But maybe yesterday’s ascent was actually a massacre because our packs were too heavy? This becomes a torment for Jacopo and me. So we decide to go “light” for the approach, with 6 quickdraws, 4 short ice screws, and cams from 0.3 to 2. In this way safety is not exactly the top priority, but lightness and speed pay off. There is a strong, continuous spindrift that slows us down and leaves few opportunities to take photos. We manage to stay ahead of a Chamonix guide and his client (with even lighter gear than ours) and make it back down just in time before a full-blown storm breaks out (described in the forecast as harmless afternoon cloudiness). The goulotte is beautiful, less vertical, but in current conditions more demanding than Modica-Noury due to thin ice and fewer opportunities for protection. Unlike the previous day, the slope leading to Col Flambeaux feels short to us.