Chamonix Climbing and Skiing Conditions

Final Video Blog of the Season, and failure at the Midi

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:25:00 +0000

As ever this season in Cham, we've got some grey sky outside, and no idea what is coming over the next few days. However, I made it up the Midi today and there is a LOT of snow, so if we get some sunshine (possibly some on the way Monday and Tuesday) then we could be in for some good skiing.

Unfortunately today the perfect blue sky of the morning was soon replaced by clouds and incredibly strong winds, and having made it to the top of the Midi we ended up riding the lift back down. This is now the second time in a row this has happened to me so I'm hoping to actually get something done next time I go up there...

Everyone in the Boscoe/Wray household was pleased to see some sun at last

The Dream...

Untitled from Charlie Boscoe on Vimeo.

The Reality

On a more positive note, here is an awesome video from Toby and Rachel at Seven Twenty Productions to round off the winter video blogs. Thanks to them and to everyone who has appeared/held the camera, it's been an amazing season.

Summer cometh...nearly

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:34:00 +0000

The last few days here in Cham have been pretty frustrating, with the weather forecast being wrong yesterday (80% sunshine...?) and the Compagnie du Mont Blanc managing to break the Aiguille du Midi today, meaning that I wasn't able to get a final Vallee Blanche in for the year. All is not lost though as there is still good cover up high, and I reckon that between the Cosmiques and Ronde on the Midi and a planned ski touring trip to ski some 4000ers soon, I should get a few more days skiing in.

I've already had a good start to the rock climbing season (report here) so all is well, but for now I'm in the Valley and getting jobs done until the weather picks up. To maintain the psyche I thought I'd share this awesome video. I think just about everyone has seen it already, but after Will's death it seems even more appropriate.

Hopefully I'll be able to report back soon on some epic days out once the lift company and the weather men get themselves sorted!

Will Eaton, 1974 - 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:42:00 +0000

Some people are so passionate about what they do, so in love with their chosen way of life that it seems impossible not to follow them. Will Eaton was one of those people. I was always amazed that Will could have come across anyone in life and not convinced them to go skiing, such was his enthusiasm. It didn't matter how you felt, whether you were hungover or how tired you were - Will wanted to ski and you were going with him. When you did get out he was encouraging, fun, and he made it so obvious that he was enjoying himself and really happy just to be with you.

It never ceased to amaze me that after years and years of ski touring he still refused to buy a lift pass, prefering always the satisfaction of earning his turns to the ease of a chairlift. He loved Chamonix but his heart was in the Vanoise (his "backyard" as he referred to it) and his knowledge of the area, and his love for it, was the stuff of legend. I could kick myself that I only went over there twice - Will was forever telling me in hushed tones of some amazing line that he had scoped out, and it makes me so sad to think about all the adventures that we'll never have.

Will, meanwhile, had plenty of adventures over there, some of which he told me about and others that were just mentionned off hand; unfinished stories. I suspect that the tales I knew of - exploratory tree skiing armed with a rope, being rescued twice in a week, epic late night walks after navigation difficulties, were the tip of the iceberg, but that was the nature of Will. What he really sought was adventure and he'd never grumble when he found it, no matter how tough things got. He was incredibly competent in the mountains, and never seemed to run out of enthusiasm, regardless of the situation. In a World of glossy guidebooks and GPS, Will shamed me with his desire for a purer, more genuine experience. It would be great to go and ski one of his "projects" but it wouldn't seem right. Will found those lines by going out and looking for them - the search was always half the fun for him - and I hope someone with his spirit ends up finding them and getting the experience and the excitement that he craved.

Will and I often discussed our mutual lack of religious faith, so painful as it is I have to accept that he isn't looking down, and that all those future adventures will never be shared with him. I do think, however, that when I do go to all those places, and stand on all those summits, he'll be there.

I'll never see him again, but when someone dies I always think that they live on with the people they leave behind, and I know that the next time I'm half way down some terrible tight trees in awful snow I'll think of what Will would do. Everybody knows the answer of course - he'd grin, claim it wasn't actually too bad, ski it effortlessly and get up the next day and do it all over again. Inspiring, encouraging and fun, just like when he was here.

Bootpacking on the way to the Trappier Couloir, with the Chamonix Valley behind.

About to drop in to the SW face of the Aiguille Pourrie

And again, a second time.

This was possibly the best single powder run of 2012 - quite an accolade given the winter we had.

Heading home

Skiing down to Le Tour after the classic "3 Cols" tour. We'd been hoping to do the Y couloir on the Aiguille d'Argentiere but high temperatures put us off. The descent to Le Tour was one of the best of the season, which was a good consolation.

