UKC

What do people know about short XC ski routes in the cham valley?

I know Cham' reasonably well but not really skied there. I'll be arriving there in a couple of weeks for a spot of ski touring

I'll be arriving about midday on my tod so was thinking about doing a short cross country route in the afternoon before some friends arrive - so what could be good? And safe on my own obviously! I don't know the skiing routes in the valley too well so any advice would be appreciated and I'd prefer some useful advice rather than needless slander!

In reply to ShaunMc:

Have a look round http://www.chamonix.com/cross-country-skiing,29,en.html

I've not done any but friends say the Argentiere circuits are good

In reply to ShaunMc: Not meaning to rain on your parade but i'd be quite surprised is there was any snow left on any of the XC circuits by mid/late march. As you probably know Cham valley is comparatively low. So there's usually only enough snow in the valley for the XC skiing between around decemeber and february.

In reply to ShaunMc: do you mean X country as in biathlon type skis or ski mountaineering?

If it's the former normally there wouldn't be much left, but this year you might be lucky. If it's the latter, you're in luck but choose your route carefully if you're by yourself.

You shouldn't get slander, the question is perfectly reasonable.

In reply to ShaunMc: Hi, We went for a day of xc on Monday, still good pistes, though got a little slushy by the afternoon. 8 euros for a pass, 10 euros to rent the kit from a shop located on the other side of the road from the foyer ski de fond. Unfortunately there is a really strong foehn wind here, which eats snow, so there might not be any snow for xc in a few weeks. If that is the case you can always try the Italian Val Ferret, on the other side of the the tunnel du mont blanc. Stunning place, a bit higher than Chamonix valley, so you might have some luck there. Snowing in Italy today!

Hey folks, thanks for tha advice. I had seen the Nordic Piste map actually but had the same reservations about the state of them come the end of the month. My skiing is more touring/mountaineering so was pondering whether there were any popular higher level routes that werent too risky. I was perhaps thinking along likes of the Balcon Sud or similar but I only know it from the summer.

Seeing as the gear hire is so cheap I might give the XC circuit a try if it's still open!

Cheers, Shaun

In reply to aostaman: Well, it seems a lot of posts on UKC seem to end up with bitching of sorts!

In reply to ShaunMc:

Lots of people do the Crochues-Berard on their own, but obviously you have to asses the snow stability - difficult to dig yourself out...

An easy 2-3 hour exercise is skin up the Pierre-a-Ric until you get bored and ski down

In reply to Carless: Cheers for the info, spot on