The Haute Route 2023

 

The Haute Route, Chamonix to Zermatt April 2023

Synopsis: 5 out of 5 stars. There are lots of alternative European traverses however the Haute Route certainly doesn't dissapoint. A tremendous experience with the huts, the skiing and the opportunity to bag some peaks. Obviously with a high traverse weather will make a big diffference.

Mid April 2023, Paul, Chimene, Gary and I set off to Chamonix to give the Haute Route a go self guided. None of us had much experience ski touring in the European Alps and we were keen to give it an attempt. We originally planned to leave a couple of weeks before however after a dry snow year it proved to be in the middle of a rather large storm cycle with high avalanche hazard and poor visibility, so we delayed the trip for 2 weeks. In addition, we booked two weeks in Europe to have some flexibility in dates. I was a bit of a late addition to the team and thus got out of most of the organizing, thanks to Gary and Paul for doing most of the heavy lifting. We landed in Geneva early on Wednesday April 12^th, breathed a sigh of relief on having all of our gear arrived and caught a prearranged shuttle to Chamonix (thanks Paul) which was only a little more than an hour away. After a day to get our legs under us, Fridays weather looked to be sunny with an added bonus of 20 cm of fresh snow. We decided on the classic warm up and skied a version of the Vallee Blanche which was a great introduction. 

The day started with a delay due to the snow and a fantastic gondola ride up to the Aiguille du Midi (3842 metres). We wandered around the viewing area and then took the airy hike down to the start of skiing. The whole thing was a complete mind bend. Some parties roped up for the hike however we were good with crampons and a firm grasp on the rope alongside the trail. The skiing was darn good, and the day ends with a cog train back to Chamonix. A great experience and had us all chomping at the bit to get going on the haute route itself. Fortunately, a weather window appeared to start on Sunday so we (by that I mean Gary and Paul) changed, made, and cancelled hut reservations and were good to go.

Sunday April 16^th 2023

Paul sorted out the bus stop and we arrived at 7:30 am however being Sunday it took a bit to get to the Grande Montet ski area. There was about 20 cm of fresh snow on the hills which slowed things down a bit. Apparently, the top lift burned down so we took the second gondola to the right, the Bouchard Lift. We got to the top right around 10 am and the weather was cool and windy enough I ducked into the gondola station to dress up a bit.

Staying high skiers right and high as possible, around the corner fairly quickly leads to an obvious spot to skin up. As we were skinning up Paul met an old buddy Paul who happened to be a guide taking a crew up. Good guy and provided a fair amount of beta. We were skiing up and further skiers right at 10:30 and hit a bit of a col in ½ an hour with the Col de Passon pretty much right in front. It was windy enough to duck behind the shack to deskin. Some tracks were heading hard right however latter figured out those must have been going to the Argentierre Hut. I traversed far right, and we had some good snow however it would have been simpler and faster to descend straight down from the col. We met guide Paul with two English clients Rob and Joe at the bottom and stopped for a snack. About then it socked in and the 7 of us went to the far side of the valley and worked skiers left to keep elevation while the valley fell away.

1:00 pm put the skis on the pack for a short boot back through a rock band. From here it’s roughly a 650-metre climb, guide Paul told clients 3 hours which I thought was way too long however proved to be spot on. The four of us then skinned up through the pea soup on a solid track with voices around us. A couple of fast parties passed and higher up two parties bailed and skied down which frankly worried me more than carrying on up. The down skiers messed up the up track in a couple of spots and it took spreading out to find the up track in the pea soup. Finally, the 100 metres of boot packing became obvious and with a few parties ahead we plunged on. Great steps in solid snow ending in scramble up a short rocky ridge, to avoid the increasingly powdery snow.  I was the only one of our party without a helmet and about here I realized that was a bit of an error on my part.  At one point, Paul the guide yelled up out of the thick mist below, “Go to the Albert Premiere Hut!”.  He evidently assumed it would be cloudy at the col and beyond, in which case it would have been problematic to find our way to the Trient Hut given the visibility and the time of day.

We popped out at the top of the col at 4:00 pm to roughly 15 people on top and, happily, much clearer skies ahead. 