Heading for the Col du Passon

Breaking trail towards the Breche Porteta

Deep in it on the other side of the Breche. I'd had 45 minutes sleep the night before this day so Will kindly restricted the uphill to 1500m....

BBQ in St Bon

On the Aiguille de la Vanoise, scoping out lines for the coming winter

At the Col Superieure du Tour Noir, about to descend into La Fouly.

"We still believe in all the things that we stood by before,

And after everything we've seen here maybe even more".

Will died in an avalanche on the Grande Casse on May 2nd 2013. I miss him.

Swiss Route, Les Courtes N Face

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 08:44:00 +0000

After talk of a good weather window arriving in the Alps it finally came on Tuesday, and was forecast to last about 3 days. As ever this season it was also bringing increasingly high temperatures with it, so if anything big was to get done, it seemed best to do it ASAP.

With that in mind I teamed up with Andy Houseman for a hit on the N face of Les Courtes off the first bin at Grand Montets. Figuring that Andy (sponsored alpinist and Piolet d'Or nominee) might be slightly quicker than me (ski bum and lover of good living), I borrowed a pair of 130cm approach skis from Ross Hewitt in an attempt to keep up, and inevitably had to put up with much ridiculing from everyone in the cable car!

My skis and Andy's skis. Mine were great anytime they were on my back, less so whenever they were on my feet.

Having just about survived the ski down to the Argentiere Glacier, we were soon skinning up to the Courtes in baking heat and with the route looking in great condition.

Looking up at Les Courtes N face.

And again, from just below the bergschrund.

Racking up. Andy skinned faster than me, but faffed hard at the bottom of the route, giving me time to take a breather before the slog up the lower snow slopes.

The bergschrund initially looked a bit spicy but actually was pretty straightforward where we crossed it (about 50 metres left of the bottom of the route). From there we did some pretty tough trail breaking through deep snow for the first 100 metres and then began simul-soloing up perfect, squeaky neve towards the steeper crux section. Like myself, Andy places a great deal of importance on the quality of chat/trash talking during a route, so it was quite surreal to be soloing up ice whilst cracking jokes and telling tall tales! Climbing is supposed to be fun after all.

A rare shot of me breaking trail for the Houseman greyhound! Photo Andy Houseman

Me on perfect neve on the way to the crux. Photo Andy Houseman

Once at the crux we roped up and moved together from there on. The crux is actually pretty fun climbing, with sections of ice up to about 80 degrees, and a couple of more technical moves where the ice has thinned out a bit near the end of the steep section.

Andy on the crux

Once above the crux there is one more short technical-ish section and then it is a long slog to the top up steep snow. I don't know exactly what time we started, but I think the route took us somewhere between 4.5 and 5 hours. No record breaker, but not disastrous considering we had skis and neither of us had done much climbing recently.

Looking across to the Aiguille du Chardonnay from the upper slopes

The contrast from cold, austere north face to baking sun was quite a shock when we finally topped out, and the views were just amazing, with seemingly every peak in the Massif visible. A quick bit of downclimbing soon led us to where we could put skis on, and from there it was a case of picking our way down a pretty dodgy feeling descent to the Talefre Glacier.

Me on the summit ridge. Photo Andy Houseman.

Downclimbing to where we put skis on

Although Tuesday was forecast to be the coolest of the sunny days, the heat when we were skiing was unbelievable - it felt like one of those baking August days up the Midi where no amount of clothing or suncream seems to keep you protected - and it made it all feel pretty scary. With all the fresh snow coupled with the warmth, we had to really take our time on the descent, and we were both pretty relieved to reach the relative safety of the Talefre basin.

Skiing from the Col des Droites with the Grand Jorasses on the left, and Mont Blanc on the right.

Unfortunately I had a pretty tough time skiing the 130cm skis through knee deep slush, so we pretty comfortably missed the last train down from Montenvers, but we managed to ski about half of the James Bond track, and got Andy into town only slightly late for his dinner at Munchies.

So, a pretty cool day all round - a big N face, an "exciting" ski descent, and plenty of banter. It was pretty impressive and inspiring watching Andy do his thing on a big route, and definitely made me realise just how big the step up is from competent alpinists like me and most of my climbing partners to people climbing massive routes in the Greater ranges. Thanks Andy for the lesson in how to climb fast, and for not complaining about waiting for me on the ski down (supposedly my strong point!) - I promise I'll take some bigger skis next time!!!

