Friday May 4, 2007

One of the 6 stream crossings in the Mud, Muck and Moose Trail race Photo Candy Armstrong

I have been catching up with office work and getting ready for rock season since I got home but have gotten out a few days. On Sunday April 29th I was lucky enough to run the Mud, Muck and Moose trail race held at the Bear Notch Ski Touring Center. This 5.6 mile trail race was an excellent spring outing. It features three different stream crossings that are about two feet deep. Because the course has laps it ends up crossing the stream 6 times. The trails this year were also very muddy and in some places had a substantial amount of snow. I like to trail run but have been often disappointed by trail races that use more dirt roads than single track trails, the Mud, Muck and Moose race did not disappoint. It was a great race and a good time.

Wednesday I got one more day of skiing in. Like I said I have been catching up with office work but by Wednesday afternoon I had enough of the computer and left after lunch for Mount Washington. I got to Pinkham at 1:30 and started up shortly thereafter. I went up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to Right Gully then up the East Snowfields to the summit. From the top of the snow in the East Snowfields I skied down to the Lobster Claw Gully then down that to the bottom of Tuckermans and down toPinkham. I got back to the parking lot just before 5 o'clock.

Click here for a PDF map of the ascent

Since I had missed the spring Nor'easters I was surprised how good the snow cover was. I started by walking until I got about a half a mile up the trail to just past the switchbacks. From there I could skin to Hermit Lake without taking my skis off. From Hermit Lake I headed over to the Sherburne Ski Trail and followed that to just below the base of the Little Headwall. The Little Headwall was a raging waterfall so I moved over towards the Lower Snowfields and was able to keep skinning up that to above the Little Headwall then up Connection to the floor of Tuckerman Ravine. I continued skinning first up toward the Headwall then traversed over to Right Gully. I was able to continue skinning till nearly the top of Right Gully. A short booting section got me to the Alpine Garden which had good snow cover. From the Alpine Garden I was able to skin to about 5900' on the summit cone. I left my skis at the top of the snow there and went up to tag the summit. I have been to the summit numerous times and going on this day only shows the strong traditionalist streak that runs through my mountaineering!

The conditions on the way down were variable. The East Snowfields had some winter-like snow and a thin crust interspersed with spring corn. Lobster Claw AKA Right of Right Gully was soft and a little brushy. From the floor of the ravine I sked the trail to a point just befre the rescue cache where I had to walk for about 100 feet. I was then able to ski into connection and traversed to the Lower Snowfield. I connected to the Sherburne Trail and skied down that to the top of the Switchbacks and walked the last half mile to Pinkham.

The Sherburne Trail was in pretty good shape, it had bare spots and I would expect that the Snow Rangers will close it up a little higher soon because the last quarter mile before the rope (the crossover at the top of the hiking trail switchbacks) was a little thin! Bottom line is that it looks like there will be good skiing this weekend and you should be able to ski more than halfway down the Sherburne

 

Saturday April 28, 2007

Looking up the Cosmique Couloir with the Cosmique Hut at the top Click on the photo for a larger version

It has been a while since I wrote but I'm back from my trip to the Alps and can now post more regularly. After my last post, Keith and I left La Grave and headed to Chamonix. I still had a few days before my group for the Haute Route trip arrived and I wanted to get a few logistical things organized. Keith's plan was to climb the Frendo Spur with his friend on Thursday, April 12th, then stay at the Cosmique Hut that night and climb a route on the Mount Blanc du Tacul the next day. They only needed one rope for the Frendo but wanted two for the second route. Because I was making plans to ski off of the Aiguille du Midi that day they asked me if I would drop off a rope at the hut. My plan was to ski the Couloir des Cosmique which descends down from the hut and ends up at the mid station. I would then take the lift back up and ski something from the top.

The conditions that day were a bit colder than it had been and it appeared that there would be more cloud cover as well. It wasn't a bad day but because they hadn't received much snow in a while and it had been warm, I knew that things might be a little hard if the temperatures didn't get warm. For that reason I didn't get an early start seeing that the Couloir Des Cosmique was west facing and I wanted it to soften. Once at the top of the Aiguille du Midi, I made my way to the hut and dropped off the rope for Keith and his friend. I then went over to the start of the couloir. It was very rocky and icy at the top and it didn't look very soft below either. I decided to give it a go and started rappelling down past the rocks. I had two 30 meter ropes and I ended up doing 4 rappels to get to the consistent snow. As I had thought, the conditions were very firm and the descent required constant concentration. Although not an extreme ski descent, the Cosmique Couloir is steep and in these conditions a fall could be very serious. The nice thing about skiing such a couloir in hard conditions is that I had it to myself. Although the descent was stressful, being in that gully alone was a great experience. Here is a link to a good description of the Cosmique Couloir.

