Becca di Luseney - Chamonix (Italy, actually) day 3

Jean and Roman spying our objective, the pyramid on the skyline.When I started thinking about things to ski when I got to Chamonix, a list of classics came to mind. But little did I know that the first locals I would meet would be more interested in skiing out-of-the-way objectives in Italy. Jean, Fred and Roman all favor the less crowded side of Mt. Blanc and are keen on long days and high adventure. I was game.

My first outing a few days ago involved climbing and skiing Becca de Luseney, a 3,500 meter peak high above the Aosta Valley not far from Courmayer. We drove through the famous Mt. Blanc tunnel and popped out 11 km later in Courmayer. A few more kilometers down the highway and we were in Aosta and turning toward the high mountains above town. The roads are crazy over there, twisting and turning, often single lanes through small mountain villages. Seems crazy to me that people live up there. I mean, what do they do all winter?

Anyway, we found the end of the road and started skinning. We soon dropped into the valley bottom and headed up a snow-covered summer trail through the trees. Before long we were at tree line and could see more of what we were in for.

The altitude was kicking my ass a bit but I was able to hold my own with my new friends. The ascent was varied as the snow was changing to spring conditions on various aspects. We even pulled out the crampons and ice ax to get up a near 50 degree slide path through a rock band.A little spice for the day. photo - Fred Coupez

Getting tired. Looks far away

I love to boot. They happily let me have my way.I gave way for the final 50 meters to the top

The final 500 meters was up a broad couloir/face feature with wind board and wind hammered powder to the summit. It was plenty steep and would make for interesting descending. At 5 hours we stood on top. The views were crazy with world famous peaks all around.

We pulled out the rope to belay the first skiers down 50 degree sections just to be safe. Nothing moved. We leap frogged down the technical parts looking forward to some powder down lower. We found just that and spooned turns for 300 vertical meters.

Almost down...The lower sections of the descent were starting to feel the heat of the day but things remained manageable. The trail through the woods was a bit of a rodeo with near isothermic snow but I managed the out without any events. The final slog back up to the car was hot and I felt all of the 7.5 hours, 17km and 2,000 meters up. The boys promised more of the same to come.

Comments

[jay]

awesome, loving the daily updates. keep it up.

[Hitsch]

You seem having a great time here in Europe. Wish you a great time and low avalanche danger (snow is enough at the southern alps, at least here).

I enjoy reading your blog, keep on updating!

An irrelevant follower from Switzerland

Hitsch

[Kristian]

Super awesome! Thanks for sharing the dream with us.

[Brian]

Hey guys,

I appreciate the positive comments. Thanks for reading. And, Hitsch...the only irrelevant follower is the one not reading. Thanks for checking in. It's fun to have the time to actually do this on a regular basis. Funny how a damn job screws with your free time! LOL