Gouter ridge and couloir

I got my first look at the notorious grande couloir as we got closer to the hut. The couloir is prone to rock fall and avalanches. It has a really bad reputation. Many people get killed or injured here every year. Luckily for us it was holding a lot of snow and this would all freeze solid during the night. We were hoping the rocks would be held in place by the solid ice by the time we went to cross it in the dark. We climbed for two hours in the small hours of the morning up the rocky section on the right of the photo to reach the filthy gouter hut. You can see the hut at the top of the rocks on the right of the snowy gouter dome. Avoid staying here if you can. The cleaning lady never quite makes it above 12,000ft round this area and she certainly never makes it to the gouter hut.