CHAM'LINES #7 - "The Chevalier Couloir"

All the ingredients came down to a perfect mix for this seventh episode: perfect weather, ideal conditions with new fresh snow, a beautiful itinerary, and with the excellent company of Douds Charlet (Freeride World Champion in Snowboard 2011 and Chamonix mountain guide) and Adrien Coirier (IFSA champion and Freeride World Tour veteran), with who Aurélien Ducroz has shared my best years of competition.  Their mission of the day is the Chevalier couloir!

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To resume the day

We meet up at the bottom of the Lognan cable car at 8am to make sure we are in the first bin to get fresh tracks. From the top of the Grands Montets, we head towards the Petite Verte, equipped with crampons, ice-axes and a rope. As Adrien is not that keen on mountaineering in general and climbing up in particular, we had to lie just a little bit on how long the approach was. Contrary to the 15 minutes we announced, the approach is more like 45 minutes, including some roped up climbing the last metres before reaching the entrance to the couloir…

It is quite rough to access the couloir, you often need to rappel into it, or side slip with a fixed rope. The first 70 metres are pretty exposed, with a 55 degrees angle, very narrow and with several rocks. We opt for side slipping with a rope the first 20 metres and then do some jump turns the remaining 50. Once passed this first sketchy part, the couloir gets wider and a bit less steep, around 45 degrees. We can now link our turns better and go quite a bit faster with big turns in amazing snow! Even if it can’t get much better than this, we need to stay composed and in control as a big bergschrund ends the couloir. We need to control our speed to find our way out! When we’ve passed the crux we ski a great run down to Lognan.

Adrien Coirier’s experience is slightly different…

Proud to be the only “non Chamoniard” to take part of the CHAM’LINES adventure, Adrien Coirier still had to make some sacrifices. “As I live in Les Arcs, I left at 4.30 am to be on time. Then Aurélien tells me it is a small 15-minute hike to the spot… He just forgot to tell me it was Chamonix minutes, meaning a good hour of suffering! Being already pretty tired at the top, I realize that the entry to the couloir is by definition… Chamonix style, meaning very engaged. So on top of fatigue I have to deal with my nerves! At that moment I’m thinking to myself what on earth I am doing here! But a few turns later I get the answer: the snow is excellent, the line is beautiful, it’s pure bliss! A great memory and also the most committed line I’ve skied this winter!”.

In the end everyone agrees on the great experience and the conclusion is: exceptional conditions, a beautiful couloir and a magical day between friends!

The Chevalier couloir is relatively well known but still not that busy. Its access requires a rappel (or sliding on a fix rope), the first metres are committed and the bergschrund at the bottom definitely helps keeping the crowds away. However, if you are aware of the cruxes and play it smart the descent is really worth it!

See you next time, on Friday, April 18th!

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