Change In Plans

Greetings from Cabane du Trient, on the Haute Route. We are about 10,500 feet above sea level. We had an exhausting, exhilarating, amazing first day of ski touring.

We left the hotel in Chamonix on schedule at 8, trying to catch the first lift of the morning at Grands Montet. We took two cable cars in succession, climbing from about 5,000 feet to 11,000 feet in 30 minutes, stopping at the top of Argentiere Glacier. We broke through the cloud cover at about 9,000 feet, and had spectacular views of rocky peaks in all directions.

From the top, we skied downhill for a solid 30 minutes. It was great: fresh powder, blue sky and sun, and a very easy, long descent. As we enjoyed it, one member of our group, Drew, pointed toward a huge face at the other side of the valley - the Col du Chardonnet. I could see tiny ants, 2-3 kilometers off, climbing slowly, slowly.

We put on the climbing skins, switched our bindings over to the touring (unattached heel), and started skiing slowly across the level terrain in the saddle between the two peaks. After an hour, we reached the first steep face, and then the character building began.

Skiing up steep hills requires about 10 meters of trudge, trudge, trudge, up a narrow switchback track, followed by an elaborate maneuver called a kick turn. Then trudge, trudge, trudge in the other direction. The kick turn, incidentally, first requires doing a ballerina’s plie, then a vicious donkey kick with the formerly downhill ski, to get the skis parallel again, but with the tips facing in the opposite direction. When a skilled skier does it, it looks easy and graceful.

We had practiced this technique for about 15 minutes yesterday, on a gentle slope. I felt confident, almost cocky, as we started up the Col du Chardonnet. The fact that people above me on the 40-degree slope were struggling, and sliding back, and swearing in a variety of languages, should have been a hint that this is not so easy. “Amateurs!” I thought.

Of course, our own ascent of the Col du Chardonnet was a complete horror show. No one fell, and no one got hurt, but it was a sweaty, moderately frightening, physically grueling two hours. At one point, Drew said, “You and I are breathing so hard we sound like a gay porno movie.”

Graceful or not, all five of us, plus Rinaldo our guide, eventually made it past the extremely steep initial pitch, through a long sloping meadow, and then up another steep bit to the top.

From there, we had to put on all of our warm gear (suddenly very cold and windy), put on boot crampons, and lash our skis to our packs. Then, one by one, Rinaldo attached a rope to our climbing harnesses, and lowered us down a near-vertical 200-foot cliff, and into Switzerland. Even trusting him, and trusting the equipment, it was intense.

We had another long, spectacularly beautiful, downhill run, and then started another 2-hour trudge, trudge, trudge climb. My “system” was to take 80 strides, then stop and rest for ten deep breaths. Repeat a few hundred times.

The last climb of the day was called Fenetre du Salleina, the window to the Salleina glacier. It was not as long as the Col du Chardonnet, but it was slightly steeper. After making several (slightly improved) kick turns, most of us had to take off our skis, and scramble on hand and foot to the top. I tried not to think about leaning too far backwards, and falling 300 feet.

One member of our group, Jonathan, kept his skis on and kick turned all the way to the top. He is much better at this than I am.

Another hour of skiing from the Fenetre, and we arrived, bone-tired at this hut. We basically hadn’t eaten or drunk anything in the 9 hours since breakfast, so it was a relief to have bottles of mineral water, and a huge spaghetti dinner.

The hut is very rustic: four bunk rooms with 25 beds each, no washing facilities, chemical toilets, limited electricity. But it’s home for now, and a welcome home at that.

Today was the longest and toughest day of the trip (I think). The Haute Route is definitely living up to its reputation for beauty and for physical challenge. Onward and upward.