UKC

With the unsettled weather in cham now and of course the forecast snowfall, what would people recommend as good options once the weather clears up?

The guides office were pretty brutal in their assessment of conditions - forget about any mixed or snow based routes until the spring apparently! Somehow I can't quite believe it's all that bad...

In reply to JackM92:

Hope not as I'm heading out on 23rd..

In reply to JackM92:
I have just translated the latest conditions report from La Chamoniarde, (12 September). See: http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/ac2/news/chamonix-condtions Currently the only routes they are recommending are the likes of the Cosmiques Ridge and the Traverse of the Marbrees! At the moment, the rock routes above 2500m are plastered. (There is even a warning about dry tooling at "La Spa" Le Fayet).

In reply to funalps:

I saw that, a pretty depressing read. We're heading out for the weekend on Friday morning......

In reply to galpinos:
Bring your rock shoes. Routes like Cacao Girls* or Magicien d'Oz* at Barberine are well worth the journey. Elsewhere, I recently did a 21 pitch. 900m height gain route and still ended up 15 minutes below the Montenvers station. There is new, quality stuff being put up all the time.
* Links to descriptions on www.funalps.com site or photo topos on http://herve.thivierge.pagesperso-orange.fr/toposescalade.htm ,, (Magicien d'Oz is called Voie Piola on this site.)

In reply to JackM92:

They are also tryig to tell you that the lifts are closed/or closing this weekend (except the Midi)!

John C

In reply to John Cuthbert:

Bellevue will be open until the 24th for access to Mont Blanc via the Gouter.

In reply to msp1987:


But the Nid d’Aigle train is closed - so you'll still be doing a big walk up to the hut.

In reply to JackM92:

Head South!!!!

In reply to JackM92:

Only just seen your OP. I've just returned from Chamonix having been on the TMB. The locals are saying how bad the weather is for the time of year. Yesterday saw torrential rain in Cham which had fallen as snow above circa(at my estimate)2000m.

I started from Les Houches on 30th August in reasonable weather but from Nant Borrant to the Col de Croix de la Bonhomme the weather was foul with rain, wind and limited visibility. My crossing of the Col de la Seigne was abandoned due to the forecast of even worse conditions. I transferred to Courmayeur by a baggage transfer vehicle. From Courmayeur to Champex I encountered somewhat better conditions but overall the weather pattern was unsettled.

In reply to 99ster:

Well I've just walked up mont blanc and down from the valley (no lifts/cable cars) over two days, summitted 8 this morning, and safe to say won't be doing that again!! Exhausted.

In reply to John Cuthbert:

Do you mean to say that they're not closing??

In reply to JackM92:

Why didn't you take the Bellevue lift? Save around 1000 metres of ascent. We are hoping to go up on Tuesday. What are conditions like in the grand couloir?

Arete des Cosmiques today was fun. We did it with a guide after some crevasse rescue training.

In reply to msp1987:

Told by the ohm it was closed...it saves only 500m ascent. Grand Couloir is very snowy, not much sign of recent rockfall. The scramble from tettre rouse hut to the gouter hut is very snowy, wore crampons throughout, also wore crampons to get up to tettre rouse as there's loads of snow down there!

In reply to JackM92:

N0. The lifts are closing...

In reply to funalps:

thanks for the info, that site is amazing! We're heading out on Tuesday for a few days. Hoping to do some bolted multi-pitch stuff up to 6c and maybe a 2 day MTB outing to a hut from Cham. Any further recommendations ?

Cacao Girls/Magicien d'Oz look good. I also saw this which looks good ?
https://www.camptocamp.org/routes/56087/en/mont-oreb-l-ete-indien