We met a French family that offered goat cheese and pastry which was a delicious pick me up. We had reservations at the Trient Hut however there was some discussion about going to the Albert Premier Hut which would be a bit closer. The French family was heading to the Trient and gave us great beta (although indicated it would be 2 hours which was a bit off) so, spirits raised by blue skies ahead, we decided to carry on there. We were using Gaiai along with public gpx tracks and had maps and compass for back up but basically followed their tracks, catching up along the way. Great skiing on fresh powder on the downs and good up tracks, mostly clear with some high cloud coming and going. There were crevasses about however the track followed relatively benign terrain so we left the ropes in the pack, although had harnesses on throughout the tour. Beautiful terrain although the route isn’t terribly obvious. 7 pm saw us approaching the fairly short Col de Tour which was great fun with skis on the pack using crampons and ice axe. From there it was roughly 5 km of slightly downhill and the Trient Hut (3170 metre elevation) was hidden to the right. A short climb at the end of the day didn’t feel all that short and we arrived just as the sun was getting low roughly 8:30 pm.

The folks at the hut were very understanding of our late entry and the place was probably only at 40% capacity with several teams turning around. Best hut supper of the trip with all the soup, salad and all the lasagne you could eat, with an apple tart for dessert. The hut is under construction so no door on the rooms and the guy who runs it is a bit grumpy, but we were still darn happy to be there. Everyone was able to leave gear on the breakfast table and surrounding area but not much really dried out. We also learned a valuable lesson in the morning as there was limited and shared meat, cheese and hot water for thermoses and we were a bit slow and missed out.

Monday, April 17^th

It was 9.1km to Champex, most of it downhill. We were out the door at 8:15 am in great visibility. The French family were going the same way and were out the door before us, however the route is pretty straightforward. There was a 15 minute ski down to the Col DesEcandes, which was an obvious boot pack up on the right. 

It was a little steeper than yesterdays climbs however there was a rope to pull on should you feel the need and it was good fun. I used the one pole, one ice axe and crampon technique and managed to poke yet another hole in my ski pants. After the col, we enjoyed several hundred metres of excellent boot top powder, followed by some semi-suppoprtive crust then boilerplate as we hit treeline then descended into the Champex ski hill and road. Along the way we passed a few parties skinning up for a run. We got to the bottom at 10:15 and met the French family who were once again great help. The next bus wasn’t until 1:00 pm so we walked the 10 minutes into town and stopped for tea and pastry’s part way. Luckily the bus stop was right in front of a grocery store in town and across from public rest rooms. Champex is a beautiful town although we were definitely in shoulder season. We bought snacks at the grocery store and loaded up on water given the price difference when it gets helicoptered into the huts.

When the bus arrived (and took credit cards) it was a glorious drive down to Orsieres where we were originally going to spend the night. Gary had been lobbying hard to go to Verbier and spend the night at the Cabane Mt Fort and it was a good call. We caught the first of two trains to La Chable stop and right next to the station was the Verbier lift. We arrived at the La Chable train station at roughly 3:00 pm and it struck me it would help to have the schedules sorted out in advance to make sure you caught the last lift up to the Hut. Using my modest, rusty French it took a few tries to get the fact that 21 CHF would get you a single lift and lots of skinning up to the hut or 52 CHF would get you to the Col des Gentiane and allow you to ski a couple hundred metres of groomers down to the hut. Needless to say, we took door #2 and arrived at Cabane du Fort at 4:30 pm. It’s a neat, well-run hut that services lift skiers during the day and tourers overnight. It wasn’t really busy, but we had a room for just the four of us and hot showers. The hut was a little lower at 2457 metres, so the next day would be a bit more climbing. We had supper with guide Paul and his two clients, they were leaving very early the next morning to make it all the way to the Dix hut so that’s the last we would see of them.

Tuesday, April 18^th

Tuesday morning, we were out the door at 7:30 after a better breakfast “experience” and I stuffed two pieces of bread from breakfast into my pack as a bit of a lunch. The day starts off skinning up a groomed track that almost goes all the way to the col. We were warned ski crampons might be helpful for the last bit however at the end of the day they weren’t necessary. We were amongst several parties on the ascent however by the time we hit the col we had some space to ourselves (code for most parties passed us). As usual, sun and a beautiful view greeting us as we transitioned for a short ski down.

