backcountry journal
April 06
As part of our Mont Blanc ascent we needed to warm up with a reasonably long tour as well as spend the night at middle altitude. The Barbey couloir is a moderately serious line that runs down the eastern face of the Aiguille de Argentiere (3900m). The entire couloir gives close to 800m of vertical descent, however the meat of the run is a section of 400m that is just under 50 degrees. If you pick the absolute steepest areas of the couloir then it is possible to enjoy pitches of up to 55 degrees.
To ride the Barbey Couloir we went up to the Argentiere Hut (2770m) the previous day, spending the afternoon relaxing on the balcony having a beer and getting g ready for a 5am start the next morning. The view of the awesome northern walls in the Argentiere basin were amazing. It was a nice afternoon and sleeping at 2770m is enough to give a little bit of altitude acclimatisation. It is also high enough to result in sleeping problems.
To ride the Barbey Couloir we went up to the Argentiere Hut (2770m) the previous day, spending the afternoon relaxing on the balcony having a beer and getting g ready for a 5am start the next morning. The view of the awesome northern walls in the Argentiere basin were amazing. It was a nice afternoon and sleeping at 2770m is enough to give a little bit of altitude acclimatisation. It is also high enough to result in sleeping problems.
Relaxing on the balcony. I am on the right
During the afternoon in the hut there was some rescue chopper activity to and from the peaks behind teh hut and it was rumoured out that two people had been injured when their weight collapsed a cornice that overlooked the Barbey Couloir, which we intended to ride the next day. At first there were jokes that the falling cornice had likely purged all the snow from the couloir. It turned out to be the case. It also shortly became apparent that they had been killed, so the joking stopped. When I was on the actual scene the next day, I realised how appalling death had been for these two people.
Anyway, after nice evening in the hut we made a 5am start to our 5 hour climb. From fuzzy memory we did it in a little under 5 hours. At the time it seemed like a big deal but so much happened afterwards that this particular climb and descent is already fading. The climb was up the Millieu Glacier and the objective was the Aiguille d'Argentiere (Aiguille is French for peak, or needle). When we reached the summit at 3900m it was the highest I had ever been. I felt strong the whole way up even though I lost count of the switch backs we endured. The last few hundred meters of vertical ascent was in crampons and reasonably steep, climbing directly up in a straight line. It had been a long morning to reach this point, starting out in the dark, watching the sun rise and reaching the summit. I was enjoying myself immensely.
Anyway, after nice evening in the hut we made a 5am start to our 5 hour climb. From fuzzy memory we did it in a little under 5 hours. At the time it seemed like a big deal but so much happened afterwards that this particular climb and descent is already fading. The climb was up the Millieu Glacier and the objective was the Aiguille d'Argentiere (Aiguille is French for peak, or needle). When we reached the summit at 3900m it was the highest I had ever been. I felt strong the whole way up even though I lost count of the switch backs we endured. The last few hundred meters of vertical ascent was in crampons and reasonably steep, climbing directly up in a straight line. It had been a long morning to reach this point, starting out in the dark, watching the sun rise and reaching the summit. I was enjoying myself immensely.
The Argentiere Hut is circled and our early morning route of ascent marked in blue. It is a lot longer than it looks. The summit is 1200m higher than the hut.
Traversing away from the hut at 5am to reach the bottom of the Millieu Glacier.
Myself in the red and some of the guys. We were resting our legs on the traverse as the snow was frozen as hard as ice at that time of morning, particularly after the previous days sunshine. The guy in front is Stevo. He broke his back only 8 months earlier!
As we climbed there was an excellent sunrise taking place. This is les Aiguille Vert across the valley.
Looking back down the Millieu Glacier to our distant starting point in the dark a few hours earlier. The previous day we rode excellent powder on the glaciated slope in the rear right of the scene.
After walking up 1.2 vertical kilometers we reached the summit of the Aiguille de Argentiere, 3900m
Continued on Barbey Couloir page 2