TR: Couloir des Cosmiques 06.03.14

[bbirtle]

This one has been on my to-do list for a long time. Finally the conditions were right, for the first time all season, and while it wasn't pow, it was a true Chamonix-style adventure!

Cosmiques34.jpg
Topo

The statistics:

The Cosmiques is probably the second most famous couloir in Chamonix after the Couloir des Poubelles. The Cosmiques drops 800m = 2600ft and stays a sustained 45-50 degree from start to finish. It's on the Northwest face of the Aiguille du Midi.

From the summit at 3842m we skiied all the way down to Chamonix Sud for a total vertical drop of 2800m = 9200ft. Unlike the Vallee Blanche, this route drops straight down from the Midi covering only around 4km = 2.5 miles distance.

Attachment 11282
The Midi Arete

The queues coming down the Midi Arete were pretty horrendous - the secret is to wear crampons so you can walk right past everybody. Why more don't do it astounds me.

Attachment 11284
Peje sideslipping down to the rappel point

Attachment 11285
Setting up the rappel - The first around 30m = 100ft aren't really skiable, or at least weren't today. A single 30m rappel got us to a point where the couloir is wide enough to ski.

Attachment 11286
Off rappel, onto skis - The conditions weren't ideal... thick wind-affected snow and here at the top, very icy. Unfortunately we had to side-slip the very steep top bit for maybe 50ft or so before we could start putting in very careful turns.

(Continued...)

[bbirtle]

I forgot to mention - after three years of active duty, my good camera died completely after I took the first few pics of today. I wasn't going to let a life-threatening ski decent go without some footage, so I switched to my crappy camera phone...

Attachment 11300
Looking back to the couloir enterance (That's Maria)

I'm not going to lie to you, I was fucking shitting myself. The couloir goes straight down to the bottom with plenty of little rockbands to break your fall, and your head. Peje says "OK back on skis. And hey, there is no falling here. No falling at all. OK?"

Attachment 11302
Peje, making it look easy

Attachment 11303
More couloir action

Attachment 11304
More couloir action

Attachment 11305
More couloir action

(Continued...)

[72Twenty]

"Look who's in the starting gate..."

NIIIIIIIICE!!!!!!

[bad_roo]

Man, I've just shit myself in the office.

[bbirtle]

Attachment 11310
More couloir action...

Attachment 11311
Maria, about halfway down

Attachment 11312
In the Shadow of Mont Blanc...

The black dot on the ridgeline is Maria. The couloir faces Mont Blanc and the high mountain ambiance is unreal...

Attachment 11314
Peje, nearing the bottom

The couloir splits near the bottom and you can swing a right to end up in the exit couloir of the Glaciar Rounde. The Glaciar Rounde is another 800m sustained 45-50 degree decent with a ton of exposure, almost all of it a "no fall zone". I made a poor choice in partners two years back and skiied that route and watched my partner tumble around 200ft down the couloir, over an impressive cliff, and into a crevass. He somehow landed upright and his snowboard magically wedged into the crevass, preventing him from falling deeper. After a crevass rescue, we called a helicopter since he was worried about internal bleeding and so forth... luckily he ended up with just some serious bruises.

Attachment 11315
Towards the Bottom - POW!

Towards the bottom it finally started getting less steep and the snow improved, and we could get the best turns of the day here.


(Continued...)

[skiing-in-jackson]

Having never been to Chamonix...where is everbody else going...that's alot of people. surely they didn't ski your route???

[hemas]

Having never been to Chamonix...where is everbody else going...that's alot of people. surely they didn't ski your route???

Valle Blance, the tourist route....

Oh, and bbritle, I sort of figured your gonna do this when you mentioned that you had been eyeing a couloir and wsa gonna do it... Way to go man.

[bbirtle]

Attachment 11325
On the Glacier

Finally down on the glacier, we had to thread through some messy seracs, but it wasn't too bad. This section changes from year to year and I've seen some really horrible pictures in this section...

Attachment 11327
Back in Town

After all those bad quality camera phone shots, I figured I'd toss in one decent one. This is the Aiguille du Gouter from my balcany window, taken a couple days ago after the storm cleared.

Thanks much to Peje and Maria for a fantastic day!!

[Hayduke]

Awesome Brian! From the bottom, I remember that fucker looks near vertical.

[comish]

Very cool. I like the pict where you write the line in. Never got to do the Cosmiques, just the Rond when I was there, but that area is certainly awesome.

Like nothing we have here...

[pde20]

Now that is a fucking TR!

[RootSkier]

Mommy! Where's my Whippet?!?

[shmerham]

*reaching for my blankey*

That's some serious shit, man.

[bad_roo]

*reaching for maria's boobies*

That's some serious shit, man.

Damn straight.

[majortom]

Looks insane

Am off to Cham in a couple of weeks - seriously stoked now

[Arno]

congrats! i'd love to give that a go one of these days, although i expect that i would brick it the entire way too

[shmerham]

How'd you know what I was really thinking Roo?

[Samwich]

Could you just get your camera phone out again real quick? Just real quick man, seriously. I just need Maria's number, that's all.

That pic looking down the rappel makes me want to soil myself (don't tell Maria).

[Hicks]

Nicely done!

[bbirtle]

Brian: "Hey Peje what's up man"
Peje: "Yeah doin alright you?"
Brian: "Man I'm like, completely destroyed..."
Peje: "Yeah I'm in bed dude, it rocks. Just got done with a nap..."
Brian: "Sweet. Hey your girlfriend, her name is Maria, right? Cause I posted this trip report to Teton Gravity and like half the comments are these guys wanting to get with her..."
Peje: LOL
Brian: "...so I just wanted to make sure I remembered her name right."
...

[ulty_guy]

jesus titty f'in christ

[Big E]

Damn. That reminds me, I haven't seen any philingle sightings in these parts in quite a while.

[skier666]

Nice...I remember our guide showing us that route down from the observatory deck. If we only had more snow!!!!!!

Your TR =

[Trackhead]

Oh, the lines you have at your disposal. Nice work.

[iskibc]

I really want some of that. [drool] Good stuff.