During the climb up to Rosablanche (3336 metres) on the way to the Prafleuri hut, the sun came out in earnest, and it got hot. We all had ample sunscreen, but I was envious when I noticed a couple of guides using zinc to protect their nose and lips. It was possible to skin up to a col and leave our bags as it was just roughly 20 metres of boot cramponing up to the peak. 

Here we caught up to a number of parties however here was lots of room for everyone. It’s not necessary to climb Rosablanche (3336 metres) to get to the hut however it’s only roughly an hour up and down from the top of the mandatory climb and if the weather is good the views are fantastic! Skiing down to the hut, we were fortunate to have some light powder that made the descent a lot of fun. We arrived at the Prafleuri Hut (2647 metres) at 1:30 after a 11.2 km, 1033 metres gained day at 1:30 pm for our first “proper” sunny deck haute route experience.

The Prafleuri Hut is a private hut, so our Austrian Alpine Club membership didn’t get us a discount, however it was my favourite hut. Very well organized, lockers for gear once they were dried out in the sun, plentiful wifi and we had a room for just the four of us. It was also our first rosti and beer on the deck in the sun which was a great way to celebrate being in the European mountains (as opposed to cliff bars in a snowbank back in Canada). We were a bit slow to realize we had to get going earlier in the day however the pattern was set for the next couple of huts, roughly 6-hour ski days followed by rosti and beer, followed by an afternoon nap, 6:30 for supper and early to bed. It was here that we started to meet people who would be carrying on to Dix and Vignette huts on the same schedule as us; an American couple, a group of Spanish (sorry Catalans) in their skimo gear and a smattering of English. We shared a table for supper with a French group that included someone who booked the haute route for a travel agency and had to check it out for himself, nice job! Supper was simple but abundant and seconds were available for the asking.

As with all the huts, crocs are readily available. I brought a super lightweight pair of socks for hut wear along with a cotton t-shirt and light weight pants however not everyone did, and it became evident that we (or I rather) packed heavier than the average European, especially those on guided trips. Personal choice, Gary and I also had a cheap and lightweight pair of shoes ($15 Walmart specials) at the bottom of our pack for Zermatt (and we thought Orsieres at the outset). I sure appreciated them in Zermatt as we didn’t forward any gear however the other half of our team was fine strolling around in ski boots, once again personal choice.

Wednesday, April 19^th

Once again out the door at roughly 7:30 am, moving to the Dix Hut. As is often the case, the day started with a roughly 200 metre climb to a spectacular col that we could see most of the rest of the route from. One of the advantages of the Haute Route is we didn’t do much trail breaking and the climbs were solid. Once we had climbed the col, the beta we had was to stay as high as possible traversing above the lake. My sense is that this was good advice, though condition dependent, and there were some teams that descended further including the Spaniards.  A lot of the time the down was more physically demanding than the up, as we initially (and gingerly) crossed several hard frozen soft snow avalanches that had come down the previous day from the steep gullies above.  At one point we were passed by a guided English party that weren’t all that strong on their skis and were using a ton of energy getting around. We did traverse some big country on the high route. I wouldn’t want to do this portion much later in the day on a sunny day. We chose to skin up at a bit of a col as the track continued to traverse to the start of the climbing in earnest and afterwards realized we would have been better to skin up at the bottom of the steeper climbing. The track up started with a steeper section of 30 metres but then kicked back a bit for a pleasant climb up to the hut. Except for the heat, we baked on the way up and all of us got a bit sluggish. This is where we realized we need to get going earlier in the day. There’s a bit of a steeper climb on the last bit to the hut that was southwest facing, and it was pretty sloppy as we made our way. In the end it was an 11.8km, 685 metre day and if I remember correctly, we spent 5 ½ hours on skis, what I’d call a “pleasant” day if it wasn’t for the heat.

Having said that the Dix Hut (2928 metres) was in a spectacular setting. A little bigger than the Praflueri but well organized with wifi and a great deck for the Rosti and beer while gear dried in the sun. There weren’t any lockers however lots of bins to organize gear. We had a great chat with a couple of Germans that were doing a short 3-day tour from Arolla and met several teams that spent two night at Dix and climbed some of the surrounding peaks. After a nap we shared our supper table with an Austrian guided party. Gary wowed the ladies with his German, until he didn’t and it got a bit quiet. Hmm.

