5 January 2003
The weather on New Years Eve was moody clouds
with a patch of sunshine here and there, having watched the skies
for most of the morning I headed up for one quick run on the Aiguille
de Midi along with Sion a skiing pal of mine. At the top the weather
was a bit gusty but we could see enough to ski, we decided to go
for it. As soon as we started our decent we teamed up with a guide
and his client, 4 heads better than 2 for route finding. The first
two pitches were lovely, knee-deep powder..
Then the clouds rolled in...
But then the clouds rolled in deep, thick and fast. We could see
just a few meters, but had already dropped too far to walk back
up. Progress became very slow, but due to the nature of the terrain
we only got lost occasionally that is, until we got down to the
flat part. By this point the visibility was so bad whoever was leading
was on a rope to stop them disappearing into an unseen crevasse.
Avoiding crevasses in the dark..
The Mer du glace for the most part is almost flat and featureless
except for crevasses, there is normally a safe route down the centre.
With progress taking so long the light began to fade ending up with
us trying to brake a train in almost total darkness. None of us
had remembered a torch of course.. All the time our progress was
slowed by the depth of the lovely new snow. Normally you ski over
to the Ice Grotto, climb a few stairs to the Gondola at Montenvers
and catch the train to Chamonix. Finding the Grotto in the first
place was a challenge, and then we had to climb the full height
of the gondola to reach Montenvers.
Feeling the way home...
Here at least the security lights were in operation giving us an
excuse for a short break. To get home was now a simple task of walking
down the railway for a few miles...with a sting in the tail, two
tunnels a few hundred meters long with absolutely no light. We had
to ski pole down the wall and hope there were no holes in the floor!
I finally got home at 9pm, intending to be home for 2 pm! I was
very fortunate that I had decided to wear my touring boots instead
of my regular alpine boots, as walking miles they made a big difference.
New Years day however made up for things, an early-ish cable car and untouched powder from top to bottom on the Col du Plan route and home for lunch.
Words and Pictures from Tom Greenall - Natives Resort Reporter
More reports from Tom...
of
Val Thorens
of Early Snow in the Alps
of Mt Cheeseman
of Mt Hutt
of Porter Heights
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