DAY 5 REFUGE DES AIGUILLES D’ARVES—COL DES TROIS POINTES—LA GRAVE The obligatory church snap. In the Alps, most adventures start and end at the historic church in each town center. RIGHT A welcome sight. After four nights and 150 miles of ski-ing, Anna, Rowan and Aaron finally reach the historic ham-let of La Grave, France. The final climb. The team ap-proaches the Col de Trois Pointes, the last highpoint before descend-ing into La Grave. CAREFUL NOT TO wake our fellow guests, we tiptoe to the boot room and close the refuge door quietly. The early morning air has a sharp bite, and clouds build above, but it’s not snowing yet. Before long, we can make out the towering Trois Pointes, three jagged peaks that loom impossibly high at the end of Combe des Aiguilles. The atmosphere within our group is determined, if a little ap-prehensive. We’ve come a very long way in only five days and there’s just one high point between us and La Grave: Col des Trois Pointes (11,164 feet). Having planned much of the route, I knew this would be the crux. Now, I feel the heavy weight of responsibility. During planning, it wasn’t entirely clear how skiable this col would be. The details of modern maps are great, but you never fully know how steep or rocky the terrain is until you see it firsthand. As the mountain steepens, we switch to crampons and ice axes. A firm crust covering deep, sugary powder makes for a wal-lowy affair; these mountains aren’t gonna let us out of here without a fight. A prickly faceful of icy wind picks up. For the first time on the trip, our happy-go-lucky trio is somber. We swim up the 45-degree face in silence. After four hours, we finally approach the col. The westerly winds show no mercy. Below, the windhammered slope isn’t exactly inspiring, but I exhale when I see the snow stretching down toward the valley. “Ain’t no party like a spindrift party!” I shout to Anna, who can barely hear me. She grins back all the same. We transition in a hurry on the hostile col and share quick hugs before pushing off into the descent to La Grave. Feeling small in this vast landscape, we weave down the valley. The snowy ground is indistinguishable from the bleached white skies. French Alps 073
The Ski Journal Volume 18, Issue 1: Page 73