Supper was typical hearty fare of sausage, potatoes, and salad and lots to eat including desert. As with all of the huts, credit cards were accepted, and you usually pay in the evening after supper. I was originally a bit concerned about continental breakfasts not being big enough in the mornings and some of us bought bars from home (and bought Mars bars at the huts) however there was usually all the bread and jam you could eat and muesli or porridge. Given the not huge days and Rosti’s early afternoon we didn’t go hungry, although I was one of the ones that always had a Mars bar in my bag for emergency munchies. We shared a bunk room (with our group name on masking tape in front of our bunks) however with everyone in the same boat it was surprisingly quiet. Before the trip some of us who are part of the enlarged prostate club were a bit concerned about hitting the toilet in the middle of the night and considered bringing a pee bottle. In the end it wasn’t necessary although in this hut in particular a run to the washroom in the middle of the night involved descending 3 flights of stairs with blinding lights coming on as you got close to them. Water for hand washing was sparse in the last three huts of the trip. One hut had bottles of melted water, one had a dribble of water next to a bottle of hand sanitizer and one had very little of anything. I didn’t bring any hand sanitizer, but a small bottle might not be a bad idea.

Thursday, April 20^th

We finally got the picture and were up at 5:00 am and would have been out the door quite efficiently except the weather started to change. If the weather is good the plan was to go over the top on the way to the Vignette Hut with possible bagging the Pigne d’Arolla which at 3,796 metres would be a feather in our cap. The descent to the Vignette hut is a bit gnarly and the scene of a fairly significant accident. I was originally of the damn the torpedoes let’s give it a go mentality however Paul proved to be the voice of reason as there was a fun and safer route going down through the Pas de Chevre and around the bottom towards Arolla and up. In the end, after my morning constitutional, we agreed with Paul. I found an interested picture of the choice on fatmap: https://fatmap.com/routeid/23526/dix-hut-to-vignettes-hut.

After the discussion we were out the door at 6:30 for a ski down and across to the start of the Pas de Chevre. Some parties went up and over and a number followed us and given I didn’t have a helmet and there is a snow with a bit of ice to climb up to the ladders I was keen to be ahead of the crowd. The climb up to the ladders was straight forward with crampons and an axe. I debated taking the crampons off for the ladders but left them on and that was the right call as there was some icy snow at the top to navigate. Great fun and beautiful views down to Arolla from the top, where we arrived at 8 am. Shortly thereafter joined by the two Germans and the Spanish team among others.

The ski down was very straight forward as you could see the uppermost ski lift and a groomed road to the right of it. Once on the road there was an obvious track up the moraine with the choice of taking it or carrying on down the road further to get around the moraine. We went past the track up the moraine before stopping for a debate and then heading back to it. As we were heading back the Spanish team passed us having made the opposite decision. Our way stayed high and traversed two moraines and a large slope before joining the other uptrack. The Spanish mentioned they skied to the bottom of the moraine and then boot packed for 100 metres to find an easier way up. Their way was likely faster, ours was more adventurous although we did traverse some big slopes so if it was later in the day and/or bright and sunny I’d take the lower way.  The majority of the guided parties took the low route around the bottom of the moraine, likely because it was faster and easier. The higher route that we took does require some comfort with exposure.

We joined the Spaniards up track at 11:00 am by a little shack and sign where two Englishmen were having a cup of tea and a snack which sounded like a good idea. We stopped to chat, and two guided parties caught up having taken the lower way. We all climbed up together, 2 hours to the hut from this point and part way up the weather that had been building since mid morning caught up to us. The weather socked in, with some precip and high winds. Fortunately, the way was pretty straight forward up the valley and a steeper pitch trending right at the top. Following the cast of thousands didn’t hurt either.

We entered the Cabane des Vignettes (3157 metres) at 1 pm in the middle of a bit of a storm and it was a different experience. When full it sleeps 120 people and my sense it was close to capacity. As you can imagine a lot of gear spread about the entrance, ski room and drying room. Big and busy although well organized. 

