backcountry journal
April 06
Our exact entry point. You can see where the first guy put his ski poles as he looked over the edge and then the placement of the poles as he dropped in.
One of the guys taking a closer look at our exact entry point and the damage from the previous day's avalanche.
Arriving on the corniced summit. I am the guy standing alone. Our entry point to the couloir is to my right as you look at the picture. It wasn't a safe place.
From the summit you could see the distant and oh-so-easy looking white dome of the Mont Blanc summit at 4810m
The two people that died the previous day never had a chance. I don't know how far their bodies were pummeled down the face but for their sake I hope they were knocked unconscious on the first impact and been oblivious to the remainder of their horrific journey down. The accident happened when they stood on an overhanging cornice which collapsed under their weight. I don't know the full details. The collapsing section of cornice triggered some slab which turned into a monster slide and gutted most of the couloir. Just after we dropped in I managed to turn around and take a quick snap of where they fatefully stood in their last moments of life at 3900 meters above the ocean. I'm not trying to be dramatic, it just left an impression on me.
The avalanche run-out is easily 1000m below us and travels well out over quite flat glaciated terrain. It is a long, steep and rocky couloir.
This is the picture I took just after we dropped into the couloir, looking back up to the piece of cornice that fatefully snapped under their feet. You can also see the crown and side wall of the slab. We dropped in just to the right of frame.
One of the guys riding. This picture was taken just before the clouds closed in and visibility dropped to very poor levels.
The run down the couloir was enjoyable but not quite what we had worked for. The bottom half was severely rutted but the previous day's avalanche. In places there were 3 foot deep ruts carved into the hard snow base with plenty of rocks pointing through. And as is usual, just as we stated the descent the clouds closed in heavily and all contrast was lost, making the rutted hard packed descent a little bit more difficult and less fun.
Once at the base of the couloir we rode unfortunately heavy spring snow down the very long Saliena Glacier to Praz de Four in Switzerland where we had a beer and then paid €170 for a taxi-van ride back to Argentiere, which by this stage was a long way away from where we were.
All up it was a great two day and one of the longest descents I have made. Once you reach the summit of Aiguille de Argentiere and look east into Switzerland you enjoy quite a remote aspect of descent with no lifts or ski resorts. It is a less trampled section of the massif and worth the effort to get there.
[Mont Blanc guide for skiers, reference #51]
Once at the base of the couloir we rode unfortunately heavy spring snow down the very long Saliena Glacier to Praz de Four in Switzerland where we had a beer and then paid €170 for a taxi-van ride back to Argentiere, which by this stage was a long way away from where we were.
All up it was a great two day and one of the longest descents I have made. Once you reach the summit of Aiguille de Argentiere and look east into Switzerland you enjoy quite a remote aspect of descent with no lifts or ski resorts. It is a less trampled section of the massif and worth the effort to get there.
[Mont Blanc guide for skiers, reference #51]
Picture of the descent (taken at a different time to our day on the peak)