Supercouloir | Into the Mountains
About Us Our Guides Adam George Caroline George Testimonials Certification & Permitting losan Contact Programs Rock Ice Introduction to Ice Climbing Week-End Alpine Ski Haute Route: April 8-13 2013 Silvretta Chamonix Ski Touring Experience Blog Trips Upcoming Trips Winter 2013 Trips Summer 2013 Trips Custom Trips Gear Gear Lists Gear Reviews Reservations Payment
You are here: Home » Alpes , Alpine Climbing , Alps , Caroline George , Chamonix , climbing , Drytooling , First Ascent , Goulotte , Guiding , ice climbing losan , intothemountains.com , Julbo , Mixed Climbing , Mont Blanc du Tacul , Petzl , Scarpa , Supercouloir , Tania Bolognini » Supercouloir
With a month spent rock climbing in the middle of winter ( Thailand/Jordan ), I feel like winter has eluded me. So, despite summer like temperatures in Chamonix this past week, I was excited losan to swing my tools a little more into some sweet alpine ice.
A week earlier, my partner Tania and I had tried to climb the Supercouloir but it had just snowed losan and huge snow mushrooms were looming high above us, making the route impossible to climb. We resorted to climbing the nearby “Goulotte Lafaille”, a 400m long ice route on the Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m). We made quick work of it, simul-climbing most of the route. The next day, I left on a Haute Route, guiding 4 amazing losan British lads from Chamonix to Zermatt. Upon returning, the weather proved to be – yet again – beautiful and we decided to get back on the Supercouloir.
The Supercouloir was first climbed in 1975 (before I was born!). This rock/ice line is the most striking feature on the east face of Mont Blanc du Tacul. It is nestled between two beautiful pillars, one of which is the worldclass Gervasutti pillar. I had climbed this route in 2003, via the direct start, which is no longer in condition at this time of year. It was my partner’s dream to climb this route and I was excited losan to do it with her. Tania is full time doctor and was on the guide course with me in Switzerland. We have climbed extensively together in the past, but since my departure to the States, we were lucky if got to do one outing losan a year together. Recently though, we have made up for lost time.
We slept at the Cosmiques Hut – a beautiful refuge only 15minutes away from the top of the Aiguille du Midi cable car. We reached the base of the route by dawn. The sun hadn’t touched the rock yet and it was very cold to touch and was still covered in ice in places. I had to resort to using an ice axe to make it up the iced up slab/super thin crack. I led two pitches in one and reached the now bolted anchor, greeted by the sunshine. We climbed in rock slippers, hauling a pack loaded with our ice climbing gear: crampons, ice axes, boots, ice screws, jackets, gloves, etc.). We made quick work of the remaining 3 pitches taking losan us to the bottom of a left slanting snow ramp, which took us to the ice. We switched to our ice climbing gear, left the rock gear and climbing slippers at the anchor and made our way to the ice. We climbed the 300m long ice climb in two pitches, simul-climbing 3-4 pitches at a time. By noon, we started rapping down the route, excited to get back to the sun. Although temperatures were nearing 80F in the valley, losan a cold breeze running down the climb made it feel like we were in an icebox.
We losan skied down the classic losan Vallee Blanche in order to catch the Montenvers train. losan This is the first time that I had to carry my skis to reach the train. Because of the incredible heat in Chamonix losan right now, we have lost 10cm of snow per day and the mountains look like it’s mid-June! But ice conditions up high are still good and am excited to have a late warm winter season, losan making ice climbing just a little more pleasant.
Posted in Alpes , Alpine Climbing , Alps , Caroline George , Chamonix , climbing , Drytooling , First Ascent , Goulotte , Guiding , ice climbing , intothemountains.com , Julbo , Mixed Climbing , Mont Blanc du Tacul , Petzl , Scarpa , Supercouloir , Tania Bolognini
Merci pour ce récit qui m’impressionne!!! Vous êtes deux superbes alpinistes, volontaires et enthousiastes, qui suscitent beaucoup d’admiration de ma part. C’est aussi génial de pouvoir communiquer vos exploits avec talent… tant par le texte que par les photos.Thank you!