We were forced to take our rosti and beer in the dining room and there were signs which party was at which table. While eating Rosti and drinking beer we could look out the window and see a group camping in the snow across the way. The bunk room was comfortable, although there’s no wifi (at the hut you could probably use it the most) and no real way to wash your hands in the toilets. Given the weather and the need for visibility if heading down to Zermatt by the Matterhorn the forecast was the point of much discussion throughout the hut. Given all the various conflicting weather reports gained by talking to people we enjoyed supper and set the alarm for 5 am prepared to make the best of whatever weather presented itself.

Friday, April 21^st

Up at 5:00 am and the day started out just as I feared, fairly socked in and stormy. We ate breakfast and discussed the day. Our beta was to expect a 10 hour day to Zermatt, with 2 ½ hours to the first col after which an alternative route to Arolla could be taken if it didn’t look good ahead and at the second col 2 ½ hours after the first a where a hard go/no go decision had to be made. Our plan A was, of course, Zermatt, plan B was to get over the first col and take a longer, more interesting way down to Arolla and Plan C was to bail to Arolla pretty much following the second half of our climb to the hut the day before. Two early guided parties headed out into the murk however it looked to be getting worse, so we chose plan C and bailed back to Arolla. 

The new snow was pretty sweet up high, however the viz was poor and we primarily survival skied down. Lower the viz improved and the snow quality got worse as expected. We arrived in Arolla at 9:30 am pretty much in the middle of a couple of guided parties. Fortunately, there was a bus stop close by (the first one not to take credit cards) that took us to Sion where we boarded the first of two trains to Zermatt. Pretty much the first stop on the second cog train we had problems with the train. It looked to me that they booted out the passengers of another train, as it wasn’t very crowded, and shipped them to wherever they were going by bus and gave us their train. Packed to the gunnels and resulted in a 1-hour delay. We expected to see a story on the BBC given it was the Swiss trains not performing but nothing appeared to come of it. Still a very cool trip up to Zermatt where we arrived at 1 pm and after a walk to our AirBnB hit a pub to celebrate. Not the perfect ending but still a fantastic trip. Interestingly, in talking to a guide a couple of nights later, he indicated that he preferred booking Albert Premier, Mont Fort, Prafleuri, Dix, Vignette and Bertol huts to give the best chance of success. I’d agree with his assessment as long as you’ve figured out the timing of transportation from Champex to Verbier before last lift to make it to Cabane Mont Fort. We talked to a coupe of parties that added in the Bertol Hut to make the last day into Zermatt shorter and easier terrain wise.

Our original plan was to carry on and ski to other huts in the area, thus we didn’t forward any gear to Zermatt. Unfortunately, Chimene came down with a bit of a nasty cold, so we stayed in Zermatt for three more days. Frankly, I think we were all happy staying in a swish AirBnB in the middle of Zermatt for pretty much the same price as a mountain hut. We had two good weather days and passed them by taking the lifts up to the Klein Matterhorn (little Matterhorn) at 3883 metres and bagging peaks. Day 1 we skied most of the way up the Breithorn (4164 metres), and then put the boot crampons on for an airy ridge walk. It was pretty socked in but from time to time you got a view down to the valley floor resulting in a little more focus on good foot work. The second good weather day we climbed Pollux (4092 metres) which is more of a rock and snow route. An absolute blast with chains in place on the harder sections. One of the highlights of these days was to ski down from the area of the Klein Matterhorn on groomed trails right down into Zermatt which given its 1600 metres is a heck of a run. The last day was a bit late, and we started to ski down at 7 pm only to find the vast majority of the way down had just been groomed. Pretty sweet and a definitely bit mind blowing.

A heck of a trip and many thanks to Paul, Chimene and Gary for making it so!

Watermelon Peak 2020

Thu/Fri July 30th/31st, 2020 Watermelon Peak, 3094 metres

Synopsis: 4 out of 5 stars. The climb itself was interesting enough to be enjoyable, capped with a few airy moves on the traverse to the summit block. Alice Lake makes for a beautiful biv site and you are unlikely to run into too many people once out of the Dolomite drainage. Early season made for easy work on the snow vs rubble.

An odd year and with the heat and lots of snow up high, this was plan B but it worked out to be a great couple of days.

We chose to approach Alice Lake from Helen Creek and left the car 9:30 am, a great alternative to the nearby Helen Lake trail - more direct for our purposes and definitely no crowds. We didn't see anyone until Katherine Lake.

