On March 13, Philippe left Les Houches (1,000m) at 4:30am, hoping to climb Mont Blanc non-stop and get back down to Les Houches in the evening. The weather was clear, the temperatures not too low but there was a lot a snow and 60km/h wind above 4,000m. Mont Blanc route from Les Houches (© P. …
Just two weeks after the 174 km of the Spine Challenger, I didn’t feel like trail running again and since the snow conditions are pretty good, I went Ski touring in the Mercantour National Park. I made a classic 16 km loop starting in Boréon, crossing the Vacherie des Erps and climbing up to the …
Philippe has just finished the Best of 2011 video: 3 minutes 31 seconds of the Kangchenjunga expedition (8586m), Sahara Race, Rock climbing around Nice, Berghaus TV shoot in the Dolomites, Trail running in Calanques, Sweden, Lapland and Mercantour, Alpine ascents in Chamonix Mont Blanc… More videos on Philippe’s YouTube channel. Philippe and Anna on the …
Today I went back to the Madone de Fenestre to climb the Couloir Délaissé (300m, 45-50° max) in the Southwest face of Mont Ponset (2828 m). The conditions in the Couloir were not too bad but with the current temperature the snow won’t last long. Then I climbed down the Southeast face and since it …
Anna and I went back to the Boréon to climb another Couloir in the Northwest face of Cime de Juisse (2580 m), called Peïrastreche. Overall the conditions in the route were okay, there was still snow fresh snow from last week, the third pitch was the most interesting one with less snow and more ice. …
Bad weather, bad snow, bad choice is how I would summarize this day. It was my fault though, the forecast was not encouraging but I wanted to give it a chance anyway. I went up to the Gorges du Cians and started skiing from Beuil (1450 m) on a thin layer of snow, with the …
I wanted to climb a gully called Motivation Encaissée in the North face of Tête des Portettes (2823m). Bad idea, it was a sunny day, no wind but way too warm, with a freezing level at 3600m. The conditions in the gully were bad; soft melting snow and a bit of fragile ice. I climbed …
Anna and I went to the Cime of Tavels (2795 m) to climb the left Gully of the West face (Goulotte Ouest de gauche), one of the 3 ice and mixed routes of Tavels. The routes is 250 meters high (6 pitches), graded French TD / 85° 4+ / M4. It was cold -16°C. The …
Second day of ski touring this weekend. This time Anna and I went to the Boréon to climb the Cime de Guilié (2999 m). Like in Gialorgues, the snow has melted below 1700 m and it’s frozen above, so very good conditions to go up either in ski touring or snowshoes. Perfect weather where we …
The rain at high altitude of last week has totally changed the conditions in the mountains. The soft snow have been replaced by hard snow and ice, perfect to climb some Couloirs. I went back to Gialorgues to ski touring and to climb the Northeast Couloir of Bec du Chateau (400m, 45° average, AD-). Then …