backcountry journal
col du Beugeant - Chamonix
Jan 2006
Even though I have managed to put in about 20 days so far this season, I have only just made it out for my first proper full day BC tour.
Rather than head up to col des Crochues, as per the typical approach for the col de Berard tour we can instead traverse away from the Flegere resort under neath the Aguilles Rouges to the east. After heading around to Lac Blanc, the first ascent over the ridge of the peaks is to col du Belvedere. It is reaonably popular and gets busy. I have not been up there yet. We kept heading east and soon were at the starting point for the ascent up to col de Beugeant. It was totally worth the extra bit of effort, even though the resort away from teh resort liufts was on my heel side and lasted well over 1000m of travel on extremely bumpy sun-baked chopped up snow. It wsn't easy at all.
The route to this point was all the time across the valley from Mont Blanc etc and the view was fantastic. At a little frozen lake we started the ascent proper. It wasn't far, about 800m of vertical to cover up a steepening 35-40-45 degree gully that is itself a fantastic descent in the afternoon when the southerly sun has softened the snow. I tried to capture the gully from the bottom but my camera was being very flaky in the cold as usual. From the top the slope is not entirely visible and the pictures less telling. The climbing was good and we were flying up at 10 meters per minute (very good for a desk jockey residing in the unphysical environment of London). There was a group of ski tourers ahead of us on rando gear and we pretty much caught them on our snow shoes due to the hard icy nature of the ascent chute. They were using ski crampons and still going slow. Score 1 goal for snow shoes on very steep icy climbs.
Rather than head up to col des Crochues, as per the typical approach for the col de Berard tour we can instead traverse away from the Flegere resort under neath the Aguilles Rouges to the east. After heading around to Lac Blanc, the first ascent over the ridge of the peaks is to col du Belvedere. It is reaonably popular and gets busy. I have not been up there yet. We kept heading east and soon were at the starting point for the ascent up to col de Beugeant. It was totally worth the extra bit of effort, even though the resort away from teh resort liufts was on my heel side and lasted well over 1000m of travel on extremely bumpy sun-baked chopped up snow. It wsn't easy at all.
The route to this point was all the time across the valley from Mont Blanc etc and the view was fantastic. At a little frozen lake we started the ascent proper. It wasn't far, about 800m of vertical to cover up a steepening 35-40-45 degree gully that is itself a fantastic descent in the afternoon when the southerly sun has softened the snow. I tried to capture the gully from the bottom but my camera was being very flaky in the cold as usual. From the top the slope is not entirely visible and the pictures less telling. The climbing was good and we were flying up at 10 meters per minute (very good for a desk jockey residing in the unphysical environment of London). There was a group of ski tourers ahead of us on rando gear and we pretty much caught them on our snow shoes due to the hard icy nature of the ascent chute. They were using ski crampons and still going slow. Score 1 goal for snow shoes on very steep icy climbs.
At the top of the chute we roped up and took our snow shoes off. I would have like to have been wearing crampons at this point but left them back at the apartment. We had been hiking for about 1.5 hours at this stage. The last section of the ascent was up and across about 70m of quite mixed rock and ice and mud. It looked pretty easy and the picture makes it look really short. But it is actually quite a stimulating experience and the closest to rock climbing I have ever come so far in my touring (I have never been involved with climbing). From a mountain climbers perspective it would be considered an easy scramble. However with my pack on and with tired legs I got some buzz out of it. The guide was lead and I followed in 20m sections. At the end of each section I had to unclip the rope from the piton which was an added buzz. For the last section the guide lead away up over a snowy/ice ledge and I had to unclip and go the that last stretch on my own. It was a good experience and I felt quite... alive!
At the top of the ridge (2900m) we had lunch and picked out loads of routes on the other side of the valley. This place is a playground, but everyone is here doing the same thing and fresh lines don't last long. But with some work and on the right aspects you can get great lines in 7 days after the last snow fall (we were on our way to one!). After lunch we looked over the reverse side of the ridge that we had climbed and took a look at our descent. It was in shadow and looking nice and cold. We had to put in a short abseil of about 25m to get to the slope so we took our boards off the packs and clipped them to our harnesses and got our gear into full riding mode. I abseiled the whole stretch of about 60 degrees with mixed rock and snow. The guide then set up an abseil that allowed him to come part way down and then recover the rope and throw a few jump turns down the last leg to where I had unclipped my board and strapped in. My legs were still pretty tired. This is the tough part of short intense tours: you pump the legs for 2 hours, lug your pack and then need to have fresh legs for the good part. It reinforces my belief that the key ingredient to awesome snowboarding is powerful legs capable of a full day of endurance and unfaltering performance. I am going to work on this as if your legs can go the distance then you don't worry about making a costly technique error. If your legs are drained then technique suffers, your pack feels progressively heavier and you don't rip.