We stopped at one of the lake just past Katherine lake for a snack and a quick swim. One other party of day trippers were enjoying the lake and we watched two park warden's (I assume) on horseback trailing a pack horse each. My guess is that they were on their way to Lake Isabella, a pretty iconic thing to see in the back country.

After dropping down into the Dolomite drainage we crossed the creek 3 times, which was 2 times more than necessary and did take a little extra time switching to flip flops and back to boots. After heading north on the main trail we broke to the east to climb the humps up and over to Lake Alice.

In the end it was 6 hours to Alice Lake at a very easy pace and given the weather we chose to enjoy the beautiful afternoon and climb in the morning. It was warm enough to hang around in shirt sleeves and go for a swim or two.  There was just enough wind to keep the bugs at bay for most of the evening.

Next morning up and on the road at 9:30, a leisurely start. You can't really see the route from camp but once through the boulder field it becomes pretty evident. We took the ridge on the climbers left of the small glacier and avoided it altogether. Afterwards enjoyed snow slopes all the way to shortly before the false summit.

False summit to real involved a bit of an airy ridge walk (1 pepper by SM's measurement) and straightforward ascent using snow patches where possible, up in 2 1/2 hours. Enjoyed 1/2 hour on summit in shirt sleeves. Not a lot of activity in the summit register, we were first party of 2020 and only 3 parties in 2019. Great views in all directions, lucky enough to have a blue bird.

2 hours down largely following our footsteps. 

Sara Mae and I hung out in camp for an hour having some itchy ban and a swim. Decided on an alternative out and gained a large bench to the east of Cirque Peak and followed it North, made the col overlooking the highway at 2700 metres in 3 hours, another 2 1/2 hours down finding our way down cliff bands and eventually finding an old trail in the bush. Hit the highway and walked down to Bow Lake to hitch a ride back, not tough even in these COVID times.

Good times!

Ski Touring in Georgia, the land of 1000 kick turns 2020

Skiing the Georgian Caucasus, March 1st to 9th 2020

We were an diverse group that piled into a minivan in Tiblisi, Georgia headed for the hills. 3 Americans, an Americanized Canadian living in Europe, a German living in the US and 2 Canadians with all pretty much living up to our respective national stereotypes.

The 7 hour drive to Ghebi proved very entertaining, with Achi providing an entertaining drive combining somewhat aggressive driving with a very eclectic music selection - who knew Boney M still had a following in Georgia? The road went from 4 lane freeway, to 2 lane highway, to dirt road to... stuck in the snow with a flat tire and humping our gear the last 150 metres by hand through snow mud and cow shit. We then got to help push the van and replace the tire with a spare helped with a couple of the towns older ladies who seemed to have a lot to say. Kinda glad I didn't understand Georgian.

I think we were all a little underwhelmed by the digs in Ghebi, although that was tempered by a warm welcome from the lady of the house - Gorcha and the other participants in old MacDonald's farm. Definitely a lively place and to be fair it had a flush toilet and hot wood feed showers! 

We grabbed bunks and sorted gear, Pacha the assistant guide gave us a bit of a rough briefing of the next days adventure (think not a lot of english) as we pigged out on some great food, red wine and chacha (locally brewed vodka). We all jumped in bed curious what the morning would bring.

Day one, we hiked a half a kilometer through town before jumping in our skis and skinning up. It was a bit mind boggling skinning through town, past some grizzled old men with a few greetings of gamarjoba passed around. It was definitely warm and we climbed up through forest up onto a lateral moraine. We ended up climbing 1400 metres up Muchamesh valley and the snow up high was actually very good. 

Once we skied down lower the snow definitely showed the impact of warmer temperatures but never got nasty. The highlight for me was standing by as an old man got his 3 cows back into the yard and watching Stephen ski through some cow shit on the way back to the digs.

Supper was great, I noticed that the portions of meat were decreasing but hey there was lot's to eat and it was good. At breakfast the flat bread was something to usually look forward to, sometimes straight up, sometimes with potatoes inside (yeah!) and sometimes with beets inside (less yeah, especially later in the trip). 