Click the photo for a Google Earth picture of the Cosmique Couloir and the Vallee Blanche

Once I got down the couloir I traversed over to the mid station of the lift and headed back to the top of the Aiguille du Midi. After such a difficult descent, I was in the mood for a easy and scenic ski down the Vallée Blanche. This glacier run is long but not very steep and it is in a beautiful setting. I would be doing this run with my Chamonix - Zermatt group in a couple of days so it was nice to get reacquainted with it. Halfway down the run is the Requin Hut where I stopped for a lunch break. After lunch I continued to the finish of the run where you take a train back to Chamonix. It was a great day sampling the two spectrums of skiing in Chamonix, the steep and serious couloir and the pleasant and relaxing Vallée Blanche.

The next two days were very windy up high and the Aiguille du Midi lift was closed. Ken and Debbie, two of the four people that would be joining me for the Haute Route, arrived on Friday and lift served skied on Saturday. Joe, another one of the group came into town on Saturday and Cameron would be coming on Sunday when the rest of us would be skiing the Vallée Blanche. By Sunday April 15th, the whole Haute Route group was assembled and ready to head out on Monday.

On Monday morning we shipped our extra clothes and gear to Zermatt and headed to the Grands Montets and started our trip. The weather for this years trip was excellent. We followed the intinerary exactly and made it to Zermatt in 7 days. Click here for the Haute Route itinerary with maps.

The Haute Route is a spectacular high mountain ski tour that goes through the heart of the French and Swiss Alps. This is the perfect trip for the climber-skier who wants to combine both those disciplines to move through the Alps. By using huts each night you can travel light so you can enjoy the downhill sections and also climb with more ease. This trips requires that you use your skis as a climbing tool and good skinning skills are needed for the steep uphill climbing. Most of the time is spent on glaciers so the trip is best done in spring when the snowpack is the most mature. Below you'll find pictures from this years trip and here you can see a slide show from an earlier trip.

Debbie starting the Vallée Blanche

Debbie looking at the Tour Ronde from the Requin Hut deck in the Vallée Blanche

Debbie climbing up to the Col du Chardonnet with the Aiguille Verte in the background

Ken skiing towards the Trient Hut on the Trient Glacier

 

Glacier skiing on the way to Champex

The group having skied down from the col on the way to Champex

Ken and Debbie on the summit of the Rosablanche with the Dent d' Hérens and the Matterhorn in the background

Enjoying the sun at the Prafleuri Hut

Joe skinning toward the Serpentine on the way to the Vignettes Hut

Cameron with the Matterhorn in the background on the way to the Vignettes Hut

Joe climbing up to the final col on the way to Zermatt

Looking back on our initial descent into Zermatt

 

Tuesday April 10, 2007

Lissa enjoying the powder on Chirouze Right Photo Keith Garvey

I am writing from France, I left April 4th just before the Northeastern US got hit with a snowstorm and arrived in La Grave the 5th. I have a number of friends that guide in La Grave and I was quickly setup with a place to stay, this had all been organize by my friend Matt Farmer who everyone knows as just Farmer. I was met at the bus stop by Adrian and his wife Lissa. Once at their apartment they fed me and gave me a bed to sleep in. The next day Lissa, Adrian and I met with Keith, another friend and guide, and went skiing. Keith has been in La Grave a number of years and was anxious to show me around. It's always fun when I get to catch a local guide on their days off.

For those of you unfamiliar with skiing in La Grave it is a mountain area with a lift. It is not really a ski area as we know them. The lift takes you up and there is are no "runs". For the most part it is lift service backcountry. The lift accesses some very complex terrain and it takes quite some time to learn the area. Because I was with local guides I got to experience La Grave in three days in a way I would never have been able to. One local Frenchman who works rescues on the mountain heard what I got to ski just the first day and said; " Many skiers have spent three years in La Grave and have not gotten to ski those lines". I was truly lucky to be with Keith, Adrian and Lissa. What I didn't realize was the first day was just a warm-up.

I know that many people reading this won't know the area or the names of the lines I skied. I will list them here with short descriptions so you can reference the pictures and understand the nature of the lines.

 

Day 1

Chirouze Right: This run starts from the top of the lifts and requires some walking. It begins on a glacier, a beautiful powder run but ends up in a steep narrow and icy gully that requires a rappel. Because of it's complex finish it holds fresh tracks long after a storm.

