Swiss Route, Courtes.
Finally managed to get out with Jon Griffiths for a climb in the mountains. He’s a very accomplished Alpinist and fantastic photographer too. We’ve met lots of times, and our date was a long time coming. He’d suggested a day climb in the Argentiere basin like the Swiss Route on the Courtes, climbing with skis on our packs for some aerobic training!. 1st lift…ish to Grande Montets, a bit of skiing and skinning to the ‘shrund saw us soloing together up primo snow ice. The huge benefit of his approach skis (and his ability to ski in light climbing boots!) had me regretting my big touring skis that we’re now adding to the unroped experience. Thankfully, Jon was polite enough to wait as I did my best to keep up. A baltic and windy summit was reached, then a climb down towards Col des Droites. I down climbed a fair bit lower than Jon before exchanging crampons for skis, and after some “terrain” a highly enjoyable ski on great powder down into the Talefre basin, and the hugely popular headtorch ski down the Vallee Blanche and the home run. Like I said, Jon’s a great photographer http://www.alpineexposures.com/blogs/chamonix-conditions/7214620-courtes-north-face-swiss-route , as well a mega fit! Cheers Jon….awesome.
Jon cruising with his kid’s skis!