Day 2 it was time to get up higher given the heat. We were headed up to a high camp in Khvargula valley. There was a tent there (along with a party of 3 American young bucks at the end of their stay and the guide Sergi), we humped up overnight packs with some bringing tents and we shared the food load. You know your not in Kansas when Pacha, the assistant guide, bragged in halting English about having a smaller pack so he didn't have to take as much and kept asking what time it was as he didn't have a watch. To be fair Pacha did have a great laugh which lit up whichever camp we were at and was no slouch at trail breaking.

We headed out of town mid morning for a real pleasant ski up even with the heavier packs, the first 2 1/2 hours were along a road that hadn't seen traffic all winter (including the piston bully advertised as helping us up) past small farm plots with what looked like small shelters in each one and a 10'x12' church. 

The last hour was through light high elevation willows, I really wished I had brought a saw as they were thick at times and you knew there would be lot's of whips on the way out. It ended up being a gain of 800 metres and roughly 10 km in with the camp right next to a creek at roughly 2200 metres, a couple of hundred metres below tree line.

Sara Mae and I slept in the large tent with the three young Americans, Sergi and Pacha. It was a bit of a rough camp but right beside a creek for water and well situated. There was a wood burning stove inside which was great for drying out gear however I learned to curse it that night as it was bloody hot, too hot to get much sleep. The next day's meal plan set the bar pretty low; porridge for breakfast, cookies for lunch, buckwheat for supper. I heard some rumblings of folks waking up at 3 am with hunger pains however I fortunately have some fat to live off of. 

Day three started out with Pacha (Sergi was skiing with the three American lads up to a high glacier) climbing up to a ridge to our North East. It was great to get up high and see the range, culminating with 4700 metre peaks on the Russian border. Blue sky (as it would be most of the week), a couple of pits were dug and my sense is the avy conditions in the alpine were moderate on the north facing slopes and considerable on the south facing slopes largely due to multiple sun crusts. For those reasons and just plain old ski quality we spent the entire week focused primarily on the north facing slopes.

Three runs were had, pretty sweet boot top snow. It was getting warm so we were down to camp mid afternoon where Sara Mae worked on filling out the snow bench and a number of alternative toilets were dug out of the snow.

The afternoon dragged a bit and communication from Sergi was definitely on the laconic side. Never the less the lowering the heat in the large tent made for a great nights sleep and anticipation of more exploration.

Day four was hands down my favourite ski day of the trip. It started with a "discussion" with Sergi regarding food in pretty simple English. He got pretty defensive however I realized later that was likely a cultural reaction as much as anything. He took it in without verbalizing much however did take it to heart. Not to much to be done that day but he did go to substantial efforts to improve the food when not in town within what could really be expected given what was available.

Having said that it didn't take long to shuck the negativity. Today we were skiing the spines that Pacha had pointed out the day before. We started out skiing along the base of the feature to scope out lines. Very, very cool. We climbed up climbers right and it was pick your adventure along the ridge. Sara Mae and I started off on what looked like less committing lines early along the ridge, although you still jumped in not able to see the line to the bottom.

Run two I had to check out some of the lines higher up with Josh and it didn't disappoint! A bit crusty on the left hand side of the spines (south facing obviously) but sweet on top and the right.

I was definitely making diamonds before launching in however sluff management wasn't really an issue and as long as you stayed on top of the spire the turns were pretty darn good! We all went up for a third lap, well worthwhile.

Claude definitely takes the run of the day, popping out of the heel piece of a ski one turn in on the first run and making it work! On the way back to camp both he and Josh cleared the creek on a kicker built the day before to keep us entertained.

Given we had limited time and with the heat limited options, Sergi suggested that we ski back down to town late afternoon and head up to another camp for two days to end the week. Definitely made for a longer day but was the right thing to do. So we broke camp and headed down to town, arriving just before dark. Good to be back to Gorcha's amazing food and drink.

After a hot shower, a great supper and good nights sleep we were well ready for the next days climb up to camp two in the Geske region. Given it was going to be a 4 hour day we didn't get going until mid morning and it started off with an hour drive through Glola, a neighbouring town that was known in the Russian days for mineral springs. It was kind of eery driving through a fair amount of development that was all shuttered.

