Pete_H

Boots no longer available. Thanks.

Trip: Chamonice - Multiple Date: 3/31/2012 Trip Report: Kat and I took our first ski trip to Europe with the intent of enjoying some classic tours. As we left town for our week-long vacation we were almost wondering why we were leaving knee deep pow at Stevens. Oh yeah. This is why. We were a bit tired from our travelling so on our first day we chose a relatively short tour up to Col du Chardonne. Vive La France Finding some fun corn on the way down. Thought we'd check out the Aig. Rouge side the next day. We happened upon the Crouche-Berrard traverse Conditions in the Berrard cirque were a bit variable but softened up a bit lower down. The tour ends when you ski into the small village of Le Buet and you literally click out of your skis at Hotel Le Buet, a bar / restaurant / hotel, where its mandatory to have glass of beer or vin blanc and perhaps a fresh salad or omelette as you wait for the train back to Cham. After a rest day we went up the Grand Montets again with the plan to ski the south face of the Aig. Argentierre, thinking it might soften up nicely in the afternoon. But first we had breakfast. SuperPowerFood. Yum. Unfortunately, Kat was understandably having some issues with the elevation especially after a lot of travelling and some long days in the mountains. So as an alternative we skinned up to the Tour Noir Col and took a look at the N side of the Aig Argentierre. We had enjoyed the Crouche-Berrard tour so much a couple days before we thought we'd do it again with a ski of the Glace du Mord variation. Glace du Mord was awesome but apparently Drew skied all the powder off last week. Nevertheless we still found some "pow-like" conditions and even some corn in spots. What trip to Cham is complete without a ski of the Valle Blanche? I'd never seen a whole glacier turned ito a mogul field before, so I was stoked to check off another unique cultural experience. I did make a side tour up to the Col du Tacul and found some pretty fun skiing on the way down including these slopes above the Mer de Glace down-schralp mule train. And what's a trip to the Valle Blanche without getting creeped out in the funky ice caves below the Montvert. All-in-all it was a very fun trip. The weather was splitter the whole time even if the snow conditions were a biy variable. It was also really cool to experience the ski culture there, where ski alpinism is so mainstream. Though it was definitly weird to see whole backcountry runs skied out. Kat and I are stoked to go back and check out some spots a bit off the beaten path next time. Gear Notes: Vin Rouge. Perhaps Vin Blanc, depending on conditions. Approach Notes: About 24 Euros

Awesome trip! Always a bonus when you get to burn shit up.

Spring conditions for sure. Be wary of sun exposed slopes in the afternoons, cornice collapse, wet slides, etc. My guess is that climbing conditions wouldn't be the best right now especially for stuff to do in a day. TC's might be worth a look but that's a pretty long day. Maybe Zipper or something on Lane Peak? I would also suggest a hike up to Muir or rock climbing at Index.

I'd say you could pretty much cout on Vantage being dry enough to climb, probably count on 11worth, and maybe count on Index. Probably 50/50 that Index will be dry enough to climb on any given day in late April. I'd also try and book partners before hand.

I can think of better places for a gondola but I definitly agree with the sentiment articulated by Don. More recreational opportunities and trails in this part of the world is a good thing. Ed Cooper is a bad ass, BTW.

Shit, even if we have a dry and warm spring skiing will definitly still be good in June.

Yeah. This town can only handle so much at once.

I guess when someone's trying to shoot your nuts off it doesn't matter what you call the situation. At any rate, thank you for your service!

Very cool. Nice job havin a bad ass kid Rudy.

Stoppin' at nearly every McDonalds for coffee and napkins on the way down. Have a great trip you guys!

Lots of taste. Mostly bad.

It was more of a joke about the Tea Party. Sorry if I offended, but consider the forum.

Just don't have children and it won't be a problem.

He was just pissed off because Obama's trying to raise his taxes!

How would you read the Cold War then? - as the two big bullies on the block destined to butt heads? I suppose the Soviets could have been into Buddhism and we would have demonized it. Though clearly at least Stalin and Kruschev were actively trying to affect the downfall of the western govt's.

Norfolk State beat Missouri. But I thought that was a 13 and a 2.

True dat. The study of war is indeed the study of the history of humankind.

Vietnam: U.S. / South Vietnam v North Vietnam Korea: South Korea / U.S. v North Korea China got pretty heavily involved in both conflicts supplied a lot of arms to N Vietnam and had quite a few combatants in Korea. Sure, from our perspective these were cold war / proxy wars which adds another layer but still nation state v nation state. I'm not trying to argue that every conflict ever fought until Afghanistan was between nations, I'm just saying that in the last few decades non-state actors have become more prominent in international politics. I'm not smart enough to make this shit up, PHD's who teach college and shit did. So maybe I'm just trying to justify all the student loans from a 12-year-old poly sci degree.

Well, there was the war against the Barbary Pirates but that was probably a one-off.

bullshit. government and nation-states themselves are quite new inventions. more typically its been tribes/religions/sects/etc. that have divided warring group, and continous warfare has been the norm throughout history (and indeed, even advanced primates like chimps seem in constant combat w/ their neighbors) I think you can at least say the nation v nation paradigm has dominated since as long as the U.S. has been a nation, if not since the dawn of nation-states. Look at every war/conflict the U.S. has ever been involved in. Until Afghanistan (except for perhaps some covert and / or minor police actions in Latin America) every conflict has been against another nation.

I actually think Kev made a good point. It is important to distinguish between war and armed conflict if for no other reason that to highlight the fact that the nature of conflict is different now than it was historically. Conflict is now so much more likely to involve ideologies and non-governmental actors. The U.S.'s "war" against terrorism, Taliban, El-Quaeda, etc., for example.

Sounds like a good place to drink.

And the poor fuckers have to live in Tacoma.

My wife's cousin's husband has been deployed for the last 5 months, is coming home for 5 days, then leaves for another year. That bullshit might have something to do with it. Also that the military is fighting the longest war in U.S. history for an enigmatic purpose with goals that are probably unatainable. Really quite a tragedy.