The Whippet

Friday, October 5, 2012

A training bonus

Every now and then you get a bit more than a work out running up a hill with an oversized backpack. Last year at about this time, in the Massif des Bornes, I took some wild life pictures at about 1,000 feet above the Larrieux hut which is still open. This time I got a few really nice shots of the Ibex. So without further ado and for your viewing pleasure (click to enlarge):

The ridge line at Crete de Tervelles, if you look carefully you see an ibex in the center

For that backountry.com feel...

A younger one, not fully "logo ready".

Here is the younger one with mommy...

WE ARE FA-MI-LY...

The second family portrait.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

First Snow!

Let me correct that: First snow down low. Today on my “training hike” up to crête des Tervelles (Massif des Bornes) there was a great training motivation booster in waiting as I got up: Snow! I am here talking about snow below the 5000 feet mark . This hike starts at 735 m (2,400 feet) and tops out at 1,775 m (5,800 feet). Well just a bit over an hour into this thing Skadi and I were in snow. Here are the pictures (click to enlarge):

View of the Massif des Aravis that tops out at about 9,000 feet. The higher summits are all in the clouds on this picture.

This almost looks skiable today... The snow covered summit in the middle tops out at about 7,000 feet.

Here the snow goddess is enjoying her first contact of the season and since this is still only September...

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Wild life

No, it’s not what you think; this is actually about animals, of the type you find in nature… I was up in the Massif des Bornes close to the Larrieux hut which recently closed for the season. This the kind of place that has almost no traffic in high season so now it’s absolutely deserted, if you're up there you’re probably the only one on the mountain. What’s good about this is that you end up seeing some wildlife especially since Skadi finally knows how to go into stealth mode instead of chasing them all away before I make it around the corner. So here are a few pictures of what I saw today (click to enlarge).

Small heard of Chamois (more on those below)

This is the Alpine Ibex (Capra ibex) or in french Bouquetin des Alpes. This is the fattest they get, through the winter they will loose up to half their weight so if they aren't overweight now they won't make it through the winter.

Same guy wondering why all the pictures?

This is the Chamois. They are goat-antelopes that are very common in the Alps but in a lot of other European ranges as well including the Balkans, the Carpathians and the Caucasus. These guys too overeat before they more or less stop for the winter.

A nice wiew of la Tournette from "behind" as in not from the lake of Annecy.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

La Crête des Grands Oct. 6 -2011

Went back to le Tour for a hike this time past Albert 1er hut (see the “Refuge Albert 1er” post on 9/25) and onwards an upwards to Crête des Grands (10,148). This is a 6,000 feet hike with a heinous last 2.000 feet in interminable steep and unstable rock fields. There is absolutely no trail and just for the fun of it, every once in a while the sub ridge will take you to some spectacular cliff out just so you have to down climb back and start over till you get a rout that actually works. By the time you’re on top and if you miss enough times first, like I did, then you’re wiped out just in time for a never ending 6,000 feet down. I did this one on this day because it was the last day in a closing weather window that would probably push this back, at least as a solo job, till next year. It worked out remarkably well as I had sun till noon (time I summitted). Then the clouds started moving in as I was going back down, and by the time I got gas in Chamonix it started raining (snowing on top)! I was expecting that to start the next day not within 30 min. of me being back, so sometimes the weather forecasting does work out pretty darn well.
Here are the pictures (click to enlarge).

On the way up towards glacier du Tour

You think they saw me?

It is getting good now...

From the top: View into Switzerland (see Matterhorn far left)

From the top: View of the lake d'Emosson

On the way back: Albert 1er with the glacier for backdrop

Company for lunch at the hut (he/she is tagged)

Glacier and Aiguille du Tour on the way back

Friday, October 7, 2011

Le Montevers Oct. 4 - 2011

Le Montevers is best translated into the back of the mount which of course fits here since we are on the “backside” of Mont Blanc overlooking the largest glacier in the massif: “La Mer de Glace”. We hiked from the village of “Les Bois” in the valley to Montevers and then onto the “Signal Forbes” from which the view spans from Mont Blanc – Chamonix - Mer de Glace.

Here are the pictures (click to enlarge).

The Montevers cog train that comes in from
Chamonix, and no, we did NOT take the train up...

More infrastructure - the hotel opposite the
train stop and overlooking the glacier.

The glacier himself...

Aiguille du Dru (12,313)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Rock avalanche!

On Saturday the 10th of September, as we were hiking up towards the Aiguilles Rouges a big bang that turned into an impressive roar could be heard coming from the other side of the valley. What was at first a small cloud emerging from les Drus (12,313), grew to an amazing amount of debris, dust and ice. This rock fall was "the end" of a larger one that happened in 2005 I guess six years is six seconds in geological time... In 2005 the Bonatti (an extremely competent italian alpinist) couloir came tumblig down.
The white arrows show the scar that is still visible from that cartastrophic event. The red arrow shows "the rest" that fell down on Saturday:

The 2005 event was the largest rock fall yet observed in Chamonix. I am told that in 2005 you could feel the ground shake from Geneva to Italy. The on we wittnessed on Saturday was the biggest since 2005 with 12,000 m3 of granit crashing down

here is how the cloud grew after the first impact seen above:

...and now it gets outright serious:

Here are the "unavoidables". Aiguille du Midi:

...and the Mt Blanc:

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The “Refuge Albert 1er”

Was back up to Cham yesterday morning, started from “Le Tour”; that’s way up the valley, your almost in Switzerland now. The hut (refuge in French) is named after Albert the first who was this swell king of Belgium. He was an avid mountaineer with a penchant for Cham and he was no fake either, he undertook some significant climbs in the Mt Blanc massif and elsewhere. In fact he was so real about his climbing that he died of it in 1934 while climbing in the Belgian Ardennes but not before he had taken out time to deed the hut to the Chamonix CAF (Club Alpin Français). Ever since then we have enjoyed this very strategically located hut and a good thought for good old Albert. This is one of 128 huts that the club maintains in France, of which I think about 30 are in or around Cham.

I went up the moraine following the “glacier du tour” and ended up a bit above the “Refuge d’Albert 1er. This hike is a bit over 5,000 feet with some climbing moves in its early part in pretty exposed terrain. Going up the moraine means a shorter but steeper hike so this is a demanding 5,000 feet and your pretty bushed when it’s all over. I made it a loop and went down through the ski resort but although a lot flatter, that turned out to add a ridiculous amount of miles to the visit. However as you can see in the pictures below, you do end up in a spectacular environment (click to enlarge).