Haute Route 2006
European Alps - April 12-20
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| For the second year in a row, IFMGA guides
Larry Goldie and Jeff Ward teamed up to lead several trips on
the fabled European Haute route from Chamonix, France to Zermatt,
Switzerland. The first group consisted of Clare Rhoades and
Lore Thorpe from Santa Fe, NM, Lore's daughter Karen, Karen's
husband Andy, and old ski buddies from New England, Brad Jones
and Dave Robbins. For most of the group it would be some of
the first ski mountaineering they had done, but they were all
eager to get right into it. |
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| We met in Chamonix at the Hotel L'’Arve,
right on the banks of the river L'arve. Here we are heading
to the Aiguille du Midi Telepherique for our first day
of skiing. This day proved to be really stormy, and we
went for an abbreviated training mission in the Vallee
Blanche. With temperatures in the single digits, 30+ MPH
winds and whiteout conditions, we had a short day and
dont have any photos that capture the experience. Needless
to say it was less than ideal conditions to begin our
trip. |
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| We left the next morning to begin the
tour with a forecast that was calling for improving weather.
Just the opposite occured however, and the weather began
to deteriorate throughout the day. Here we are low on
the first big climb to the Col du Chardoney. |
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| The following day dawned brilliantly
clear with about 8" of new snow. Here is the view
from the deck of the Trient hut looking back toward the
Fenetre de Saleina which we had come through the prior
afternoon in stormy conditions. Note the absense of any
tracks in this photo. |
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| The descent of the Val D'Arpette is
arguably one of the best on the tour with over 4000 vertical
feet of skiing. We had wonderful sunny powder skiing on
this descent that drops us down to the town of Champex.
Here Andy, one of two telemarkers on the tour, drops a
knee on the upper part of the run. |
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| The snow changed from powder to corn
with hardly a transition in between. Here the group skis
down into the village of Arpette with the majority of
the descent visible from the Col in the background. |
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| Lunch was at our favorite little bakery
in the town of Champex. A classic European lunch enhanced
with some wonderful pastries and several cups of cafe
au lait. Unfortunately this juncture also marked the departure
of Lore (in red) from the remainder of the trip due to
persistent knee pain. We would miss her, though she met
us in Zermatt to celebrate at the end! |
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| The Alps had a great winter this year
and there was more snow in towns like Bourg St Pierre
than we had seen before. Normally, we hike for about 11/2
to 2 hours to reach snow out of BSP, though this year
we were able to ski right from the edge of town. We did
encounter some small bare patches on this south facing
slope which we dealt with accordingly. |
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| We made our way up to the Velan hut.
This hut is technically off of the main classic route,
but offers some incredible ski touring on the slopes of
Mt Velan. The hut is modern and comfortable and is hosted
by one of the friendliest hut keepers in the Alps. It
is also a refreshing break from some of the busier huts
on the tour. |
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| We woke up to a beautiful day and decided
to climb a ways up Mt Velan for some skiing before heading
across the valley to the Valsorey Hut. We had great skiing
that morning with about 6-8" of cold, new snow. |
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| The next day is the mountaineering crux
of the route. From the Valsorey hut (located at the bottom
of the red line) we climb up the Plateau du Coliour on
the shoulder of the Grand Combin. We will often start
the climb on skis and eventually switch to boots and crampons
as we climb this steep exposed slope as a rope team. |
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| That morning dawned spectacularly clear
as we enjoyed views of Mt Blanc and all of the Aiguilles
de Chamonix with early morning light. |
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| The top of the climb to the Plateau is
quite steep and we pitched out the last 100'. Here Clare,
Karen and Andy frontpoint up the last slopes with a belay
from above. |
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| The climb up the Plateau du Coliour is
rewarded by a wonderfully long descent of the Glacier
Du Mt. Durrand. As we head down it, we get a great view
of tomorrow's route via the Les Portons variation. This
is the hanging valley just right of the main Breney glacier
in the center of the photo. |
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| After climbing up Les Portons, we cross
back to the upper Breney glacier above the icefall seen
in the previous photo. The Col connecting the two glaciers
was quite melted and required some exciting mixed climbing
to cross. Here Andy and Karen follow through a small rock
band with a belay from above. |
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| We climbed all the way to the top of
the Pigne D'Arolla, only to be engulfed in a whiteout
on the descent. After making our way to the Vignettes
hut, the remainder of the night was thick fog. It was
a relief to see the next morning dawn clear for the big
day into Zermatt. Here Andy and Karen prepare for the
first of three descents outside of the Vignettes hut. |
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| After climbing up to the
final pass, the Col de Valepine, we celebrated as we prepared
for the final 7500' descent into Zermatt. Here Brad and
Dave make the universal sign for happiness in the mountains
in front of the Matterhorn. |
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| The ski down into Zermatt, not only offers
some fine skiing, but travels through some of the most
spectacular terrain imaginable. Here Karen skis down the
upper Stockji glacier. |
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| With an extra day to tour
around Zermatt, we polled those left standing to see who
wanted get out for another day of skiing. The only takers
were our two young telemarkers, Karen and Andy. We opted
for a ski descent of the Schwartzer glacier. In this photo,
after skiing down through the mid icefall, Andy carves
a tele turn below a serac. |
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| The ski out through the snout
of the Gorner glacier was one of the wildest ski runs
any of us had ever done. It was like a giant amusement
park ride, shooting down through a track between rock
walls, bare water ice and running water. We encountered
one section of bare ice that had yet to be negotiated
successfully on skis. Always one to think out of the box,
Karen chose a novel way to descend this short stretch.
The memory of her laughter echoing off of the rock walls
is one that will remain for many years. |
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