Cunningham Couloir

Clive called last night and said he was in the neighborhood and that he was going to stop by to pick up his hard drive we borrowed. Upon entering our apartment, he informed us that he had just borrowed two 60 meter ropes from his buddy so we could go have a shot at the infamous Cunningham Couloir of the Aiguille du Midi. The line is so famous because of the mandatory rappel off the footbridge needed to get to the skiing portion of it. This part is pretty nervewracking due to the position of the anchor point being right in the way of the people hastily unloading off the cable car every ten to fifteen minutes and stepping on your rope, your backpack and pushing you out of the way as you set up your rappel lines.

Once the gear is all setup and you have summoned your nerve, throw a leg over the rail, high five your buddy, and off you go!

After 3 60 meter rappels, and a bunch of man cuddle time at each anchor, we finally were able to put the skis on and test out the steep slopes leading to the heart of the couloir. After hours spent hanging on your harness and the cold wind up the couloir putting a nice chill on you, standing here on this steep slope feels pretty easy!

The ski down was unbelievable, and my ability with words is not quite sufficient to describe the amazing run we had, so i made a video as well....