Finally, a picture of what was waiting for me at home - thanks Sharon!

The foehn wind has now blown into Cham, and with people slowly starting to leave town it feels as if winter might just be over. That said, there is a lot of precipitation falling and I suspect the steep skiers will be getting pretty excited, but for now I am full.

The "Chamonix Winter 2013" screensaver on my laptop keeps flashing up amazing photos of memories which will last a lifetime, but my body aches and it feels like time to get a change of scene for a while. Cham is an amazing playground but it's sometimes hard to be here and not feel pressure to be doing something in the mountains, so I'm going to have a weekend of watching sport, eating, drinking and relaxing before heading back to UK for a week or so.

Fear not though, the psyche is never away for long, and I'll be back here, revved up for summer (and with some very exciting news regarding next winter....) in no time.

Video Blog 14

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:07:00 +0000

Thanks Toby and Rachel at Seven Twenty Productions!

Report over the weekend of the Courtes by the way!

Video Blog & Argentiere Refuge cragging

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:57:00 +0000

With only one good day of weather left here in Cham, we were keen to make the most of it but avoid the avalanches crashing down everywhere. Rock climbing seemed a good idea, so "Rough" Pete, "Posh" Pete (all things are relative), Katie, Matt and I decided to go and check out the Argentiere Refuge hut crag. Matt, Peter and I had had a fairly unsuccesful attempt to climb there a couple of years back, but this time we had a bit more joy and climbed "Le Gateau de Riz".

As ever when climbing in hot weather and with good company, the whole affair was pretty relaxed and very enjoyable. The route was great, and featured plenty of easy climbing but also the odd tricky section. It's probably not quite as good as "Mort de Rire" on the nearby Genepi, but still a good route, and it seems to dry relatively quickly.

All Photos Peter Riley -

2 cool cats on the first belay

Me high on the route. The summit is the tooth on the right.

Me reaching the summit

Unfortunately the abseils down don't lead you quite to the skis. Here Katie makes a dash for it through the snow in rockboots, but still ended up suffering the pain of frozen feet.

Unfortunately Posh Pete and Katie didn't find their route further along the crag dry, but still did the first couple of pitches of our route and then came down.

All in all a great day and a good way to end one of the biggest weather windows so far this winter.

Snow, snow, snow for the next few days - Result!

Whilst watching the rain/snow fall outside, here's the latest video blog from Seven Twenty Productions to keep the psyche up!

Zermatt Ski Tour & Andy Murray

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:51:00 +0000

After praying for good weather for most of winter, my requests were finally granted with a big high pressure arriving over the Alps at the weekend. Unfortunately it brought with it unbelievably high temperatures (25 degrees in the Valley anyone? Plus a freezing level hovering at around 3000 - 3500 metres), so just about every climbing and skiing option in the high mountains was out. Typical!

I actually missed the first day of good weather as I was down on the South Coast checking out Monaco and enjoyed a day at the Masters tennis event (darling), but I got the late flight back to Geneva and the next afternoon found myself at the top of the Klein Matterhorn lift in Zermatt. Quite the contrast!

Cheeky kid checking out my car at Casino Square.

Andy Murray with Monaco behind.

With plenty of good weather forecast, Tom and I were keen to do a multi day ski tour, preferably taking in as many good summits as we could. We started out with the Breithorn and a night in the superb Guide d'Ayas hut -

Heading down to the Guide d'Ayas Hut.

Wine and aperitifs!!!

Skinning away from the hut in the morning

After that we crossed over two 4000ers (Castor and Pollux), and hoped to cross a few more but icy conditions sent us from the Quintino Sella Hut over to the Monte Rosa Hut and finally to the Stockhorn. We were looking at doing the Strahlhorn instead but it looked a mighty long way on a very hot day!

Castor W face

Tom skiing the W face of Pollux

My turn - it felt pretty steep! Tom assured me afterwards that it just seemed steep due to the icy snow...

Me reaching the top of Castor and regretting acclimatising in Monaco!

Heading for the Monte Rosa Hut

I put this one on as it is about the only photo I have of Tom skiing badly. The snow was generally pretty terrible to be fair.

That's more like it!

The biggest, baddest and scariest seracs I have ever passed under.

Stunning ice formations on the way down to the Monte Rosa Hut.

Yet more seracs - there's no shortage of them up there!

Chips, kebab and coke in Zermatt. Surprisingly enough we didn't have to re-mortgage our houses to pay for it, which was a nice surprise in Switzerland!

