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"queen of the mountains...the most beautiful of the beautiful..." big words about Verte written down by Henri Isselin. It's certainly a special moment to stand on the summit of Aiguille Verte. It's also, certainly, a special moment to ski down the Whymper couloir!

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It took 4h30m from the refuge to the summit. Two hours from refuge to bergschrund and two hours from bergschrund to Col Grande Rocheuse. (760m+600m).

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The summit ridge is about 70m high.

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Tourist…

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Kevin and me with our two new friends from Grenoble, Franck and Nicola. (see also Jager Couloir on the “skiing” section.

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Good conditions on Verte this weekend. Many skiers and mountaineers took their chance. Nine people skied the Whymper this day.

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Everything looks tiny from here..

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We waited about three hours for the snow to soften. The first 60m is in shadow until 11.30.(Grande Rocheuse). Often (when it’s hot) you can’t wait that long, the snow further down gets to bad and dangerous. We skied down at 11.00 o’clock. The snow was hard the first 100m (we side slipped).

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The beginning of the couloir is about 50° steep, sec. of 55°. We started the descent at 11.00 o’clock.

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After the first 100m we had about 500m in perfect spring snow.

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From the summit down to Mer de Glace it’s 2400 vertical meters skiing.

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We did a 30m rappel through a rocky section at the bottom gully. The bergschrund was easy to pass.

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