I headed out for some more steep skiing today, with Italian snowboarder Luca Pandolfi. From below the east face of Mont Blanc du Tacul we climbed up the Capucin Couloir, which is between the Petit Capucin and the Grand Capucin. That brought us to the Breche du Carabinier, and from there the Macho Couloir climbs … Continue reading Col du Diable, Macho Couloir

New snow finally came to the Chamonix valley, so I've switched back to ski mode for the past few days. I had the pleasure to ski a couple lines on the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi with Swedish ski badass, Andreas Fransson. After checking out the snowpack with a descent of the Ronde, … Continue reading Midi North Face Ski Descents

I had planned to attempt a solo today of the Supercouloir on Mont Blanc du Tacul, but arriving at the top of the Aiguille du Midi in the midst of strong wind and clouds, I decided it would be imprudent. So I took the telepherique back down to the Plan de l'Aiguille, left my backpack … Continue reading Midi North Face Climb

Yesterday I joined Maxime Turgeon and another Quebecois friend of his, Nick, for a ski tour off the Aiguille d'Argentiere. We skinned and climbed up the Glacier du Milieu, and skied down the Barbey Couloir to the Saleina Glacier, and eventually through the Fenetre du Tour to get back down to Le Tour. Max skinning … Continue reading Aiguille d’Argentiere

The predicted storm front keeps getting pushed back in the weather forecast, so today was another nice day with good climbing conditions. I headed back up the North Face of Les Doites, for a solo of the Ginat route. When I spent a winter in Chamonix three years ago I thought a lot about soloing … Continue reading Les Doites, Le Ginat Solo

If you happen to be in Chamonix, and have an interest in Patagonian climbing...I'll be showing a slideshow of the first ascent of the Torres Traverse, Friday at 8pm, at the Patagonia store in Chamonix Centre.

My planned rest day on Sunday ended up being spent sportclimbing at Gietroz, Suisse. But today was forecast to be the last day of high-pressure, so rested or not, it was necessary to head back up in the 'pine! On Saturday I had mentioned to Aymeric that I had never climbed Aiguille Verte, and he … Continue reading Aiguille Verte, Couturier Couloir

On Saturday I teamed up with Aymeric Clouet, a French climber whom I met in Patagonia this winter and last. We caught the third bin up the Grands Montets telepherique and headed to the North Face of Les Doites to climb the Colton-Brooks route. Conditions were not amazing but were not bad either, with some … Continue reading Les Doites, Colton-Brooks

After Les Grandes Jorasses some more storms rolled in, and conditions changed in favor of skiing. I had a couple great days at Le Tour, skiing powder down Posettes to the Vallorcine (Suisse) side. On Sunday Jonna Jacobs, Martin Jern and I had a couple great laps down the Glacier Ronde on the west face … Continue reading Skiing and Les Courtes Solo