Overall, a great tour which might not have had the best snow in the World but which featured great views, excellent huts and plenty of Tom banter.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day of blue sky, so I'm going to drag my tired body up the Grand Montets in order to make the most of it, and then there is snow forecast for Friday and Saturday. As ever this winter, no-one really has the slightest clue what the weather will be doing, so just stay flexible and see what happens.

Video Blog 12

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:04:00 +0000

Finally - some sun on the way, and a video blog with no talk of unsettled weather! I think the avalanche risk will be pretty high though so stay safe in the coming sunny days.

Thanks once again to Seven Twenty Productions

Video Blog, Courmayeur and Vallee Blanche

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:42:00 +0000

After a week of work, continued bad weather and various other bits, it feels as if I haven't done a huge amount of skiing recently. I have managed a great couple of days in Courmayeur and one of the all time good Vallee Blanche descents though, so I haven't exactly been deprived!

Moody views looking up to the south face of Mont Blanc

Sharon in Courmayeur, about to enter the horrific crust at the end of a run from the Arp

Fresh tracks down the Petit Envers

I never get bored of skiing in a place like this

Peter, me and Gary posing for the compulsory hero shot

Looks like there might be some sunshine on the way, but as ever this winter it remains tough to tell. Here's video blog 11 from Seven Twenty Productions to keep the psyche up while we hang on the forecast!

UKC article

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:43:00 +0000

Great interview with Tom Grant here. Tom's made numerous appearances on this blog (usually when breaking trail for me) and it's good to see him finally getting some recognition. The amazing introduction really makes the article what it is though!!!

Video Blog 10, Vallee Blanche and Glacier Mort

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:24:00 +0000

Video Blog number 10! Who would have thought it?! Thanks Toby and Rachel at Seven Twenty Productions for this one and the other 9. Hopefully there are plenty more to come!

Meanwhile, I've had a friend of mine out from London over the last few days who was keen to sample the best of Cham. I reckon that after a blast around Brevent, a Vallee Blanche in great snow and a ski tour to the Glacier Mort, he's had a pretty good sample! See you in summer Cole.

Here's the photos -

Unusual outfit at the top of the Midi

Petit Envers in powder

Cham has been BUSY for the last couple of days - this was the scene looking down from the Col Crochues.

Sharon just below the summit of the Pointe Alphonse Favre (where the Glacier Mort starts from)

Me on the way down. Photos Sharon Wray

Tristan lower down in the Berard Valley

As seems to have been the case all winter, the weather is pretty messy for the foreseeable future in Cham, so no doubt there will be some good skiing to be had. I'm away working for the next week, so hopefully I'll come back to a load of snow and some blue sky...

Lots and lots and lots of snow

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:59:00 +0000

Winter is truly back here in Cham, and after the foehn wind looked to have ended any hopes of lift served powder for a while, a cold front blew in and dumped a metre of fresh stuff. Merci Weather Gods! Unfortunately the new stuff didn't bond too well to the snow underneath, so avalanche conditions were pretty dodgy and we had to stick to lower angled terrain and ski thoughtfully to stay safe. That still leaves plenty to go at though!

Since the the new snow came I've been doing quite the tour of Haute Savoie and Northern Italy and have had powder day after powder day without any effort on my part. I haven't put skins on my skis for 2 weeks now and I reckon I can easily extend that for a few more days.

There's isn't really much you can say about lift served skiing, but hopefully the photos tell the story of the last week.

Just how I like my car to look at the start of a ski day - covered in fresh snow

Heli skiers in Courmayeur.

Sharon in the Courmayeur powder

Matt at Le Tour, Mont Blanc behind him and the Encrennaz to the right

Matt in the Le Tour trees

All aboard!!!

Tristan and Caroline after a heavy collision!

Hard to imagine as this is for a Chamonix skier, we found fresh tracks all day next to a piste and under a chairlift. You'll have to guess the resort though - my lips are sealed :)

Awesome views in Italy

Be careful out there - this was one of many slides (big and small) that I've seen over the last few days.

Waiting for the Mont Blanc Tunnel to open on Wednesday night. Grrr.

Ouch!!!

Matt coming close to uttering the impossible words, "I've had enough powder".

Video Blog 9

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:17:00 +0000

Another great edit from Seven Twenty Productions, merci. Amazing random comment from Gary at 1.01!!! Can't remember what the conversation was, but it must have been interesting!

It's not all bad!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:52:00 +0000

After a rather pessimistic weather forecast (and a video blog to go with it from me!), things haven't actually been so bad over the last few days. There has been a fair bit of rain and black sky, but there's also been the odd good weather window, and I've been trying to get things done in between the showers.

