backcountry journal
Pas de Chevre - Chamonix
This has to be one of the most well known, easily accessible and tracked out 'tours' in the valley. Surprisingly, the two times I have been down it I have enjoyed relatively untracked powder. To access the line just duck the rope at the very top of the Grand Montets cable car and you are almost directly into the objective. Couldn't be easier.
The descent runs at the base of the famous rock climbing needle called le Drus. I think it is the place where, whilst rock climbing, Joe Simpson (of Into the Void) was sleeping the night pegged to a narrow rock ledge when a huge chunk of rock broke away from the cliff, leaving him and his climbing partner dangling by a rope in the dark to be rescued by helicopter the next day. There is a very obvious light grey face on the feature which is the new rock from which the chunk broke off.
The descent runs at the base of the famous rock climbing needle called le Drus. I think it is the place where, whilst rock climbing, Joe Simpson (of Into the Void) was sleeping the night pegged to a narrow rock ledge when a huge chunk of rock broke away from the cliff, leaving him and his climbing partner dangling by a rope in the dark to be rescued by helicopter the next day. There is a very obvious light grey face on the feature which is the new rock from which the chunk broke off.
The grey area on the right face of The Drus, below the sunrays.
Some footage of me on the descent. It is from my early days riding and not so good...
Argentiere addicts will know what I mean, there is so much riding in this picture. I have ridden one of the big peaks in the background and a few others just out of view. But for now the focus is the right flank of the mountain. The flank runs viewers left to right under the rock spires (one of which is the Drus, the prominent tooth on the right). The Pas de Chevre line drops from the upper rounded snowfield into the two parallel rocky ridges and then into the large moraines.
Generally, the closer to le Drus you take a line, the steep and more difficult they become. I have been down the Rectiligne Couloir, on the upper side of the right of the two parallel ridges, it ws a pretty good line, steep in places. The main route down is not so serious, although prone to sliding in the instances that it is totally tracked out. Depending on the cover, one or two sections of very short glacier ice sliding are required, nothing bad though. The best strategy on these very short sections, when you can't go around, is to forget you have edges on your board and slide the ice lump like a rail. What ever you do, don't try and stop or you will go on your bum. Further down the route is important to ride towards skiers left to ensure that you end up in a good spot for accessing the Mer de Glace. The popular word is to aim for a dead larch tree, but I think that has disappeared. The last section of the ride is down a genuinely steep and rocky face onto the Mer de Glace. I pity you if the cover is poor as it is a tangle of shrubs and rocks and both times I have been down, it has been moderately hard work. If you enter this short face in the wrong spot then you get to practice your cliff drops.
This picture is taken looking back up the line after crossing the Mer de Glace. You can see the two parallel rock ridges sticking out from the clouds. The entire upper couloir is obscured. The exit line through the cliff drops is in the foreground.
Once on the Mer de Glace you cross it and join the end of the Vallee Blanch tour. You need to keep up momentum across to the other side where the options are: a) up to the funicular for a leisurely descent into Chamonix, or, b) down the glacier a little further, a short climb up the other side and then descend the switchbacks all the way down into the valley. If it is icy and you are in a hurry then this seemingly gentle road can be brutal for tired snowboarders.
The entire descent takes in 2300m, but the good part down the couloirs to he Mer de Glace is only 1500m with the steepest stretch not more than 45 degrees, much of it 30-40. Aspect is generally easterly.
As you can see in these pictures there is a lot of good riding down the east and northeast faces from Grand Montets ski resort, including the big ridge and shoulder with trees on the right that has an obvious chute snaking down its side. It is all a lot of fun, and steep. But please be very wary of avalanches.
[Mont Blanc guide for skiers, reference #78]
The entire descent takes in 2300m, but the good part down the couloirs to he Mer de Glace is only 1500m with the steepest stretch not more than 45 degrees, much of it 30-40. Aspect is generally easterly.
As you can see in these pictures there is a lot of good riding down the east and northeast faces from Grand Montets ski resort, including the big ridge and shoulder with trees on the right that has an obvious chute snaking down its side. It is all a lot of fun, and steep. But please be very wary of avalanches.
[Mont Blanc guide for skiers, reference #78]