our plan was the summit. but, considering the funky snow we were walking on we opted for the more direct B-line. It was a very esthetic ski and a great enjoyable descent despite that snow which i cant really describe. just funky, hard to read kind of snow. but edgeable. all good. and then the hot chick with a burger.
and here are pictures from my friend philipe Ebert taken another day but it gives a good sens of scale on the first lower section with skiers on it
I ve been getting various messages/remarks on my camera/pictures tilting. so.. i feel the urge to clarify myself on that subject. As far as i am concerned “steep” is very subjective and is not about numbers. The steepest run i skied were not the steepest in degree.steep is a feeling: that moment when at the top of a run you realized the wind and sun have been unfair, you remember you havent tuned your super fat banana skis for a year, oh and there is a screw missing on one of the binding. that is steep. cross country skiing on those skate skis without edges can feel veeeery steep. Powder isnt steep. Now , about numbers, what is steep? in chamonix we have a long history of “steep” skiing. The most recent documented exemple is probably Andreas Franssen skiing the col de L’ aiguille verte here
or look there dd rhem or again this marco ziffredi and look up benedetti, boivin and so on and so on. you could also check Remy Lecluse blog for more recent first Descent or snowhow.it….So now that we all know what steep is and that most of us will never ski steep, can we all relax? If i tilt the pictures, it isnt because i want to show us skiing the steeps. … it is just because I like it better that way. period….i m just showing people having a lot of fun in the outdoors, i am not making a topo and well…i am not part of the stunt show.
There is something to say about being sea side and then waking up at the top of the rond. the rond and the cosmique were not so friendly today. . slabs and hidden ice and wind crust…we triggered about 4 slabs (some bigs) skiing down and i went on 2 front flips releasing my 2 skis each time with that crusty powder.in between those, it was fun. deep and face shot . the cosmique apparently had some big slabs as well. we all made it down. safe. good times. then we did another round down the valley blanche…just because.
I crashed a party in Finale ligura, forcing myself into Kristy shelley’s car. The skiing in cham wasnt that good and storm were looming. I had never been to finale so it was a good way to go. Finale climbing is the mecca for sport limestone climbing and it is steep and sharp and steep. Luckily my new best friend rope gun hero Bryan Schneider was here to get the rope up some heinous yet beautiful 6c-6c+…awesome!. I love climbing with a sea view. then, well…THEN, the party. the down side of having a big camera is you dont take it all the time. I missed the finale debauchery ice skating drinking shenanigan. BUT, here tom grant ice skating. he wins.
Here follow are A LOT of climbing views pictures….only climbing, the guy with the funny yellow shorts is tom grant. he wins.
Ski in-ski out alpine red granit climbing just doesnt get any better than in the argentiere basin right now. take a lift, ski down, skin, climb beautiful high quality red granit and ski down at sunset with good corn along a beautiful glacier all the way to lognan . And if you time it right, you will get a freshly groomed soft “pierre a ric” down to your car. And that, was just delightful. About the climb: ok, , i suck at climbing so i rely a lot on beta and grading and dont waste a day . Espacially so in the argentiere basin where, in the summer, it takes you a minimum of 2 days to do any routes there . (one for the approach and the second for the climb and the descent). 2 days of sun in the summer on your days off is a hard one to get. i have been using a guide book for the past 2 years which was pretty good : the 6a max book. In that book they grade most of that route 4 with one 6a WRONG! totally wrong, FUCK that.FUCK them. i can somewhat lead 4’s…the entire route is sustain 5c dulfer (layback) with one biiig motha fucka 6a . those grades are the one in camptocamp.org. And I even think that some of the 5c were RUDE almost uncivilized. This is a beautiful climb with beautiful rock but goddamn! those laybacks i was cussing and coughing but having a lot of fun…Did I mention those delicates (read: scaaary) traverses?
plateau du jardin . diedre central
I sure hope that i wont be (or anyone) will be skiing the couturier when that thing will fall down.
Follow are pictures of climbing…i didnt lead anything so its all looking up which isnt the best…
Cedric Bernardini 
