CHAM'LINES #3 - "The ENSA couloir"

For this third instalment, Aurélien Ducroz chose to be accompanied by Léo Slemett (freerider and “mentee”) and Christophe Henry (training partner and ski instructor), to ride the Brévent’s ENSA couloir.

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For this, the 3rd leg of the CHAM’LINES, I was once again joined by my “mentee”, young freerider Léo Slemett, and by Christophe Henry, who was my training partner for many years and is an amazing, super-swift skier and a ski instructor in Chamonix.

As it does each time, the question arose of which line would be the best under the current conditions. The forecast called for snow and sun between two very difficult weather zones. With the morning sun shining on it, the Brévent’s ENSA couloir, running East /North-East, seemed to be the day’s best pick. A great classic, accessible by gravity from the end of the cable car line (2,525 m, or 8,317 ft): is there really any need to mention that we weren’t the only ones coveting the chance to leave first tracks?

So our approach tactic was a choice between the cable car and the small rocky outgrowth that blocks the entry into this magnificent 400-metre (1,312-foot) couloir, which ends right in the middle of Chamonix (all in all, 1,425 m – 4,675 ft – of uneven terrain). We weren’t disappointed; conditions were exceptional all the way down, where we cut right at a snow bed to avoid an old snow slide that would have ruined the pleasure of a perfect run.

This legendary couloir may not be “extreme”, it may even be relatively accessible, but it is no less a veritable gem of the valley for all that, one you really have to discover!

See you next time, on Friday, February 21st!