We started near the town of Gryon, which is in the valley to the south of Les Diablerets. The first day we skied to the Anzeindaz refuge (hut) in about 4 hours, not counting stops at two restaurants along the way!
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We started near the town of Gryon, which is in the valley to the south of Les Diablerets. The first day we skied to the Anzeindaz refuge (hut) in about 4 hours, not counting stops at two restaurants along the way! |
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We started out with some low clouds and snow, but late in the day the sky cleared up nicely. The refuge was excellent, with a huge wood burning stove, electricity, running water, and a wine cellar. Definitely in the deluxe category. |
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From the hut we had a great view of the route to the summit. It's about 1500m (5000') to the top. We used skis on the lower section, switching to crampons at the base of the main rock band in the center of the picture. |
| We left the hut at 5 AM in order to avoid the serious rockfall danger which appears when the sun hits the snow and cliffs above. From the hut we first had to ski down a hill by headlamp, which was pretty interesting.This is Patrice as we skied up the slope below the first rockband. |  |
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Still skiing in the wee hours of dawn. The vertical fin of rock in the background is apparently a good rock climb in the summer. |
| Ahhh, the obligatory sunrise shot, with the added bonus of the Matterhorn in the distance. It's the one with a sharp triangular point and a flat shoulder on the right. |  |
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Here we are after donning crampons and putting the skis on our back. The summit is visible in the background |
| This is the view from where we stopped just below the cliffs at the col (where our route makes a sharp right near the top). We went up mostly on the right side of the rock face. At this point the wind was filling in quite nicely, as you can see from the blowing snow in the picture. |  |
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Here Patrice is leading up the mixed rock and snow toward the summit. |
| And finally, from the summit! In the background is the Lake Geneva.
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After the summit came the scariest part of the whole climb - short-roping across this ridge with crosswinds gusting to 60 mph. |
| Finally we skied down the Diablerets glacier and then the Col d'Aubon (pictured here), with a total vertical drop of about 6000'. This is a groomed ski area, except it was closed due to high winds. Pretty nice having the whole place to ourselves! From hut to car took about 10.5 hours, without any restaurant stops. |  |