At the top of the ridge (2900m) we had lunch and picked out loads of routes on the other side of the valley. This place is a playground, but everyone is here doing the same thing and fresh lines don't last long. But with some work and on the right aspects you can get great lines in 7 days after the last snow fall (we were on our way to one!). After lunch we looked over the reverse side of the ridge that we had climbed and took a look at our descent. It was in shadow and looking nice and cold. We had to put in a short abseil of about 25m to get to the slope so we took our boards off the packs and clipped them to our harnesses and got our gear into full riding mode. I abseiled the whole stretch of about 60 degrees with mixed rock and snow. The guide then set up an abseil that allowed him to come part way down and then recover the rope and throw a few jump turns down the last leg to where I had unclipped my board and strapped in. My legs were still pretty tired. This is the tough part of short intense tours: you pump the legs for 2 hours, lug your pack and then need to have fresh legs for the good part. It reinforces my belief that the key ingredient to awesome snowboarding is powerful legs capable of a full day of endurance and unfaltering performance. I am going to work on this as if your legs can go the distance then you don't worry about making a costly technique error. If your legs are drained then technique suffers, your pack feels progressively heavier and you don't rip.
Anyway, I took it easy for the first bit whilst my guide tore it apart. The snow was relatively good, consisting of patchy wind compacted old powder. The usual scenario: smooth areas are hard and grippy like styrofoam. The dimpled and rippled areas are soft and rippable. I attempted to sight-up the slope angle and it appeared to be at the most 45 degrees for only 30m then backing off to 40 for a hundred more. The remainder of the descent was on connected leisurely 30-40 degree snowfields between rocky outcrops. Eventually it cliffed out and due to a pretty bad snow cover this season so we didn't negotiate the otherwise excellent cliff lines, rather we went around the side and popped out of a 100m 45 degree chute onto the valley floor from which we took on the nastiest track out I have ever been on. I had used this path out a few times last season and it is nasty on a snowboard. Bumpy, narrow, next to a creek, rocky and trees all on brutally tired legs in flat fading light wearing a back pack for 2kms. It is a crap way to finish the day but you can't have everything.
And so the goods had been consumed: the descent described was into a valley I had ridden before, except this time it was from a from a different approach and down a much better line with less tracks. We had a number of ok stale powder fields with no tracks at all. The ratio of work to joy was not so good, but considering it was 7 days after the last snow fall and there had been above zero temps in the valley during the week, we did pretty well. Once we reached the end of the commando course run out we had to catch a train back around the mountains to Chamonix. The next train was 1 hour away so I called my GF and she picked us up (she had just finished a day of resort riding by herself).
It was a great experience, first proper day out this season (ie, a full day tour with physically and mentally meaningful moments). It had a lot: killer traverse, pleasant hike, steep ascent, buzzy rock scramble learning some beginner mountaineering techniques, ready-to-ride abseil onto a great descent followed by the very wel known tough run-out track.
[Mont Blanc guide for skiers, reference #147]
And so the goods had been consumed: the descent described was into a valley I had ridden before, except this time it was from a from a different approach and down a much better line with less tracks. We had a number of ok stale powder fields with no tracks at all. The ratio of work to joy was not so good, but considering it was 7 days after the last snow fall and there had been above zero temps in the valley during the week, we did pretty well. Once we reached the end of the commando course run out we had to catch a train back around the mountains to Chamonix. The next train was 1 hour away so I called my GF and she picked us up (she had just finished a day of resort riding by herself).
It was a great experience, first proper day out this season (ie, a full day tour with physically and mentally meaningful moments). It had a lot: killer traverse, pleasant hike, steep ascent, buzzy rock scramble learning some beginner mountaineering techniques, ready-to-ride abseil onto a great descent followed by the very wel known tough run-out track.
[Mont Blanc guide for skiers, reference #147]