Saturday was forecast to be a good morning followed by snow, so we decided to go for a steady day touring up to the Col du Tour Noir. This Chamonix classic is pretty mellow but has some of the best views of any tour in Cham and has some really fun, fast skiing on the way down.

We took our time and luckily enough the weather improved towards the middle of the afternoon - proof that you don't always need to rush in the mountains!

Skiing down to the Argentiere Glacier from the Grand Montets

Gary and Matt with the "powder grins"

Heading up, with the 3 big north faces of the Argentiere basin (Courtes, Droites, Verte) behind.

Sharon, Caroline and Tom with Les Courtes behind

Matt shredding

Sharon shredding, but much more stylishly

Final blast down to the hut

Skiing back to the Grand Montets pistes after an awesome day

Monday was forecast once again to be a pretty OK day, but I woke to heavy rain down here in Les Houches, and the original plan of touring in Italy was quickly canned in favour of "wait and see". Luckily the clouds parted in the early afternoon and Dave, Graham and I shot up the Midi and skied the Grand Envers in some of the best and deepest snow of the year. Win.

"There's no-one else here!!!"

Graham smashing it, shame about the hidden mogul on the landing!

Smashing again, this time without the mogul. I would have backflipped off it, obviously, but was busy taking photos

Today (Tuesday) was yet another day with plenty of black cloud, but a quick sunny period forecast for the middle of the day. Although it didn't look too promising from town, we set off for the top of the Midi with open minds and plenty of enthusiasm. Initially we thought about heading for the Cosmiques Couloir, but a check of the avalanche bulletin before heading up suggested that it wouldn't be wise, so we settled on a run down the Petit Envers. For some reason no-one had been down the main Petit Envers, so there was plenty of fresh tracks to be had. The cloud came and went but we had enough visibility to get us down and provide some awesome views.

Neil questing on the Petit Envers

Katie and hero boy

Adam on his telemarks

Katie in the exit couloir below the Requin hut

Looking down to the Mer de Glace.

Finally, I looked out of the window the other morning and saw this.

Wow

The weather looks much the same for the next few days, so the key will be staying flexible and getting on it when the chance comes. Bon chance.

Video Blog 8

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:22:00 +0000

Thanks to Toby and Rachel, sorry that I can't be the bearer of better news!

Queyras, La Grave and a foray into alpinism...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:49:00 +0000

For the first time this winter, we finally got a prolonged spell of sunshine here in the Alps over the last week. Unfortunately I managed to make a complete mess of it, and accomplished very little but had a great time in the process of repeatedly failing on everything I tried.

I started out the week by heading down south with Lindsay Caldwell to do a hut to hut ski tour in the Queyras region. Although little known, this area just south of Briancon is said to be an amazing little playground full of north facing bowls and acres of early season powder and we were keen to check it out.

Starting from the tiny village of St Veran, we headed up to the Refuge de le Blanche and then (after a very generous lunch and a beer) up to the Col Blanchettes. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great, but we found some good snow and the occasional patch of blue sky.

Lindsay on the way up to the Refuge de la Blanche

Me about as close as I ever get to a church (the Chapel on the way to the hut). Probably should have prayed a bit harder given how the weather turned out!

AWESOME views from the Col Blanchette!

Nice snow though :)

Despite a good forecast for the coming days, we woke to another blizzard, and so rechecked the forecast.(thank god for 3G and smartphones). It turned out that the weather man had changed his mind, and that the outlook was actually not very good. It didn't take long to work out that a new plan was needed, so we decided to get back in the car and head for La Grave.

On our way over we stopped for a great tour over the Cretes de Chailloud above the Col du Lauteret in some brutally cold weather, and patted ourselves on the back for getting something done despite having no map or any information (I only know what it's called because I looked it up when I got home).

You can't beat a "that looks good, let's do it" idea every now and then!

Cretes de Chailloud from the Col du Lauteret

Col du Lauteret - not a warm place

Kite skiing above the Col. It was pretty impressive to see how far these guys went - made my arms tired just watching.

Heading up from the col

Bootpacking after the snow got too firm.

Final climb to the summit

Lindsay skiing down with the Meije and the peaks above La Grave in the background.

The following day we skied the lifts at La Grave, and it has really got me psyched to get back. La Grave is one of those legendary places that you hear about in the world of skiing, but I've somehow never managed to get there before. It really is a pretty funny place, with one tiny and antiquated telepherique, a flat bit where you get pulled by a piste basher, and a drag lift taking you to the only piste in the whole "resort" (a 300m red run on a glacier), and some of the best lift-served skiing anywhere in the World.

