23 February 2003

Powder Magazine takes lessons from Natives reporter
It all started with an e-mail from POWDER magazine in America, they wanted to know a bit about Chamonix and where to stay, did I now of any reliable guides etc. One of the senior correspondents wanted to write an article on Cham and take some promotional shots for some new equipment. My boss gave them a free room at our Club hotel and arranged things so I could be their rep. I and our head of IT (local nutter Phil Ingle) would ski with them.

What to do to impress a professional who has been there and done that? It was still snowing the first morning so we headed for the biggest lift with the steepest slopes that was open. The bottom half of the Aiguille Du Midi has more vertical than most ski resorts, the tree runs are 35 to 45 degrees, the powder was thigh deep. They were suitably impressed.

Fresh tracks...
Early afternoon the skies started to clear so we ventured to the top. The avalanche warning was 5 out of 5 and there were no tracks. We skied the arête out of the door, no messing with ropes or crampons. A short traverse brings you to the Glacier Rond. From here the ground drops away vertically for almost 3km!

There was a field of untracked very steep powder to be skied, leading to an exit couloirs followed by another traverse and then skiing to the valley floor. There were a few murmurs of concern and many whoops of joy. By the time we had fought our way out through the last of the trees to Chamonix it was dark. There was as feeling of satisfaction from some and wild disbelief from others we had just skied the steepest, longest vertical decent anywhere in the world from a ski lift, and in amazing deep untracked powder.

Photo shoot perfection
The following day was a rest day for some a gentle day powder skiing at Le Tour for others. The Brevent to cable car that had been closed since the snow had started falling was opening; we were in the first lift. Perfect conditions for a photo shoot: fresh powder, blue skies and Mt Blanc as a backdrop. I broke trail, carried packs and took pictures, Phil wore the gear and jumped off things.

We messed about for probably 4 hours whilst skiing a total of 100m, we got some nice pictures. The Manufactures and the magazine will be happy. It all came to a rather dramatic end though when Phil decided to jump off a rather large bit of rock and landed heavily. Nothing permanently broken, but it will hurt for a few more days yet!

Words and Pictures from Tom Greenall - Natives Resort Reporter

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