More Snow & Skiing 1

Well, it's been a while since our last blogpost, a sure sign that Kenton and I have been busy. Kenton on a long photo shoot, a great weekend with the First Ascent crew in Gressoney and last weekend with Charles and Neil for one of our 'Ice Weekends' For me (Guy) its been skiing and more skiing... several days out with Mark Zittelli and also Peter Kennen in the aiguille rouges finding some great snow and great skiing in the Berard valley and Glacier Mort in not always perfect weather! And we can't forget that perfect Sunday with Alistair Fabb and the Geneva crew - blue sky, 2 foot of fresh powder and first tracks down all the lines at le Tour - a great day! So what else? Well, in chronological order... About 10 days ago with an unexpected day off I lucked out with a solo trip to the north couloir of Point Inferior du Tricot at the bottom of the Bionnassay glacier - not the most famous peak in the alps but an epic ski - a hidden gem. I had heard through the grapevine that it had been skied the day before and so was hoping the skin and bootpack tracks would still be there to save me alot of effort breaking trail for the 1500m vert. Well, you can't have everything! 5 hours of breaking trail found me exhausted at the top of the couloir wondering if I had the legs to ski it. However the snow was perfect (a payoff for wading through above knee powder for 600m vert) and my tired legs soon remembered what to do. A short steep section of 50 degrees at the top, some powder and a short step over some rocks at a narrowing saw me at the top of the bulk of the descent - a long 45 degree pitch in great snow. It's amazing how much difference good snow makes - if the snow had been icy and juddery this exposed 45 degree section would have seen a few tense moments on my tired legs. As it was it was bliss, steep turns in compact powder, a nice rythym and that great sensation of the sluff coming down with you and around you. A brief steepening to 50 again as I traversed above a cliff to the exit chute and it was in the bag. It might even be a British first? (Pt. Inf. du Tricot North Couloir. 5.1 E2 45 degrees with 2 sections of 50. 600m) see pt2 for the rest!