The 5th time is the charm: on the summit of the Taillefer at last

        Last weekend I finally settled a score that has been a thorn in my side since 2009. The Taillefer, at 9,374' and located within a half hour's drive of Grenoble city limits, is not a coveted test-piece of high technical difficulty. It is a classic, frequented and moderate summit that constitutes a bread and butter outing for Grenoblois skiers. It's a little bit long to get all the way to summit (about 5,500' of vertical and 5-6 miles), and there is a short passage of 45° terrain at the Pas de la Mine (see map), but there is nothing show stopper about the regular route. Olivier would say "ça passe à vélo" and indeed he has mountain biked to summit, although this feat remains somewhat exceptional. 

         Fate, or perhaps I should say the regional bus service, brought the Taillefer and I together during my first stint in Grenoble studying abroad in 2009. Eager for public transport-accessible ski touring, the Taillefer represented one of my only options for a weekend mission. As the suite of successive failures recounted below will show, over the past five years the Taillefer for me has become an haut-lieu of learning, frustration and humility... 

Olivier and I topping out the Petit Taillefer, photo by Hillary.

A SUITE OF FAILURES (see map below)

(1) January 2009. My opening encounter with the Taillefer. Cédric Godefroy (friend of Christophe's) pulled the map out at the bar and naturally I was stoked. The next morning we took the tram, then the bus, stashed our street shoes at the "départ" and we were off. Pea soup fog and having no idea where we were prompted a turn-around somewhere below the Pas de la Mine at around 2500m. 

(2) February 2009. Friends of my brother's, Derek and Lindsey, stopped into my tiny basement studio in Grenoble as part of a 3-month ski trip in the Alps. They came out from Washington state with dreams of heady ski mountaineering but alas equipped with plastic soled alpine boots and no crampons or ice axes. I still feel terrible about swiping Jean Mi's antique wooden ice axe from his storage bin without asking, and then seeing the look on his face when Derek thanked him profusely for lending it the following night. Regardless, after failure #1 I knew that taking the bus from Grenoble and trying the Taillefer as a day trip wasn't going to go, and so we headed up the day before, rented a room in town of la Morte and set alarms for ass early the next morning. We proceeded to get passed by Grenoble retirees (who admittedly are super fit) all morning on the skin track. Derek and I managed to cross the Pas de la Mine before perfect weather and ideal snow conditions forced us to turn back. 

(3) March 2009. Hillary came out to Grenoble during her spring break, which all Taillefer anecdotes aside was the best. The day after her arrival, and for her third or fourth ski tour of all time on borrowed Middlebury Freeheelers gear, with all the Alps at our fingertips I thought it would be good idea to go back to the Taillefer. Fortunately Hillary was easily impressed and she found the bus ride to the trailhead to be spectacular. This time I planned to to assure success by staying at the Cabane de Brouffier hut located almost at the half way point. I told her that in the Alps you don't need to carry a thermarest because of the well-equipped huts. It turns out nobody stays at the Cabane de Brouffier and the place resembled a bombed out cement bunker more than a mountain refuge, and without mattresses we spent the night sleeping on a hard floor with gore tex zippers digging into our sides. Then, still jet lagged, Hillary used ski crampons for the first time before we laid to siege to the Pas de la Mine using a rope and snow pickets. We nonetheless had a beautiful traverse of the Petit Taillefer and sunny picnic at the Col du Grand Van at the foot of the summit cone before bus schedules forced a turn around. 

(4) February 2013. Hillary and I were looking for a long, not-too-steep tour to and from a beautiful summit: why not the south face of the Taillefer? Surely after all our grand adventures this summit would pose no difficulty and would affirm all our progress and growth as backcountry skiers since 2009. What's more, Olivier had done the south face in 3 hours by himself -- how could we miss? As we thrashed through cliff-ridden slide alder at the horribly low altitude of 1400m, knowledge of Olivier's feat only added to an overwhelming sense of frustration and hopelessness. With no way forward apparent and everything in question, Hillary and I exchanged unkind words before turning around and skiing back through the schwack with skins still on (failure 4a). At that point it was 9:30am, and we decided to head further up the valley and try the next drainage over. We did another 900' of vertical of heinous, impenetrable bushwacking before emerging into the alpine basin just as the sun swung behind the Grand Armet across the way and cast the valley into shadow. No sunny picnic for us. We took skins off this time and schussed back to the car with tails decidedly between our legs (failure 4b). Hillary, who had mentioned a sore throat the night before, now felt terrible and opted to sleep in the car for two hours while I went to the nearby ski area and tried to ski out my frustration. 