Finally at about 11 am we started the hump up, and it was a hump. The trip was known for steep up tracks however today it was out of necessity. We essentially followed a hiking trail and traction was an issue at times. Part way up I pulled out the ski crampons to give me a fighting chance and there were a couple of spots where boot packing became inevitable. Having said all of that, 3 hours in and we cleared out of the trees and got a view of the valley. Definitely memorable!

After 4 km and roughly 800 metres of elevation gain, "camp" was a flattish spot on western side of the valley. One of the highlights was watching Pacha climb a tree in his ski boots to collect the prospectors tent that was home for most. Being on the west side, it did get dark pretty early and we had to melt snow for water.

Having said that Sara Mae and I attempted to learn from the previous camp and were armed with biv sacks. It actually worked out really well, we made a nice level platform covered with small branches for comfort. To be honest it was about double the work I would have put into it on my own but Sara Mae was on fire and I benefited from a very comfortable bivy. SM's first use of a biv sack or so she says!

Supper was definitely an improvement on the previous camp, Sergi did make an effort to bring in more supplies and we went to bed with full stomachs. The next day was the only cloudy day we had all week and it did feel a little more chilly than previous days although the daytime high was just below freezing.

Getting away at a decent time, we headed up the valley looking at the north facing slope at the head of the valley and with a vague description of more terrain to the climbers left. When we got to the juncture we elected on the slope at the head of the valley. As always it wasn't as steep as it looks in the photo, however the snow was variable enough for Stephen to head out a dig a pit. Low hazard, high consequence was the muttering so we carried on.

The col was windy and cool with, as you can see, not a ton of snow but well worth the effort... for the views and the group shot!

There was definitely some good turns on the way down and we then headed right up the offshoot of a valley to check it out. There was a great looking couloir at the head of it and half the group head up it. Three of us were getting a little weary (yes I was one of them) and hung out on a moraine for a bit and watched the show. Keith looks happy with the decision...

Sara Mae, Keith and I didn't wait for the others to get down and headed back to camp at 4 pm. There was great snow down a gully feature and we got back just before the rest of the gang.

Our last day of skiing woke up to blue sky and single digit negative temperatures. The plan was to catch a couple of the couloirs closer to camp and head out mid afternoon. The snow was definitely crunchy and the odds of pow weren't high, that combined with some lassitude caused a rift between the sex's with the guys getting up and after it and the lady's (yes, including Keith) hanging out in their sleeping bags.

They didn't miss much, there were two couloirs to choose from and we started by checking out the on the right which was a light dusting on crust, as it steepened we backed off and checked out the one on the left which was worse.

In the end we went back to our high point on the first one and ripped it down and had a slight climb back to camp which we made back to late morning. We then slowly tore down camp, had something to eat and waited for Claude. Not a bad way to spend a day in the mountains!

We were all pretty convinced that the track back to the road would be a doozy and it didn't disappoint, I think most of us skied with skins on with plenty of side stepping around obstacles. Sergi's truck and a hired driver waited for us at the bottom and we were back in Ghebi in time for showers and a great last meal.

Needless to say, there was plenty of gear drying out when we got back and it was good to scratch Gorcha's dog Beechuma behind the ears. He was our protector and spent much of the night barking at I'm not sure at what.

Big surprise, the last night lead to a bit of a piss up. Beer, red wine, sparkling wine, chacha (of various flavours) a home made sherry like substance and back to beer. Great fun and Sergi opened up quite a bit, I'm not sure if he was drunk or just happy to see the needy Westerners on their way. It became apparent the passion Sergi has for the mountains of the area and opening up the terrain. The evening ended with him sharing drone footage of some massive couloirs starting at 4200 metres. What made it very impressive is that he was flying the drone while shredding!

The next morning at a not very early time, we all piled into Achi's van, this time complete with one brand new tire!

The hung over drive back to Tiblisi did seem to take forever but in reality was the same 7 hour drive as before and this time the roads got better and better on the way back. The highlight was stopping at a roadside group of eateries and finding donairs. Awesome, they were just what we needed!

Great trip, great adventure! I felt very fortunate to share the experience with a fine bunch of folks that kept it together through some of the challenging times and new how to have a great time on the snow! Thank you Keith, Stephen, Claude, Bianca, Josh and Sara Mae for a fantastic trip and to Gorcha for the hospitality and Sergi and Pacha for showing us around.

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