It is obvious that you really need some local knowledge to make the most of the place, but even on the tiny bits that we did we found some superb skiing and plenty of "adventure" (ie. bootpacking out having dropped into something that cliffed out...) Next time we go we're going to recruit someone who knows it well, and go armed with ropes, harnesses and all that jazz (we had none of that stuff as we weren't expecting to need it in the Queyras). Let's hope they get another dump of snow before the winter is out - Lindsay and I have got the La Grave psyche!!!!

Getting a tow!

Looking out of the telepherique at the mystical Meije. I'm ashamed to report that Matt summitted this peak in a Hawaiian shirt when we climbed it a couple of years back.

Typical La Grave terrain. I want more!

Thanks Lindsay for a few random but really fun days, and thanks for taking my constant abuse regarding your Aussie heritage!

Having had only one night back in Cham I was back into the mountains, this time with axes, crampons and a very psyched Pete. We had our eye on the Carrington/Rouse route on the Aiguilles des Pelerins and settled into the Plan de L'Aiguille hut for a good night's kip. All was going to plan until we realised that the dreaded foehn wind had arrived a day early and brought with it high temperatures and a warm wind as it always does. Not keen to be climbing an ice route in those conditions (plus 2 degrees at 6am!!!), we had a quick chat and decided to go and climb something up the Midi. Unfortunately we couldn't ab off the Midi bridge as planned due to construction work going on up there, and eventually settled for abbing into the Burnier Vogler route from the Cosmiques Arete and doing the final section. That was good, and doing the Cosmiques with no-one else on it was great too - it's such a fun route when it's quiet. Overall, not a very successful day but one filled with banter and stunning views, so hard to be too disappointed.

Stunning view of Cham at night - piste bashers working hard at Brevent Flegere

Pete finishing the Burnier Vogler. I told him that he'd blown the onsight by going in from above, but he got over it quickly.

So there we go, a week of very good weather, and very little to show for it. That said, I had a lot of fun, and that really is point of all this mountain stuff so who cares about ticking things. Thanks Lindsay and Pete!

Video Blog 7

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:45:00 +0000

I'm out of the Valley for a few days, but Seven Twenty Productions have produced a great video blog in my absence. Merci Toby and Rachel!

Col du Passon

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:12:00 +0000

With good weather forecast indefinitely, it is almost a shock to the system to see day after day of blue sky right now in Cham. Deciding to make the most of it, Peter, Damien, Sarah and I set out for a tour over the Col du Passon, and the biggest shock was the cold! Blue sky clearly does not equal warmth in February...

C...O...L...D

Luckily things warmed up for the skin, and we were rewarded for our perseverance with a fantastic ski down. The normal way was pretty tracked out, but Peter knows a secret spot and it delivered big time. He has sworn me to secrecy, completely defying the point of a blog, but the photos are nice!

Sun, sun, sun is the forecast right now so I'm off to make the most of it!

Video Blog 6

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 08:22:00 +0000

Since doing the Trappier a few days ago I've been taking things slightly slower, and have done a few laps down the Plan de L'Aiguille, and a run down the N Couloir of the Aiguille de L'M in some amazing powder with Will. Unfortunately the visibility was non existent so we didn't quite manage to find a good way out and ended up pioneering a new descent which somehow brought us out above Les Planards after some fairly "exciting" tree skiing.... Still, a good adventure was had.

Here is video blog number 6, and thanks as ever to Toby and Rachel at Seven Twenty Productions for a great edit.

Trappier Couloir, Aiguille du Gouter

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:00:00 +0000

The weather continues to (just about) hold here in Cham, so Matt, Peter, Will and I decided to go and check out the Trappier Couloir above Les Houches. This is a legendary line, which has a pretty serious and avalanche prone approach, and offers a huge 35 degree descent back to town. I'd tried the line once before but turned back due to avalanche danger on the approach, and I'd always been keen to go back. The problem was that I wanted to be sure that it was in condition, and preferably know that someone had skied it already. We were all pretty confident that conditions would be good, and then word filtered through that steep skiing legend Glen Plake had skied the line yesterday, so we were on.

The approach starts from the Bellevue cable car, and winds up along the Tramway du Mont Blanc line, before branching off into a bowl and across to a pretty exposed shoulder. The bowl itself seemed OK, but it feels dangerous for some reason, and we spread out to cross it and were relieved to reach the far side.