(5) April 2013. Honestly, I regret not inviting Ian and Hillary to come with Olivier and me on last weekend's outing. Especially after what we did this weekend in les Ecrins (post forthcoming) we clearly could have done the tour as a unit. As it happened Olivier and I left earlier with our sights on the summit and Hill and Ian got a later start with the goal of having a casual day out and skiing the Crête de Brouffier. With Olivier all the failures dissipated and nothing seemed hard -- we avoided the Pas de la Mine by taking a more direct couloir (see photo) and after a bonus pitch of corn from the Petit Taillefer proceeded without difficulty to the summit. Then we added an out and back to the Pyramide (9,314') for good measure. After standing atop the Taillefer for the second time that day (yes!), descent down the north combe made for a spectacular day out with over 15 miles of distance and 7200' of vertical. Rising temps and receding snow might force us to wait until next season, but clearly Hill and I owe ourselves a return visit.

Here is a link to Olivier's account of the day, en français bien sûr

BRO-SUMMIT(S) - JESSE & SAMBO MAKE IT TO GRENOBLE

        After over two years of threatening and scheming, friends Sambo and Jesse finally made it out to our neck of the woods for an all too brief week+ visit. Our initial plan to ski over 75 miles from Grenoble to Briançon meta-morphosed under the influence of weather, prospects of slogging and the desire to ski good snow with light packs. After receiving a meter of new snow and lots of wind during the first weekend of the trip, primary goals became 1) not getting caught in an avalanche 2) skiing to Italy and 3) sharing a mix of novel and familiar terrain with these guys in hopes of boosting the odds of future visits.
        Hosting East-coast friends and skiers was more fun than I could have imagined. I think Sambo would have happily sessioned one alpine cirque (and the forest leading up to it) for the duration of the trip, based on his unrelenting motivation to ski every gully, glade, snowfield and cooler in sight. Frequent references to Nashoba Valley made whatever we were doing, even if it was low-angle skinning through risk 4 windslab, seem like a grand expedition. And it was, especially when the baseline meant hanging out with these two wonderful characters and getting to mix friends from home with people and places over here.  

LAUSIERE - le Bellachat (2484m) & la Pointe des Marmottes Noires (2339m)

Olivier leading Team America from the comfort of his splitboard. 

Skinning past heady aiguilles on Day 1.

Sambo happy with his choice to tele "for esthetic reasons." 

Ian getting it done on the northeast side of les Marmottes Noires. 

Meadow skipping

Hillary making a weekend appearance and scoring one of the best days of the trip.

QUEYRAS - Col Agnel (2744m) & l'Eychassier (2968m)

Lifestyle image from the hut picnic table, courtesy of Gubb.

The man himself strolling to the Col de l'Eychassier.

Sambo taking it to the summit. 

Bro self-portré. 

Ski incursion into Italy and timeless style, check.

BELLEDONNE - la Grande Lance de Domène (2780m) & le Grand Colon (2394m)

Psyched on the summit with the Grand Pic de Belledonne in the background
(no big deal, we traversed that ridgeline with Gus two summers ago...)

Jesse casts off from the summit of the Grande Lance. 

Sambo, nobody cares that you tele. That said you're a hoser...

Oliver shreds down B14.1, a real Belledonne classic. Lots more snow than
when we skied this with Thad, Carrie, Brian and Hill last winter. 

Le vieux bouqetin en action!

On the summit of the Grand Colon with Jono in our midst, with Grenoble and springtime down below. Alas, Jono is heading back to America this week and will be sorely missed as a provider of good banter on the skin track and over beers, not to mention as the man who brought All of the Lights to the Grenoble brassband scene. I plan to bombard him with constant Big Pretty Propaganda in hopes that he will be back in Grenoble soon... 

Another Sunday at church in les Ecrins/Cerces

COULOIRS WEST & NORTH OF THE GRAND GALIBIER (3228m) 

Looking across the way toward the Aiguilles d'Arves.

          Yesterday I headed up to the Lautaret Pass with Ian and Olivier for a day of "roadside cragging" (couenne),  as Olivier would call it. This definition included about 6000' feet of vertical spread out over two couloirs and featured hours of strenuous bootpacking, but I suppose it did all happen fairly close to the car. After ascending the W couloir, Ian opted for a two-hour a nap at 3000m rather than the trip down and up the northern couloir, which I thought was a very respectable choice. We then proceeded to the summit all together before heading down the W couloir just as the afternoon sun started to soften things up. All in all a great day out that confirmed two things I'm pretty sure I already knew: couloir skiing (not too steep and with good snow) is wicked fun and the Ecrins remain an endless playground...    

Serious bricolage through a small rockband midway down the couloir W, but the skis stayed on!

How are these men single?

Endless roadside cragging, 1h30 from Grenoble. 

Tête de la Grisonnière--or, Vive les Vacances! 

