Home > Trip Reports > May 18, 2018, Col de l'Aiguille Verte, Face N du col W

May 18, 2018, Col de l'Aiguille Verte, Face N du col W

5/18/18
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Posted by tabski on 5/18/18 11:16pm
The first time I skied in the Argentiere basin of Chamonix was with Demasi, Lurie and Sjue back in about 2007. At the time we hiked from the village of Argentiere, adding about 5,000' of net gain, due to a volatile combination of our unwillingness to pay the 25 Euro one-ride up on the Grand Montets tram, and an adherence to Cascadian climb-from-the-valley ethic.

Since then I'd skied in the basin again a few times with the assistance of the tramways, but never during the later months when spring weather can bring the higherest, steeperest faces into prime nic. As I'm in France for a wedding, I came early with my skis hoping to tick just such a line as we were able to ski yesterday.

Being May, the Grand Montets cable car is closed, so though my Cascadian ethics have softened, again I found myself hiking in from the valley bottom with my friend RH. A night in the unguarded Argentiere hut set us up for launching an attempt on the Face N of the Col de l'Aiguille Verte.

There is very little to report, as one would hope it would be on such a line. While descents of this, and other steep classics along the north wall of the Verte - Droites - Courtes - Triolet citadel, have become more common, they often involve a higher level of technical maneuvering to cross rocks, ice or unskiable sections. For our part, we found consistent snow quality and coverage, and were up and down the magnificent face in a few hours, like pigs in merde in the superbe top-to-bottom ski conditions.

As is wont to happen in Cham, my lifetime achievement was quickly put in perspective, as we crossed paths with others having descended routes on the Verte of much higher risk and difficulty, as well as hearing of Paul Bonhomme attempting to climb and ski four faces of the Verte in a single push during the same window. A tip of the hat to those for whom our 900m @ 50 °, rappel-free ski is merely a training mission for the bigger and bolder possibilities in the range. Chapeau!

Up.



Down.
https://i.imgur.com/9eeYBES.jpg" />


The line goes from the right-hand col between the two needles, to the hanging face, to the main face. We're visible about to cross the bergschrund.
Love this...Nice work Drew and only wish i was there to share!!

Good weekend for weddings; and steep ski lines apparently.

Looks like there could have been an icy patch near the top! Phew what a line, nice work!

Greaterest ski line I've seen this season!

Super ski!

Looked at that when climbing there a while back. Big vertical in that valley.


Sick line, good day for a birthday.

That second photo though.

I looked at that line and a couple folks skiing it last year. It's damn real. Good work.

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2018-05-19 06:16:41