Catherine and Richard Lewis.

Earlier I visited a new "resort" The Rochers de Naye high above Montreux. It has one train and two drag lifts and when we found it it had the most perfect off piste skiing imaginable. 40 cm of super cold windless powder and no one about. Just incredable.

Longest Haute Route ever

Ski & Board's photo editor John Norris wrote a piece about completing the Haute Route with me a few years ago

Snow was good Now it is dream like

Last week Chris Boulton brought out his annual ski group. They are creatures of habit: Same hotel [the Couronne] same bar [the Office] same hire shop [Stamos] pretty much the same team although it seems to get bigger and bigger. Plus the same Guide [me]

My job is to make sure they don't ski the same places and in the attempt to keep it fresh I even ended up skiing somewhere I hadn't skied before namely down the north facing slopes below the Montenvers Railway. The snow was so high and the slopes in places so deep that if you were not careful you could land on top of the pantograph cable which powers the train.

I think the standout day was when we went ski touring high above Martigny and climbed the Mt Arpille. We even took Walter the Mountain Dog with us too.

A week of two halves

Just finished a fantastic week of off piste skiing with Russell Bragg
It was Russell's first real commitment to off piste skiing and he took to it like a Duck to Water. On our first day we headed up to Le Tour where despite it being unpleasantly cold we got to grips with avalanche transceivers, probes skins ski touring skis in essence all the stuff that's good to know before heading off into the wilderness.

On the Tuesday we completed our first ski tour together by heading over the col Crochue col Berard behind La Flegere.

Wednesday we ventured into the Valley Blanche and skinned over to Italy for a Cappuccino before skiing all the way back to Chamonix but not with out stopping at Mottets Buvet for a beer.

Thursday we thrashed our legs skiing at Grands Montets. Then the weather changed and we got snow. Lots of snow. So much snow that Chamonix closed. This didn't stop us because we just had two exceptional days skiing powder in Combloux. Russell said it was the best skiing he had ever had in his life. I added so far...

Some of the best off piste skiing - Ever

Just finished a stint of 10 days contentious skiing where it snowed most days. Chamonix was shut several times but we just jumped in the Land Rover and skied in Combloux where we enjoyed sensational powder skiing.
On one of the clear days we were lucky enough to find ourselves at La Flegere where I had the best conditions i have ever had there.

Best Day off the Season [So Far!]

More snow has already fallen so far this season than in the whole of the last ski season which is good. What is even better is that there is more forecast.

Today we headed off the back of Le Brevent towards Mont Joux. We had the pleasure to be lead by the legendary Guide Yves Dietry. Famous amongst other things for developing steep skiing in the Chamonix Valley. Notable descents being the first ski descent of the North Face of the Aguille du Midi in 1977.
Click on the link to see the full tour.

Sallanches book signing

Marc Le Guide teamed up with Quechua tomorrow. There will be a book signing in their Sallanches shop between 3.00pm and 5 pm .

Chamonix book signing

November is the new May

I have done a lot of different things in the mountains recently. Last week Catherine Lewis and I spent the day on the Mer de Glace getting some preparation in ready for climbing next summer.

I had a brilliant days rock climbing high above Cluses with Christophe [the translator of Marc Le Guide] We climbed at les Vuardes on route La Costa 6a+.
On Sunday we went out with 2/3rds of the Dangerous Sisters skiing in Cervina [Flo was race training in Tignes]
The skiing was very good.

Next Geoff Barrett came out prior to his trip to Aconcagua next week! Geoff and I spent two days getting to grips with the fundamentals of alpine travel. We had two days on the Mer de Glace all to ourselves.

Marc Le Guide

Finally the French edition of Mark the Mountain Guide is out. This time in soft back.

At present copies can be ordered from me [signed & dedicated] € 8.00 +p&p.