Module: gallery_album
Item: ColDes Cristaux2011
Displays the photo gallery for a selected Gallery Album.Friend of frequency TSJ Liz Daley is currently spending the better part of her season in the thin snowpack of Chamonix, France. Recently, she spent an epic day climbing and riding the Col des Cristaux.

According to Liz, “We broke trail the whole way in knee to chest deep pow and we didn’t get to the top until 4:30/5pm (hence the amazing view of Mont Blanc) and didn’t get off the glacier until 9pm. It took me two days to recover from poling out the flat-ass glacier for three miles in pow, but the face was well worth it–3/4 of the face was pow.”

She continues: “The Col des Cristaux is at the far end of the Argentiere basin in Chamonix, France. It’s a 50 degree face and pretty flippin scary. We boot-packed up the most powdery part of the face with neck deep snow, because it was too sketchy crossing the huge bergshrund to get to the more firm aspect of the face. We passed a crevasse so big you could toss ten semi trucks inside.There were 20km per hour winds at the top, which was depositing some lovely, soft pow on most of the face.”

We didn’t get off the glacier until after sundown then we got to shred a wonderful corduroy piste through the resort in the dark. Chip made me my first, well deserved, very english, steak and ale pie. He saves them for epics.”

Epic indeed.