L’ Epaule du tacul
It is Brett last day so I had to motivate despite the growing death in me, I’m coughing my lungs out. We didn’t go too far and luckily the US/CAN pro team in town had already carved the steps for us. Easy up, easy down. Fresh powder, scenics and sun…perfect. My coughing isn’t better, WTF.
brett lotz
brett lotz
The mission
Our mission today was to take the bus to la palud, ski the marbree then go back to chamonix thru the vallee noire. sounds easy. It made more sense to take the bus than drive one car, then another to pick it up. good for the environment, especially knowing the pollution disaster chamonix is. I feel guilty sometime to drive there so often just to go ski knowing there is a bus. BUT, don’t feel guilty: the first bus is at 8.30 AM (you get there at 9.30) , a little too late for any powder day and pretty sketchy to ski anything gigantic south facing. Also, it is not free anymore for pass holders and it is not cheap: 14 euros one way. It doesn’t even stop at la palud anymore which DOESNT make any SENS: it passes by it and there is a huge parking lot. It means you have to wait for the ski bus in courmayeur to take you back up the same way.LUDICROUS. Bottom line: drive your own car, don’t fuckin carpool, make sure it runs with cold diesel or coil maybe.
It was also too hot to ski marbree, it didn’t feel right. We later heard the toula glacier avalanched and buried 5 people. They were rescued and safe, we made the right choice. the vallee noire was perfect, silky. kindda flat light which made it scenic and mystic but not photogenic!
the bus ride
Anatomy of a powder day with Nate wallace and Brett Lotz
we started in la palud Italy. Skied 3 runs but then it got too crowded so we went back to the midi.
grenvers. with Manuchico
Manu woke me up at 9.30. We were the only skiers at the midi at 10. that got me worried, maybe there is something i don’t know. i realized we were second bin, damn . Lunch at moo and possibly a debauchery tonight at les cave for that black crows party
aiguille du midi opening with Andreas fransson, David Rosenbarger , Miles Smart and Elizabeth Oakes Smart
Every year, the midi opening is a real treat. An easy adventure . I had to work the night before so the motivation was not there but when Andreas called me at 12 i got up and was geared up at the midi by 12.30. This year with the lack of snow and a bad layer at around 2500M we opted for the grand enver. It was dream powder for about a third of the run, the rest was hard snow or rocky. We finished the day at sole boot lab for some quick fix
Durier
Despite the current low tide, i was lured to the idea of spending a couple of days deep in the mountains, which didn’t happen for what seems a century. It is Bruno Compagnet bday. So we went with minna Riihimaki and Julien Casagrande. We opted for the wild and far away dome de miage area. The mountains out there are dry and feeling hostile at time …The plan des glaciers refuge is among my favorite one , cozy and comfortable in a wildly scenic area. The 2 days were well spent with good people…dolce vita. the skiing marginal.
the hike to plan des glacier refuge
le refuge plan des glaciers
the durier couloir
scratching the last remnant of a faraway storm
I can’t remember when it snowed last. We can still ski long runs under a nice sunny sky, good scenics and a bunch of characters so it is all good.
playground. Bishop. california
playground , bishop. california
Cedric Bernardini 