Grand Combin (4314m) ski tour...no tour for old men!

When you take a bus at 7 in the morning on a working day in the middle of May, when it's pouring down rain, and you are carrying a big rucksack, skis and a rope...people are inevitably going to look strange at you. At least most of them are...but they don't know that you are up to undertake one of the most intese skitour of the season...if not the most intense. 

First of all...a bit of a background. Thursday the 14th was a public holiday in Switzerland and in the night betweem the 13th and 14th we participated to the Rigi Marsch. This is a 50km walk with 1500m of ascent that goes from Bremgarten to the summit of Rigi...starting at 20:00 in the evening and walking the entire night to see sunrise on the top. Believe me...more tiring than it actually seems...Must admit that it was boring at times but surely a nice experience. So this quite tough ski tour already starts with not exactly relaxed legs!

Weather is looking bad...but we are still quite happy!

Yes...it was that bad...and all that snow was even making the rucksack heavier!

Friday morning we drive by car to Fionnay...as I said earlier, under the pouring rain. At least in Fionnay is snowing which makes the walk up to the hut a bit less wet because the snow is rather dry...but we still get very wet anyway! At the beginning we follow the summer route and then comes the point where, after a little barn with a very low roof, the first sign of the winter route appears. The sign is pointing downhill and straight after there are two big red arrows on a small rock face. From this point onwards we do spend at least half an hour going up and down looking for the route. Is all covered in very fresh snow which makes everything extremely slippery. There are no further signs and we plus two other groups take all slightly different routes. At the end we discover that the best thing to do after the red arrows was to point down at river on the bottom of the valley, not straight, but a bit diagonally towards the end of the valley. Once on the bottom we keep walking towards the end of the valley and then go up on the right (looking at the end of the valley) in a narrow gorge under a steep rock face. At this point only we can finally put the skis on...which up to now have been carried on the already very heavy rucksacks!

Outside the gorge...with the sun finally shining

At the beginning of the glacier...it does not even look like the same day as the photos above...

Once outside the gorge we start feeling the sun, warm as the kiss of a woman, and even the clouds start to disappear to leave room to an incredible blue sky. From the "bitter" cold of the hours before, with all clothes as wet as after a desert marathon it's finally warm and comfortable...time to take the jacket off!

But the approach to the hut is not yet finished, and there are still a few hundreds meters over rocky moraines with very little snow (not that good for the ski skins) to be climbed. But eventually, in a scenery which looks a lot closer to winter than spring, the hut appears and we can finally get some dry clothes on.

Wake up call the next day is at 2:30 and around 3:15 or slightly later we start going towards the glacier. The other teams are already on their way since almost one hour. There are 5 snow shoesrs (what?? with snow shoes up the Grand Combin???) one group of four swiss, two french and two italians...it almost seems like a joke :). It's all dark around and almost the only thing one can see are a few light spots making their way through an immense glacier. At first we follow the moraine along and then down on the glacier. Further we cross the glacier and keep on its west side to overcome the first "step" with some quite large crevasses in the centre. Keeping on the same side of the glacier we skin up just next to P3156 and P3310. During this last part the sun starts to kiss the tips of the giants around us, and stopping to take a few pictures becomes imperative!

The sun is coming...to rape yet another night (cit.)

..and it kisses the summits

Yes, those are going up with snow shoes...respect!

My mates

At the edge, between darkness and sunshine

The first plateau is easily overcome pointing towards the plateau du dejuner and up to the kind of ridge which comes straight down from point P3674. At this point one of the swiss group and two of the snow shoesrs will give up and go back to the hut. A shame because it's a really nice day, but understandable because up to now we've only being warming up...

We traverse down to the bottom of the coloiur du gardien and get off the rope...which will of course get in my rucksack. We also remove skis and put crampons on. One of the two italians also decides to go back leaving the other one on his own.

With an incredibly heavy rucksack we start going up the couloir. It's not that steep but even with the tracks of the people before us is the hell of an effort to make 20 steps in a row...It becomes however steeper and steeper towards the end and the massive serracs looking down at us are closer and closer. Walking up below such serracs is a bit like sitting on a bomb with a random timer...at some point it's going to go off but you just don't know when. One more reason for being fast!! Once under the very end of the serracs we traverse to the right on a rather steep wall of ice which is covered by snow. In this conditions the snow is quite weight carrying and is okay to cross without any belay...but I'm sure that in case of no new snow this would be a lot more icy and then a couple of ice screws would turn helpful. With this new snow is not even possible to make decent belays and since arresting the fall of yourself would already be very tricky we don't rope up...and everyone is on his own.
I have to say that in our case a normal axe was fine...but with harder snow probably one, if not two, ice tools would be more recommendable to be safer in the ice.

