Spring Catch and Release Part 2

I met Josh Varney out at the Satellite in Sea-Tac.  His smile was showing through the back of his head.  He and I had both wanted to go to Chamonix for years.  We had never climbed together before.  In fact we'd just met the year prior at a party in Anchorage.  I was still fighting my chest crud.  I had spent the last 36 hours with my mom and grandfather.  While I was in Anchorage my grandmother and our 14 year old pug past away.  I don't deal with grief very well, so I was pumped to see a fired up Varney beer in hand ready for a month in the alpine.

We arrived in Chamonix just in time for an amazing weather window.  Less than 24 hours after arriving we were bivied below the North face of the Grandes Jorasses.  We launched up what I am going to call 1800Ft of miserable calf burning blue ice only to find the upper wall in very slow aid-like conditions.  We bailed, but we were stoked!

This was more or less the theme of the trip.  Some skiing mixed with the occasional climbing outing. I celebrated my 30th birthday somewhere in the mix.  The highlight of the trip was a quick run up the Swiss Route on the Courtes, a fun 800+m steepish ice line.  The experience was amazing and more than anywhere else this is the place I want to return to most.