Col du Tour Noir

As as our last day in Chamonix dawned so too did more glorious sunshine. Sadly we were not all feeling so energetic, after a weeks skiing a few aches and pains were setting in so Jaime and Si decided to hit Les Gaillands for some sport climbing. Meanwhile Ant, Ollie and myself made an early start and joined the weekend queues at the Grand Montets telepherique, planning a day tour from the Argentiere basin.

Ollie and Ant preparing to skin up the Glacier des Amethystes to the Col du Tour Noir

Our original intention had been to cross the Col du Passon and ski down the Glacier du Tour but scrutiny from the Grand Montets summit showed a plethora of wet snow avalanches from the gullies above this route. Therefore we opted for climbing to the Col du Tour Noir instead.
First of all we had to get down to the Glacier d'Argentiere. On the whole, this descent was a gentle traverse line down and across the Glacier de Rognons but it passed through some staggering and dangerous terrain whilst following a narrow, technical track between crevasses and seracs - really quite fun! :)

Glacier des Rognons descent. Ant and myself next to the big seracs on the right!

Ant and I starting the climb up the Glacier des Amethystes. Grand Montets ridge to the Aig. Verte provides a majestic backdrop. Photos by O Mentz.

After negotiating our way down through the crevasses the skin up the Glacier des Amethystes was a walk in the park although Ant on his big heavy resort ski's did start to feel the 'altitude' a little! Skiing back down from the col after our climb gave us more practice/pain on breakable crust snow although we started to get the hang of it by employing tiring jump turns. Ollie, having only skied for a week or two, struggled more with the snow but deserves congratulations for surviving at all! I did however manage to capture this shot of him looking very composed:

Ollie descending the Glacier des Amethystes with Y Couloir on the Aig. d'Argentiere behind

After completing most of the descent difficulties we stopped for a leisurely lunch break, although we did have to fight off a band of fearless Alpine Choughs who obviously thought our baguettes and sauscisson were fair payment for letting us ski through their glorious habitat.

Ollie and Ant at our lunch stop

Take off in front of the Aig. Verte

"Choughin' 'eck lad, eee's afta ar sarnies"

After lunch all that was left was another glorious run out along the Glacier d'Argentiere, watching the north face of the Droites, the Aig. Verte and the Aig. du Chardonnet all breeze past. We quickly dealt with a section of crevasses and then an exposed traverse above the Refuge de Lognan brought us suddenly back on the pistes above the Lognan telepherique station. A quick carving blast past the holiday makers and then it was skis off for the last time this season. A great day to finish on though!

Myself and Ant slightly in awe on the Glacier d'Argentiere dwarfed by 4000m peaks and enveloped in swirling ephemeral clouds. Photo O Mentz.

This was the last day of my ski touring trip to Chamonix and despite the initial poor weather it was a great week of contrast between joyful powder skiing fun and jaw dropping high mountain itineraries. Ski touring lets you travel quickly through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world and with some great fun descents as well it's got to be one of the best ways to enjoy the hills.