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Looking down West Couloir from the top of the Aiguille. The 'flat' area on the left in the sun is the end of the Glacier Rond. You can access West Couloir as we did from the end of the Rond or in good snow conditions you can come in via the North Face of the Midi.
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Dave abseiling where the red dots are in the previous picture.
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Making a platform for getting the ski's on. The patch of ice behind and below Dave did slow us down and we eventually had to take the skis off and downclimb the far side of it. There was a possibility of a 2m huck to get over it but messing up the landing would have been to risky really.
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West couloir gets so little sun that the snow here is always good and deep.
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The narrow slot through the rocks below is particularly aesthetic.
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Dave gets some nice turns in the upper section.
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Dave was setting up to take some shots and I just had to get a picture. Couloir photography in action.
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Check out the limited clearance between the slope and my thigh..
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Dropping into the narrow section.
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Just a little cannonball run and then..
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..its out..
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..into the open slopes below.
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Now is time..
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..to crank it..
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..up a bit..
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..to get away from the threat of those seracs hanging above your head.
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The red dotted line shows our route. The blue is the normal Glacier Rond descent. The green line is the approach via the north face of the Midi. There needs to be more snow than there was today to get to the entrance this way.
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