Looking back at the Les Houches ski area

The lads on the skin up the first bowl

Will at the end of the dodgy feeling traverse

Having done the bowl and the shoulder, there is a short bootpacking section which turned me round the last time I'd tried the Trappier, but this time the snow was firm and the bootpack already established.

Will approaching the handy ladder at the end of the bootpack

Finally into the sun after a cold first couple of hours

The Trappier Couloir is named after Pierre Trappier, who made the first descent in 1982 and I'm told then went on to ski the line every year thereafter. Unfortunately he and his wife were killed whilst climbing the bootpacking section in 2008, and this plaque has been installed to commemorate them.

After the bootpack there is another hour or so of skinning, and then you arrive in a spectacular spot to start skiing.

Will at the start of the ski

Peter at the shoulder where you take skins off and start the descent

Looking into the couloir from the top, with the Aiguille du Midi behind.

Will making his first turns

Despite appearances from above (it looked epic), the snow was actually pretty variable, and whilst there was some good powder, there was more windcrust. As we got lower the quality improved, and we found some great snow in the bottom half of the line, but overall it wasn't classic. However, the whole feel of the Couloir is incredible, and the atmosphere is pretty amazing, so snow quality isn't the be all and end all on this run.

Matt on the lower section

And Peter

Will in the trees low down

I'm not convinced that we found the correct exit!

Despite the not so great snow, we all felt that the Trappier is a fantastic adventure through some very impressive scenery. However, the approach and the Couloir itself both need to be very stable in order for this to be a good objective. If you didn't know the way or didn't have a track to follow the route finding would be really tough, and it would feel pretty serious all round. I've wanted to do this line for 4 years and have only just got it done, so don't do it until it's right - it's worth the wait.

Couloir Pissoir

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:57:00 +0000

Today was supposed to be an easy day....

With the weather holding and energy levels high, Peter, Matt, Damo and I decided to go and check out the Couloir Pissoir above Trient. For reasons unknown to us, the guidebook says that you start in Trient, but a quick look at the map shows that it is much easier to ride the lifts at Le Tour and skin up from the top of the Col de Balme chairlift to the Col d'Autannes. The crux of the day may well have been surviving this section to be honest, as the temperature on the lifts was hovering around the level required for hell to freeze over! Being extremely tough mountain men, we barely noticed it though.

Once off the chairlift we skinned up towards the Col d'Autannes, and I was amazed by how much untouched powder there was above Le Tour, all waiting for anyone willing to skin for 20 or 30 minutes. The Col d'Autannes is quite a bit further than that, but I was once again taken aback at just how much terrain there is up there. There were quite a lot of tracks, but still masses of untouched powder, so I may well be back soon.

Skinning up towards the Col d'Autannes, with Mont Blanc and Chamonix Valley behind

3 guys skiing below the Pointe des Berons (above the Col d'Autannes). Not sure I would have skied over the big blind roll that they did, but the snow looked good.

After a quick lunch stop on top of the Col, we climbed up to the Glacier des Grands, before traversing this to the top of the Pissoir.

Looking back across the Glacier des Grands, with Mont Buet's N face looking in good condition behind.

Once at the top of the Couloir we were relieved to see that half a dozen or so people had already dropped in and made sure that it wasn't going to avalanche. It looked pretty solid but it's always nice when you don't have to go first.

Damo checking out the entrance

Having negotiated the steep entrance, the Couloir just goes on and on, and whilst the top section was almost perfect powder with the occasional wind crust, the lower section was completely perfect, mind blowing powder which took us all the way down to the Trient Valley. Here's the proof -

Damo, taking it nice and slow as ever

Peter shredding his new fat skis

Matt The Alpine Clown looking pretty rubbish, but the view of the Trient Glacier was nice so I stuck the photo in.

The best descent of the season so far? Certainly top 3 - this is a fantastic line, and although you need to make sure that it is safe avalanche wise (it's a pretty big funnel with a cliff underneath), if you get it in good condition it is mind blowing. I think I may well do it again this season, as I saw a video of people doing it in May and finding perfect spring snow and it looked awesome then too.

So, 1200m of ascent today, 1400m yesterday, and Will Eaton is now back in town and psyched. This can only mean one thing - another mission tomorrow. My poor legs.

Les Marecottes & Quatre Tetes

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 19:18:00 +0000

With the sun suddenly appearing for the first time in ages, I made sure that I was well rested and ready for some powder. To get things underway Sharon and I headed over to the small Swiss resort of Les Marecottes, which is said to be quiet but superb, a bit like Bruson (which I went to a week or so ago). The best way to get there is park at Finhaut (just over the Swiss border) and then get the train to the resort, and with this being Switzerland the whole thing was very smooth and efficient, and we were on the lifts less than an hour after parking up at the train station.

