 Poster: A snowHead
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Came across this on the Black Crows facebook page and thought it worthy of sharing here... A lot of us pretend we can ski, but then you come across guys doing stuff like this. Proper alpine stuff
enjoy.
http://downdays.eu/digimag/09-en/10.html
SKIING IN A DIFFERENT WORLD
Text: Bruno Compagnet
Photos: Elina Sirparanta, Camille Jaccoux, François Régis-Thevenet
As part of the Norwegian mountaineering brand Norrøna, Bruno Compagnet naturally has a solid background in alpinism. However, when he took the crows from the Black Crows team down the north face of the Aiguille du Midi, it proved to be an almost ethereal experience.
May 2011, Chamonix, Voie Mallory North Face Aiguille du Midi.
Bon voyage!
The following article is about a day of skiing, however, it is not the type of skiing that your average skiing enthusiast is used to reading. You will find no front flips over 40 meter cliffs, no rodeos and not even the hint of a jib. Nevertheless skiers such as Seth Morisson, JP Auclair, Julien Régnier are present this day. The helicopters circling the sky way below us do not carry the filmers of American production companies, they carry less glamorous Alpine Rescue teams.
We are in Chamonix, France on a Monday morning in May. The weather is nice and fresh after three days of rain which, while not changing the water level of the underground lakes in the countryside have nevertheless, to a skiers delight, tinted the North face of the Aiguille du Midi into perfect white.
The doors of the cable car close on Elina and Julien, who have just managed to squeeze amongst the hard-core skiers and snowboarders sharing this confined space with a Japanese tourist group. Today a few members of the Black Crows freeski team have plans to ski the Mallory, like all the other riders in the 'benne'. It is a steep, strenuous and most of all dangerous descent with surprisingly easy access. At the top of the gondola you exit the ice gallery, simply clip into your skis and follow the cable car lines down, it couldn't be easier.
" Now what shall we do?"
" Doesn't look too bad."
With François, we watch Alex Pittin ski cut across the first slope wondering if the snow will break away beneath his skis. François is our guide, a sound, silent and serious guy, the one who woke me up at 5am this morning by leaping on my bed and yelling like a madman. I can't blame him as he was a drunk devil after attending the closing of an obscure Chamoniard night establishment in the company of other members of Blackcrows. Probably not the best idea the night before this crazy descent. We are not the only ones watching Alex making the first crucial cut, the small group of Japanese tourists are also looking on in astonishment at the strange creatures with absurd behavior entering a place that looks more like a base jumping spot than a ski slope. Elina is looking for the right angle, the right frame to immortalize the moment as we throw ourselves into the slope with the hope of getting some beautiful shots. Maybe baseless thoughts of glory and wealth motivate us, or the hope of impressing ladies or maybe it is for the thrill of it. It is hard to tell.
We need to go down there, ok?
And so we set off for the long and beautiful vertical journey with the leafy valley and prairies of Les Houches and Vaudagne as backdrop. We start traversing under the Summit Seracs, it is soft, easy and not too steep yet. At the end of the traverse the serious stuff begins, and with grace and style (well each with their own interpretation of style) we begin to throw some jump turns between the rocks and sometimes on them which is really quite disturbing; the sound of metal on rock is quite out of place in this alpine environment.
I follow Julien's progress with mixed emotions as with every turn he dislodges cubic meter of fresh snow with his big Nocta's 188 which he really could have left in La Plagne. Apparently he prefers to have skis that he feels comfortable on, and for his second run at the Aiguille du Midi I guess it is understandable. Things start out well, we feel confident with the slope and the snow until we hit the first sketchy passage. Here, I decide to swerve to the left to hit a fresh passage, untouched by the previous group, who had removed a bunch of snow and uncovered a whole lot more rocks. Bingo! It is much better and Julien, who followed me, also appreciates the fresh snow. François belays Camille who fumbles around with his ice axe. A poor season and the arrival of a new female inhabitant in the valley caused his mountain practice to go a little rusty this year. I had promised him a cool descent in soft snow, to convince him to come, omitting the fact that rain at altitude had formed a bitchy ice layer under the powder. What a great way to finish off the season and oil up his mountaineering skills.
As we level with the fork leading on to Eugster couloir, we have to pull out the ice axes and start the step by step descent technique. The hard snow and vertical slope over long distances make things truly pleasant. We have to start off switch to get past the first rocks, oh, the joy of the first absail! After a while one leg seizes up and the other starts trembling. I look up appreciating the wonderful aesthetics of my mate's die-cut soles, praying that he doesn't fall; whilst simultaneously moaning about the motherfuckers above us that are sending down streams of snow onto our heads. Truly a moment of pure happiness. Those are unforgettable moments, four of us hanging on a small piece of old rope with only a small stroke of bad luck separating us from death. Following that we have to traverse a pitch that seems almost vertical, now we can really start talking about exposure. Luckily, after the two first absails we find ourselves at the summit of a ridge where we can start making turns again, and for the time being we can forget about mountaineering and rope maneuvers.
Rememeber the rope! Always!
We really make the most of the few turns of the ridge, the snow is amazing; an atmosphere of epic proportions. Following this slight reprieve things get incredibly serious again; it gets so steep it seems like the valley is directly below us, it gets so icy that no snow was left on the slope. Even with an ice axe in our hand, we were pushed way beyond our comfort zones. It is in moments like these when doubts cross your mind that you would rather be in another place and doing something else with your life. Even if we are "so called" professionals and making living out of doing these stupid things. I guess there is this strange satisfaction in doing these counterintuitive things. Nothing compares to the mutual feeling of elation that you get after convincing a struggling mate that everything is fine (when it really isn't), and he manages to come out of the difficult situation scott free.
Meanwhile, I join the others and offer my help to François sorting out the ropes, which he declines while he takes off in search of a solid anchor to secure the final absail. While waiting, I turn to look towards our descent and see two rope ends dangling in the middle of a super scetchy "gore tex" passage a good ten meters above the desired landing spot.
"OKAY, Buddies take off your skis and put on your crampons!"
A collective gasp is exhaled by the group, our limbs are tired and not quite ready for that kind of mountaineering. Apparently this is an attempt at guide humor by François. He has brought a 60 meter rope instead of a 40 meter rope especially for this last part which had been affected by the spring melt.
After we succesfully completed the final absail and the tension evaporates, we start to laugh and mess around. It is a great release after such a long time in heavy exposure and the whole group is smiling again. The roller-coaster ride that is the decent of the Mallory of the Aiguille du Midi is a very unique type of skiing, nothing quite compares to the feeling of elation you have once it is all over. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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nice find!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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FAQ
