UKC

Hi

There were significant problems on MB last year caused by lack of snow and hot weather, which
lead to more frequent rock falls and a new crevasse opening up at the start of the Bosses Arete, which apparently lead to the mountain being closed for a lot of the summer and a lot of the guides/climbers diverting and avoiding the mountain all together. 

I was wondering if anyone knows how the weather and have been over the past winter, and if 
it is likely that things will improve later this year? 

Thank you. 

So the OHM in Chamonix publishes periodic updates on conditions on the Mont Blanc massif and the UK Alpine Club re-publishes them here http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/news/chamonix-conditions

The previous updates remain online so you can read back and get an idea of how the conditions have been.

It sounds like it’s been a dry winter albeit with a bit more snow more recently. I think there are a few locals and guides who post here so they may have more direct info.

As the year winds on towards summer alpine then OHM/Alpine Club will start to post more info about the climbing and route conditions, which will be what you’re looking for.

Chamoniarde is a valuable resource when it comes to current mountain conditions. 

As always, conditions right now will only provide very limited information about how things will develop for the coming summer - however, the dry winter doesn't bode well for this summer's peak months.

If at all possible, I'd plan any alpine climbing trips as early as possible.  

And just to clarify - people may refer to Chamoniarde or OHM (Office de Hate Montagne), but for conditions purposes referring to the same thing - and they in turn are the source of the info that the Alpine Club reposts.

https://www.chamoniarde.com/en/mountain-topics/mountain-conditions (appears there is now an option to toggle language to English).

One thing also worth noting is that you can go into the OHM when in Chamonix to get the latest conditions and route info, and the staff there are always keen to provide the best info they have in my experience (and there's a really cool diorama/scale model of the Mont Blanc massif):

https://goo.gl/maps/7XGex5GXj3Heu67w7