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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.