Description

Skiing the upper Rond face or the Passerelle Couloir into the lower third of the West Couloir is a great link-up given the right conditions.

From the Rond or Passerelle, continue down the skier's right side of the Rond past the height of the Rond Exit Couloir.

Bootpack up a very short couloir which take you up onto the ridgeline separating the Rond and West Couloir.

It may be necessary to either bootpack down the other side or make a short abseil.

Once in the West Couloir it may be necessary to make up to another two short abseils (possibly on v-threads) depending on the conditions and your skill level (these steps may be jumpable if conditions and skill allow).

Be aware of the exposure to overhead sluff funnelling down the line and also the exposure to the Rond serac in the final section of the couloir.

Exit the couloir and ski out over the ACTUAL Glacier Rond and re-join the traverse route back to the Para face or the Plan d'Aiguille. To get the full tick for the West Couloir you need to abseil into the top two thirds from the Aiguille du Midi North Face.

This is a different ball game from skiing the lower third as described here and changes the grade to 5.4.