Tête de la Grisonnière:
admiring our tracks from La Mure

While Brad slaved away in the lab, Olivier (who apparently rarely has to work), Jono (who will soon be concluding his perma-vacation) and I took advantage of beautiful weather and good snow coverage to take a ski day down near the Taillefer.

View to the south: looking at the Devoluy's impressive Obiou

  


  







While the view was incredible, initially, the snow was disappointing. The micro-climate effect was present, meaning that 35 minutes south of Sunday and Monday's abundant Chartreusian powder, no new snow had fallen. 

Jono(bottom right), slogs up the last
25 minutes of the climb

Le Vieux Bouquetin charges

We finally gave up on the skinning, and Olivier, le vieux bouqetin, led the charge up the final pitches of the climb, where the snow had two layers of crust, and a small powder layer in between--perfect for slippery skinning.

Happy to be at the top

 Finally arriving at the top, sweaty and tired, we enjoyed a wind-free sunny day, taking an hour long lunch break--a time frame that would prove beneficial for the snow on the descent.

After tea, coffee, oranges, cookies, pizza, calzone, cheese, dried fruit, chocolate and sun-tanning, we pulled off our skins, tightened our boots, and pointed our skis downhill.

Lucky Luke

We were thrilled with what we found: the crust that had so frustrated us for the climb had softened in the sun, revealing a mix of consolidated powder and spring-like corn. The turns were excellent, as evidenced by Jono's consistently joyful whooping and yelling.

I remember once, Nancy recounted a story from Buke's childhood.  She had asked him what his favorite emotion was.  She was taken off guard by his response: relief.   Since then, I have thought a lot about what I might count as my favorite emotion, most often, I settle on pleasantly surprised.  Lucky for me, yesterday's tour embodied exactly that.  After a long, tough montée, through crust and slippery snow, a descent of fun turns through great snow--VERY pleasantly surprising.

Pleasant Suprise.

LE MONT CHARVIN - HAUTE SAVOIE

        This past weekend Hillary and I headed to Annecy to spend a night with my host-parents (from 2006!) followed by a day out skiing with Darin and Christophe. We let Darin choose the itinerary and he took us to the site of the first ski tour I did with Christophe, the Mont Charvin. During the return trip I found the skin track still to be steep enough to cause pucker factor, and the sculpted summit ridge still felt like it should glaciated and way up high in the Mont Blanc range despite its modest altitude and the occasional tuft of grass poking through. All in all a beautiful day out and great to reconnect with our friends from the north. 

Smile, it's a beautiful day in the Alps.

CHARTREUSE POW

         The low-lying Chartreuse have been getting pummeled with powder like nowhere else in the region, and locals are calling this the best winter in thirty years. Hillary and I weren't planning to ski on Sunday until we found ourself in the midst of 2m snow banks on the drive home. The ensuing cold smoke was so good that we couldn't resist a dawn patrol the next morning with Olivier (dressed to play) and Jono. 

PIC DE BURE - Dévoluy Massif

          Cedric gave Olivier and I a tour of what he refers to as the most beautiful country in the world,  the Hautes-Alpes region surrounding the small city of Gap. While it's hard to say for sure if he's right, sun and powder sure are persuasive. The beginning of our day was nonetheless pretty rocky -- Olivier and I got up at 5am in Grenoble, housed eggs, bacon and coffee and then noticed a latenight text message pushing back our rendez vous -- back to sleep! Then we spent a half an hour without cell service at the trailhead blasting Nique Ta Mère and eagerly waiting for Cedric to roll up only to realize that we were supposed to have meet down in the valley rather than at the trailhead. Then the snow was crusty and wind schralped and Olivier nearly threw a tantrum. In the end though, Cedric made the right call and we got around to appreciating summit views and untracked snow.

On the summit plateau, which includes an astrophysics observatory.

Looking back on our tracks down the Combe d'Aurouze. Olivier was quite pleased with his split board as you can see.

Hillary is Back: ski touring above the Chazelet  

We were thinking of blizzard-bound New Englanders yesterday and thought these sun-filled images might be appreciated. Before celebrating our friend Mathilde's birthday last night at François' family's place above la Grave, Hill and I headed up to ski for the day before bad weather and hangovers rolled in this morning. I can rarely think of a mellow tour feeling so satisfying, for three reasons: 1) Hill was finally healthy and we were able to get out for the first time together in weeks 2) we expected a combination of wind scoured and wind slabed snow and in the end were able to find sheltered goods and 3) skiing through sun-drenched terrain and turning around to the see the north face of the Meije is awesome. As we eyed the higher summits in all directions, I think we both started regaining the motivation for tackling big days out together. Good thing the ski season is still young!

Small Missions...

All of the lights: sunrise view of downtown Grenoble from the Moucherotte (1901m).

Jono and Cedric in the southern Ecrins.

Meanwhile, Hillary rides out the flu and does not partake in small missions.