Snowboarding
Xavier De Le Rue on a full mountaineering mission
Rappel into the 50° Angelique Couloir with Sam Smoothy, two guide friends and, of course, Beanie.
5 мин
DIY Ep 10: Angelique Couloir in Chamonix, France with Xavier De Le Rue
Xavier De Le Rue rides the Angelique Couloir in DIY Episode 10.
Re-uniting with the machines, Tony Lamiche and Alex Pittin in Chamonix, Xavier knew he was in for a mission – and they did not disappoint, choosing the Angelique Couloir as their objective.
The Angelique Couloir summits at 3,780m and is 800m long, 200m of 50° pitch followed by 600m of 45° running into the Jardin de Talèfre.
Perfect sunshine
© Beanie De Le Rue
Hiking up
© Beanie De Le Rue
The DIY crew on the way up
© Beanie De Le Rue
Ready?
© Beanie De Le Rue
The machines, Xavier and Beanie, along with Sam Smoothy – who came to experience the 'Chamonix day out' after just four days back on snow post injury – set off from the Grand Montets at 8am.
The adventure started gently enough, touring up the Argentière Glacier to the foot of Les Courtes, where the day took a more machine-like turn with crampons and ice axes required for the five-hour ascent up the Courtes face.
Straight up there? Oh my god – this is neverending! Alex just keeps going – he's inhuman! What do they feed them here in Chamonix?
Encountering black ice lightly covered by a thin layer of rotten snow and numerous loose rocks, the team arrived at the top at 3pm and peered down into the abyss of the Angelique Couloir.
That’s the kind of ice that kills you… Don’t want to let go of my ice axe now, because it doesn’t feel amazing…
Ready, set, go!
© Beanie De Le Rue
Steep??!!
© Beanie De Le Rue
Waiting to drop in
© Beanie De Le Rue
Down the couloir
© Beanie De Le Rue
What? That’s it? That doesn’t look like fun at all!
Rappelling into the couloir and navigating the first third of rocky, dodgy snow Xavier and Smoothy were finally able to open up and ride the lower two thirds of the Angelique.
How do you like your couloir? On the rocks…
Still far from home, the team worked their way back to Chamonix, chased by the night until arriving exhausted at 8pm. A solid 12-hour day, just a standard day out for the machines.