Once there I was blown away by the terrain, but it quickly became obvious that the best stuff was accessed by touring, and that without good local knowledge it may not be easy to find. Still, we found some great skiing and bootpacked up the odd bit here and there to access short couloirs and faces, all surrounded by the most incredible views. Overall I was slightly disappointed by Marecottes, but I'd love to get all the beta and go back for some touring. It was a great day, but no Bruson I'm afraid.

Random guy shredding under the even more random "trip" sign

For those about to send....

Oh for a bit of local knowledge...

Looking back at Mont Blanc

Me in the powder having bootpacked up in waist deep snow

Today I teamed up with a big group to go and check out the Quatre Tetes, a 2300m peak above Sallanches. The tour starts at 970m, so it's quite a slog up, but having finally got to the top we had a fantastic ski down the N face, in perfect, deep powder. Happy times.

On the final ridge

Looking back at the skin track

The crew, minus me

And now for some ski porn -

Nearly home

The weather looks to be holding for at least one more day, so I'll be out again tomorrow - stay posted!

Video Blog 5

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:54:00 +0000

Thanks as ever to Toby and Rach at Seven Twenty Productions for another great edit!

Petit Croisse Baulet & lift skiing

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Still unsettled weather here in Cham - am I sounding like a broken record?!?!

However, bad weather does mean precipitation so I've found good snow on the Grand Montets and Vallee Blanche, and some not so good stuff at Flegere. Win some lose some.

Ferg on the VB

Sharon below the Dent du Geant

Matt styling it up

Lunch at the Requin!

The one sunny day this week saw Sharon, Caroline and I head over to Megeve for a bit of touring. I'd heard that for a small skin, the Petit Croisse Baulet provides an excellent ski and so we went over to check it out, and to hopefully hoover up some lift served powder too. A spanner was firmly thrown into the works though when the sun hadn't come out by the time we topped out, and as a result we dropped into a world of tight trees and riverbeds!

The top section was excellent, but the lower section was hard going, and the worst part was that the weather cleared after we'd got back into the lift system, and we could see perfect tracks down perfect snow about 50 metres from where we'd gone! Bugger. Still, a good day was had and I'm super keen to go back and check out some of the peaks I scoped out from the Megeve lift system.

Earning the turns

AWESOME view from here!

Nice mellow powder on the way down

Me hunting the good stuff

What is that!?! I saw so many awesome looking lines from Megeve, and my head has been buried in guidebooks ever since, but this one stood out. You'll have to wait until I've done it before I reveal a name though :)

Believe it or not, there is rumoured to be good weather on the way. Much as I love getting lots of snow, I'm pretty keen to get some more stable conditions, so hopefully next week may see them arrive.

Video Blog, Bruson and Martin

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie Boscoe) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:37:00 +0000

Having got back from Morocco an hour before this was filmed, I'm afraid that this week's blog is light on solid beta, but features some good footage, and great editing as ever. Cheers Toby and Rachel!

Unfortunately my high spirits after Morocco were quickly quashed with the news that my friend Martin Widen had been killed at Brevent at about the same time as I was landing in Geneva. Martin dropped into one of the big couloirs to the right of the ENSA, and before he got a turn in the whole thing ripped and triggered an enormous avalanche.

I hadn't seen Martin for a few months before running into him a couple of weeks back, and over dinner and a few beers we made plans to go ski touring the next day. Martin had to bail due to man flu, but we agreed that we'd get out the week after I got back from Morocco. I guess not.

Traditionally a platitude such as "R.I.P." would now appear, but anyone that knew Martin would be hard pushed to describe him as very keen on resting peacefully, so I'll just say thanks for all the good times and that at some stage soon I'm going to climb up a mountain, put my skis on and say goodbye properly.

We miss you mate.

It's funny how things like this make you feel, but for me I felt like I wanted to do just about anything other than sit around feeling sorry for myself, and all I wanted to do was go and be in the mountains. I'd always heard reports of incredible tree skiing at the tiny resort of Bruson, opposite Verbier, and so decided to go and check it out. As it turned out, it delivered and then some. Here's the proof -

Photo sequence Jack Geldard -

As has been the case for most of the winter, the weather is once again unsettled, and bringing quite a bit of fresh snow. The jury is out as to where the good skiing will be this week, but there will be some and hopefully I'll be doing it, so keep checking back for updates.