Trefide 0: This run is easy to get to and is reminiscent of a runs on Mount Washington. The best way to describe it is a cross between Left Gully and Dodges Drop.

Pan Rateau: Because the upper lifts were closed this was a 30 minute walk to a col. A steep traverse takes you to a 50-55 degree slope with a bergschrund at the bottom Because of this the lower angle glacier below holds fresh tracks long after a storm.

Day 2 (I did these descents with Keith and Waldo)

Tour to the Breche (Col) de La Meije and down the Enfetchores: This is often done as a two day tour but can be done as a long day. After climbing over two cols you ski down a 35-40 degree glacier run.

Day 3

Tour to the Breche (Col) de La Meije and ski the Glacier de la Meije: This run is seldom done and Keith was eyeing it for some time!

For information about guides in La Grave check the Skiers Lodge (that's where my friends Farmer, Adrian and Keith work). For more info about Keith check his web site here.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Adrian on the upper part of Chirouze Right

Trefide 0 Click on the photo for a larger version

Pan Rateau Click on the photo for a larger version

The traverse into the Pan Rateau

Fresh tracks below the Pan Rateau

Keith and Adrian after the 1st day

The view out the window!

Looking up to the first Col on the tour to the Breche de la Meije

Climbing up to the first Col on the tour to the Breche de la Meije

Descending down the other side of the first Col on the tour to the Breche de la Meije

Approaching the Breche de la Meije

Keith lowering Waldo down the Breche de la Meije

Waldo in the foreground with Keith rappelling down

Looking down the Enfetchores run

The Enfetchores run Click on the photo for a larger version

Glacier de la Meije run Click on the photo for a larger version

Keith starting down the Glacier de la Meije

Waldo on the Glacier de la Meije

La Meije with the top cut off with the Glacier de la Meije on the left and the Enfetchores on the right

 

Monday April 2, 2007

Odell's Gully Photo Matt Bingham

Saturday was the last day of March and my last day of ice climbing this season. It was a brilliant day with a clear sky, light winds, and cool temperatures. I went into Huntington Ravine with Matt, Amanda, and Meredith. All three have rock climbed and Matt has also done quite a bit of ice climbing. The goal was to do a gully in the ravine and then if possible go to the summit.

I decided to go to Huntington instead of Tuckerman Ravine for two reasons. First I thought it would be a more interesting climb and second I figured Tucks would be very busy with skiers. In the end, I heard things didn't get very soft in Tucks so the skier traffic was lighter than I anticipated. Because I wanted to have enough time to go to the summit, I figured we would do Central or possibly Odell's. We decided on Odell's for the increased difficulty.

Because of the cool temperatures, the snow was hard and we needed crampons fairly low down on the fan. We made our way to the base of the gully and roped up. As I started up the first ice bulge my crampon broke. What had happened was the bail on one of the crampons had broken just as I got onto some snow. I got myself arranged on the snow and setup a belay bringing the others up. I needed to jury rig the crampon but didn't want to lead the route with a broken crampon so I took one of Matt's crampons and adjusted to my boots then I fastened my broken crampon to Matt's boot. This took about 10 minutes.

The jury rigged crampon Photo Matt Bingham

Once we got the crampon situation sorted out, the rest of the ice went smoothly in two and a half more pitches. The upper part of the gully was straight forward snow with pretty good steps. I must say that the condition of the was very interesting. As you will be able to see from the pictures there is very little snow. The gullies have ice and snow but everything else is pretty bare. There was very little snow on the Alpine Garden and even Tucks was overall pretty thin. Today however, it snowed on the mountain so things may look a little more white now. Regardless of the forecasted weather, I am afraid we are in for a short spring season of ice climbing and skiing this year.

From the Alpine Garden we headed up towards the north end of the East Snowfields towards the summit. This is the same route I took with Dan a few days earlier. You can read about that ascent here. We quickly climbed the final thousand feet to the summit.

From the summit we headed down the Tucks Trail to the Lion's Head Trail to the Alpine Garden. From there we entered into Lobster Claw Gully and because of its south facing aspect, it was soft enough for a good glissade down to the floor of Tucks. After a short hike, we were at Hermit Lake taking a break an getting organized for the hike to Pinkham. The Tucks Trail below Hermit Lake was very slippery and it took longer than expected to make our way down.

It was a great end to the season for me. I will soon be leaving for France and may not be able to post as often. I will try to post from LaGrave where I will be skiing with some friends who ski guide there. I am looking forward to some skiing! I will be starting the Haute Route in mid-April and will not be able to post till I finish that tour.