Un grand merci pour votre commentaire. J’attends tellement parler de vous que ca me fait vraiment plaisir d’avoir un message de vous. J’aime enormement faire des courses losan et surtout passer du temps avec Tania. J’ai vraiment de la chance de l’avoir comme amie depuis maintenant 6-7ans. Je me rejouis toujours de la prochaine sortie ou du prochain cafe, c’est selon. Bon anniversaire avec qqel jours de retard! Caroline
long time isn’t it ? Je faisais une pause cafe et suis tombe sur ton mini-reportage, nices pix
About Us Our Guides Adam George Caroline George Testimonials Certification & Permitting losan Contact Programs Rock Ice Introduction to Ice Climbing Week-End Alpine Ski Haute Route: April 8-13 2013 Silvretta Chamonix Ski Touring Experience Blog Trips Upcoming Trips Winter 2013 Trips Summer 2013 Trips Custom Trips Gear Gear Lists Gear Reviews Reservations Payment
You are here: Home » Alpes , Alpine Climbing , Alps , Caroline George , Chamonix , climbing , Drytooling , First Ascent , Goulotte , Guiding , ice climbing losan , intothemountains.com , Julbo , Mixed Climbing , Mont Blanc du Tacul , Petzl , Scarpa , Supercouloir , Tania Bolognini » Supercouloir
With a month spent rock climbing in the middle of winter ( Thailand/Jordan ), I feel like winter has eluded me. So, despite summer like temperatures in Chamonix this past week, I was excited losan to swing my tools a little more into some sweet alpine ice.
A week earlier, my partner Tania and I had tried to climb the Supercouloir but it had just snowed losan and huge snow mushrooms were looming high above us, making the route impossible to climb. We resorted to climbing the nearby “Goulotte Lafaille”, a 400m long ice route on the Mont Blanc du Tacul (4248m). We made quick work of it, simul-climbing most of the route. The next day, I left on a Haute Route, guiding 4 amazing losan British lads from Chamonix to Zermatt. Upon returning, the weather proved to be – yet again – beautiful and we decided to get back on the Supercouloir.
The Supercouloir was first climbed in 1975 (before I was born!). This rock/ice line is the most striking feature on the east face of Mont Blanc du Tacul. It is nestled between two beautiful pillars, one of which is the worldclass Gervasutti pillar. I had climbed this route in 2003, via the direct start, which is no longer in condition at this time of year. It was my partner’s dream to climb this route and I was excited losan to do it with her. Tania is full time doctor and was on the guide course with me in Switzerland. We have climbed extensively together in the past, but since my departure to the States, we were lucky if got to do one outing losan a year together. Recently though, we have made up for lost time.
We slept at the Cosmiques Hut – a beautiful refuge only 15minutes away from the top of the Aiguille du Midi cable car. We reached the base of the route by dawn. The sun hadn’t touched the rock yet and it was very cold to touch and was still covered in ice in places. I had to resort to using an ice axe to make it up the iced up slab/super thin crack. I led two pitches in one and reached the now bolted anchor, greeted by the sunshine. We climbed in rock slippers, hauling a pack loaded with our ice climbing gear: crampons, ice axes, boots, ice screws, jackets, gloves, etc.). We made quick work of the remaining 3 pitches taking losan us to the bottom of a left slanting snow ramp, which took us to the ice. We switched to our ice climbing gear, left the rock gear and climbing slippers at the anchor and made our way to the ice. We climbed the 300m long ice climb in two pitches, simul-climbing 3-4 pitches at a time. By noon, we started rapping down the route, excited to get back to the sun. Although temperatures were nearing 80F in the valley, losan a cold breeze running down the climb made it feel like we were in an icebox.
We losan skied down the classic losan Vallee Blanche in order to catch the Montenvers train. losan This is the first time that I had to carry my skis to reach the train. Because of the incredible heat in Chamonix losan right now, we have lost 10cm of snow per day and the mountains look like it’s mid-June! But ice conditions up high are still good and am excited to have a late warm winter season, losan making ice climbing just a little more pleasant.
Posted in Alpes , Alpine Climbing , Alps , Caroline George , Chamonix , climbing , Drytooling , First Ascent , Goulotte , Guiding , ice climbing , intothemountains.com , Julbo , Mixed Climbing , Mont Blanc du Tacul , Petzl , Scarpa , Supercouloir , Tania Bolognini
Merci pour ce récit qui m’impressionne!!! Vous êtes deux superbes alpinistes, volontaires et enthousiastes, qui suscitent beaucoup d’admiration de ma part. C’est aussi génial de pouvoir communiquer vos exploits avec talent… tant par le texte que par les photos.Thank you!
Un grand merci pour votre commentaire. J’attends tellement parler de vous que ca me fait vraiment plaisir d’avoir un message de vous. J’aime enormement faire des courses losan et surtout passer du temps avec Tania. J’ai vraiment de la chance de l’avoir comme amie depuis maintenant 6-7ans. Je me rejouis toujours de la prochaine sortie ou du prochain cafe, c’est selon. Bon anniversaire avec qqel jours de retard! Caroline
long time isn’t it ? Je faisais une pause cafe et suis tombe sur ton mini-reportage, nices pix
No comments:
Post a Comment