It was 2.30pm,when lil punk and i decided to head to this unnamed couloir on the east of rochers de la peitite blame. The couloir is a straightforward 850ft shelterd east faceing descent,ranging from 25 to 35 degrees in the couloir and about 35 to 40 degress at the exit.
We took the les lanches chair from val claret to the toe of the grand
motte glacier. Once at the top of les lanches,we skied down the double
M on to the path what takes you to the cairn. We skied as far as the
big rock,then traverised left across the long flat section above the
cliffs to the top of the couloir. After traverseing across the flats for about 5 minutes we finaly reached the the top of the line.
After some descushing i decided i would drop in first. The snow in the
couloir was boilrplate on about three inches of fresh snow. Every turn
i made the snow would slouth exposing the boilerplate underneath. After
about 8 minutes of turning,side sliping i finely reached the exit of
the couloir,where i traversed to the right,to a safe zone to wait for
lil punk. 8 or 10 minutes later were both standing at the safe zone
descushing,if we should ski straight down the fall line or travese
right under the toe of the cliff. As there was no obvious signs that
the slope would slide. I decided to travers under the cliff to where
the snow looked better. I started to traverse above a small rock,where
i paused for about 15 seconds so i could get back on the radio to see
what lil punk thinks. 2 seconds later the radio crackles back to life
with lil punk saying,it looks all good from here. So 3 seconds later
the radio crackles agine,5 4 3 2 1 droping. I pushed off,one turn,two
turns. i notised the snow has went from boilerplate to chockie powder.
i was like fuck,this is not good. Them it happened the whole slope i
was skiing slide. The fracture was about 2ft above me,1 to 1.5ft at the
deepest point of the crown wall and 25ft wide soft slab on a weak layer
of depth hoar. The slide started of slow,then started picking up some
speed as it hit the concave part of the slope. Every thing went white
for,what felt like a long time. As i was geting takeing down in the
silde i got buried,loseing my left ski and poles,but i managed to fight my way back to the surface of the slide agine. When the avalanche
finaly stoped i realized i had snow in the back of my throat. I started
banging my head of the ground really hard trying to clear the snow out.
After banging my head for 5 seconds or so
the snow finaly flu out my mouth and i could breath normal agine. By
the time lil punk got to me i already bug my partially buried right leg
out and had all my shit together. On the way out the ski patrol turned
up and ask some questions to make sure i was ok.
Avalanche Location,Unnamed Couloir,East Face,Rochers De La Peitite Blame,Tignes
We took the les lanches chair from val claret to the toe of the grand
motte glacier. Once at the top of les lanches,we skied down the double
M on to the path what takes you to the cairn. We skied as far as the
big rock,then traverised left across the long flat section above the
cliffs to the top of the couloir. After traverseing across the flats for about 5 minutes we finaly reached the the top of the line.
After some descushing i decided i would drop in first. The snow in the
couloir was boilrplate on about three inches of fresh snow. Every turn
i made the snow would slouth exposing the boilerplate underneath. After
about 8 minutes of turning,side sliping i finely reached the exit of
the couloir,where i traversed to the right,to a safe zone to wait for
lil punk. 8 or 10 minutes later were both standing at the safe zone
descushing,if we should ski straight down the fall line or travese
right under the toe of the cliff. As there was no obvious signs that
the slope would slide. I decided to travers under the cliff to where
the snow looked better. I started to traverse above a small rock,where
i paused for about 15 seconds so i could get back on the radio to see
what lil punk thinks. 2 seconds later the radio crackles back to life
with lil punk saying,it looks all good from here. So 3 seconds later
the radio crackles agine,5 4 3 2 1 droping. I pushed off,one turn,two
turns. i notised the snow has went from boilerplate to chockie powder.
i was like fuck,this is not good. Them it happened the whole slope i
was skiing slide. The fracture was about 2ft above me,1 to 1.5ft at the
deepest point of the crown wall and 25ft wide soft slab on a weak layer
of depth hoar. The slide started of slow,then started picking up some
speed as it hit the concave part of the slope. Every thing went white
for,what felt like a long time. As i was geting takeing down in the
silde i got buried,loseing my left ski and poles,but i managed to fight my way back to the surface of the slide agine. When the avalanche
finaly stoped i realized i had snow in the back of my throat. I started
banging my head of the ground really hard trying to clear the snow out.
After banging my head for 5 seconds or so
the snow finaly flu out my mouth and i could breath normal agine. By
the time lil punk got to me i already bug my partially buried right leg
out and had all my shit together. On the way out the ski patrol turned
up and ask some questions to make sure i was ok.
Avalanche Location,Unnamed Couloir,East Face,Rochers De La Peitite Blame,Tignes