Pointing at the bottom of the couloir

This is going to be my desktop background for a while...

Up the couloir

and some still getting ready for it

tough...it is bloody tough!

those serracs look wondeful and awful at the same time

Outside the couloir we feel rather happy because we think the worst is done. And it also feels we have being going for ages...but is only 10 am, more or less...I start walking, still with the crampons, to find a place with some fresh snow to make it easier to put the skis back on. While walking a nasty feeling creeps in my head...that I'm walking on crevasses! Yes because I can see holes through the gaps in the snow but I'm lucky enough not to break anything. Then I run back down to the closest piece of very hard snow and tell the other to stop and put the skis back on here. At the same time one of the swiss team does fall in a crevasse, but is promptly rescued from his mates. This is the point when things start to get a bit not happy anymore. The other italian and the two french promptly retreat...maybe because afraid of crossing crevasses. The swiss team however carries on...but they ask me if I can go in front and cross crevasses...I am a bit scared of the situation but I'm roped up with my two other friends and the three swiss are there in case something happens. Having the feeling of walking on egg shells I continue trying to find the best route. First I point at the Combin de Valsorey and then back to main summit.

And that big thing at the horizon is Mont Blanc

Traversing the last bit to exit the colouir...Is the snow going to hold all the people?

Doesn't this look like a black diamond advert photo?

At this point I start feeling like having an hammer inside my head...and beating so hard to break it open. We stop discussing for a while and the swiss team passes us thanking for going forward hunting for crevasses. When we start walking again the swiss team has already made some tracks, even though there is little need now because the snow on the last slope to the summit is really hard. After a few turn, some icy passages and several stops to try and avoid the hammer breaking my head...there we are...on the summit!! Unfortunately I'm that tired that even taking pictures is not in my list of things to do...so I only take one. 

I know...not that great photo...but that't the summit!

At this point we would like to get down via the Mure de la Cote. We start skiing down to get to it...not roped up. I'm incredibly scared of falling in a crevasse and I have to say that fear probably made me ski quite bad. When we get to what we think is the mure de la cote we realize that we are too low. We passed under the massive crevasse just underneath the Aiguille du Croissants...and from here we are too low to get down. So we decide to take the skis off and to climb up a little bit until we are high enough. When we stop we walk toward the edge...and there seems to be anything behind it...We realize that there is indeed something but there is also a rather high cornice to be "jumped". I get really scared and decide that no way on earth I'm going to do this. One other in the group wants to do that but I think is too dangerous...and convince him to turn back. When back home I look at some photos in the internet and realize that from the Combin summit we should have probably skied along the ridge, only slightly down and take the Mure de la Cote at his highest point. Also in those pictures I see there is the cornice and it does look quite high too jump. And a fall in that situation means that if you are extremely lucky Rega will come to pick you up in one piece...and not even necessarily alive...

Skiing down at 16 in the afternoon

...and getting back into the clouds

So we go back down via the couloir like the swiss team did. I think it would be a little late and the snow too soft, but actually is still good. My legs however are too tired to risk skiing on 45° and steeper terrain, so I decide to walk all the way down to the point where we put crampons on in the morning. After this we put the skis back on and fight against a rather slushy snow (on the last part, and wind blown on the first) all along the glacier until we get to the end of it following the tracks of the morning. Skins back on and in 15 minutes we are back at the hut after 26km on the skis, 1700m or more of altitude and 14 hours on the go. 

A few beers, dinner and straight in bed. Next morning wake up at 6, breakfast and a rather nice descent down plus walking on the summer hiking path, which in all honesty in not that easy in the first part with muddy ski boots and skis on the rucksack...but hey, we just want to get back down!

Grand Combin in the morning

Skiing down to the valley...

But soon the snow is too little and we have to walk

Welcome back to summer!!

An absolutely wonderful tour. I regret not having done the Mure de la Cote but I did feel terrified, and looking back at the pictures of other guys I do think we took the right decision. I'm still getting use to ski on steep stuff, and that steep I've never skied...so is probably not worth starting to ski on that steep terrain where a mistake can almost kill you...but I'll be back one day for it!