With a light dusting of snow overnight above 2500m, we took first lift up to Glacier Pleine Morte. Traversing from the lift station we dropped off the north facing slope down to the Glacier. It was incredible to ski powder on the 22nd April. We then made our way to an ice cave for a spot of climbing before attacking the Point du Wildstrubel, located at the western end of the glacier beneath the Weisshorn. Not a bad way to end the season!
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Now that the skis have finally been hung up, and packing up life here in Switzerland begins, it means within a week, i'll be back out on The Solent. Below are a just few shots of the end of last season to get you in the mood for another few months on the water.
A real highlight of Winter 2013/4 has been the numerous trips made to Cabane des Violettes, a Club Alpine Suisse Member situated at an altitude of 2250m. It offers sensational local food and wine and stays open year round. The most common route to access after the lifts have shut, is via touring skis or raquettes from Barzettes or Vermala and takes between 1 and 2 hours depending on fitness and experience levels. Being up in the mountains after dark is an incredible experience. The view down to the valley, littered with lights is breathtaking and the silence is remarkable. I highly recommend this or a similar excursion when you are next in the Alps. Just be sure to go with a locally qualified instructor or guide who knows the route and more importantly the activity of the piste works who often use high tension cables to prepare the pistes. Below are a few photos of some of the team that have made the ascent this year! I hope to see all of you and more next year! www.cabanedesviolettes.ch
Rue du Pas de l'Ours 41 - 3963 Crans Montana Tel : +41 (0)27 481 39 19 info@cabanedesviolettes.ch Day 1 - Les Diablerets - Arpelistock - Gelten HutOn the first morning we took the cable car from Les Diablerets up to the stunning Glacier 3000, from where we began our descent into the backcountry. Very quickly our first summit of the trip came into view, the Aperlistock, and it suddenly became apparent our guide didn't have an easy trip in mind! We followed the line of the Arête de l'Apille before booting up to the South Face. Weather conditions meant that the final push to the summit was a reasonably exposed climb up shale. Having spent some time taking in the incredible view from the summit, all that remained was a 1033m vertical ski descent to the Gelten Hut during which we experienced every snow condition from ice to powder, to crud, and some beautiful spring snow. We spent the afternoon on the terrace watching the sun go down with a beer before enjoying a well earned Raclette! Day 2 - Gelten Hut - Wildhorn - Les RoussesTerry had us up for breakfast at 5am on day 2, as summiting the Wildhorn was going to require 1400m of vertical ascent. We fired up the head torches and set off from the hut at 6am. We crossed the river bed, and began our ascent up the icy slopes. Nearly 5 hours into our ascent we were only 150m vertical from the summit but had to bail out due to high winds and limited visibility. It was shame but definitely the right decision, since as we continued our descent on skis down the steep icy southeast facing slopes of the Wildhorn, the weather continued to close in. We took a moments refuge in the Audannes Hut enjoying a quick snack before continuing our descent to Les Rousses on the perimeter of the Anzère ski area, where we continued by car back to Crans Montana. Day 3 - Ovronnaz - Dents de Morcles - OvronnazHaving retreated to Crans Montana, we were left with an array of possibilities for our final day. We chose to drive to the resort of Ovronnaz and take the first lift up in order to attempt to climb the Dents de Morcles. We reached the top of the lift system in almost zero visibility but as we continued along the long traverse into the next valley, things improved a little and we were rewarded with a beautiful descent in powder. At 2200m we put on the skins and began the ascent in fresh snow up to the Dents de Morcles 200m short of the summit, the weather started to close in, so under the final ridge, we put on as many layers as possible, and attached our ski crampons as we knew the top would be windblown. As we continued on, the weather became harsher, and the slope was sheet ice. The visibility had decreased, but not enough to hide the 700m drop to the left and the 1500m drop to the right as we continued across the 5m snow bridge to the summit. We were extremely grateful for our crampons! We just about managed to get the camera out for a summit shot or two before removing our skins and crampons. We engaged the locks on our bindings as losing a ski here was not an option and started our descent, down the way we had climbed up. The levels of adrenaline were running pretty high at this stage! Unfortunately the weather had closed in in the valley as well, so the descent was more of a question of route finding than ripping big turns. There was one small 200m skin up at the bottom before carving down the pistes of Ovronnaz for a well deserved beer and a chance to reflect on an incredible three days in the Swiss Alps, and of course start to plan next season! I was fortunate enough to be joined on this trip by Tom, director of the Rando Company (www.randocompany.com), Sarah, ex-professional climber and our Guide Terry Ralphs (www.mountain-guide.co.uk). We were incredibly lucky to have the support of Terry, whom without we wouldn't have been able to explore this stunning part of the Swiss Alps.
I apologise for the recent lack of website and blog due to a slight miscommunication between my host and I! I will be updating the site starting from today and hopefully posting some stories from earlier in the season.
Olly |