UKC

Can anyone recommend the best month to ski the Vallee Blanche? I'm thinking of doing it first week in March next year does that sound OK?

In reply to Gouldie: yes

In reply to Gouldie: Around 11 AM after the early morning rush has passed but before the really enterprising guides start doing their second run of the day around 12/1ish

In reply to Gouldie: dunno about march, it was very lean last year at that time, depends on how much snow that part of the alps gets this winter, it was pretty tricky, equivalent to an american double black diamond and with hunners of folk doing it, nasty, we didnt take harness or ropes so took a risk

I think March should generally be fine. I did it March 10 last year. The year before my first run was Febraury 5 and I was one of the 100 or more to ski it that day - as I remember people were skiing back there way earlier in January.

The Vallee Blanche 'Normal' route is about the most boring ski you could imagine, although the scenery is some of the most amazing you could ever imagine, so I guess that compensates. I wouldn't really call it an American Double Black... there is one steep, icy, and usually very bumpy bit at the top but it's very short and from there it's tough to keep up speed sometimes because it is so flat. Almost nobody will make any turns for several km on the glaciar in that section.

From there you have what I'd call a blue or red, but with moguls. Then there is a short section at the Seracs du Geant where you must be very careful due to the extremely disrupted glaciar there. But it is not long and most guided parties end up slowly side-slipping most of it.

From there, another long section so flat that you'll struggle to keep up speed... take it from me, wax matters! Some little steep rollers at the end and then join the hour long queue at Montenvers.

Don't get me wrong, there's some amazing stuff back there to ski. Envers du Plan, Petite Envers du Plan, Col du Tacul (ski tour), etc, etc... the Aiguille du Midi is why Chamonix gets my 650 euros for the season pass every year...

Route finding is probably the biggest danger, so if you don't take a guide be very careful as Chamonix skiers are completely insane and if you just follow some tracks you might just find yourself over a cliff... and there will be moguls on the lead in to the jump off! Definitely bring full avalanche gear... as for a harness and all that, well the people on the Midi lift will think you're a total muppet unless you have one on, but the only good I can figure of a harness if you aren't also carrying crampons, a rope, and a generous set of rescue gear is that the rescue team can pull you out of the crevass quicker. I've taken friends down that weren't wearing one and wasn't real stressed about it... (having said that, I personally always wear a harness, two prussiks, a couple locking carabiners, and a couple slings. Theory here is this is enough for self-rescue if somebody lowers you a rope. But I dunno everybody has their own little theories about what constitutes 'appropriately kitted out'...)

In reply to Gouldie:

Did it last year in the first week of March but I don't think you could have done it in the second week.

It is very easy in terms of steepness with the exception of the seracs du geant, however it is not pisted which makes skiing more difficult if you aren't used to it.

The real danger is the 'objective' danger and in the main this means crevasses. I doubt anyone would be up there if there was a high avalanch risk and do keep an eye on the weather as it could be pretty nasty if a storm comes in.

The crevasse risk is real especially if you wander off the track (you shouldn't as its usually obvious) and I would recommend that you carry a rope, ice axe and poss. ice screws and know how to use them in a rescue situation.

If you are really green then take a guide but they are expensive and on a good day you won't need one.

In reply to John Blab:

Is it possible to do it on a snowboard, or would you end up walking for a lot of it?

In reply to Petzl:

Plenty of snow boarders do it.

In reply to Gouldie: I did it 2n dweek in march last year and it was very icy..No snow for weeks and lots of people skiing made it very icy.The day before a boarder who thought he knew best went off-route and died falling into a crevase.I would advise doing it the day after a dump of snow with blue skys...

In reply to gary1:
Thank you for all your contributions, very helpful.
It's somewhat different for moi-meme since I'm 50 and only learned to ski when I was 48; with 10 days on snow and about the same on dry slopes under my belt I can parallel now and enjoy steep reds, but narrow pistes and unpisted stuff still worry me. I plan to get some lessons at the snow dome then drive to Cham and book some private lessons for a week before, then hire a guide (the same one that took me up the Mt Blanc in september.) I suppose I should concentrate on getting off-piste experience for a few years before doing it; but it's different when you are my age, the biological clock is ticking, the joints are stiffening, the knees are wearing out - time is short!
Hopefully I'll post a report of a sucessful descent in March. If not I'll try again in 2007!
I'm also looking forward to calling in at the Requin hut for lunch; last time I was there was in september 1975, the reception was rude and frosty, but we were poor and scruffy, so maybe it was to be expected, but I can honestly say that nowadays Brits (or in my case Welshmen) seem to be welcome at the refuges. My favourite is the new Tete Rousse - excellent.

In reply to Gouldie:

Off piste black mogully runs can be hair raising. Go for it, I would have loved to try it, but it was December so a bit early for the crevasses to have been filled in well.

In reply to Gouldie: Do it in March, it's generally much warmer and the crevasse cover is still adequate. I did this for the first time in 2002 and it was awesome, first time I'd really had an opportunity to appreciate the scale of the alps. I also did the route with my wife and my daughter who was eight at the time! She rocks on skis!

I've got a few pics in my gallery if you're interested.

If you choose to go by snowboard, it is very important that you always keep the snowboard on your feet, no matter what (and same goes for skis). I went with a very good snowboarder down various Vallee Blanche routes often, but he always brought a ski pole for this purpose. You basically need to be roped together the minute you take off your skis/board, as this greatly increases crevass fall potential (dramatically less surface area and more pressure on the snow bridges.


That would probably be this unfortunate fellow: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=122543

He took his snowboard off to walk a flat bit and promptly fell into a hidden crevass.


I've been trying to work out myself the real deal on crevass danger when skiing. As near as I can figure, your biggest dangers with crevasses are: 1) walking instead of skiing/boarding and breaking through something totally unseen 2) skiing over areas that are obviously covered crevasses with potential to break (best to ski around them) 3) getting yourself commited into a zone mentioned in point 2 by bad routefinding, and forced to ski through it due to inability/unwilling to hike back up. 4) skiing out of control, falling, getting caught by an avalanche, or otherwise skiing staight into a gaping hole or over an obvious weak bridge.

If you are very mindful of routefinding (basically avoid anything that looks crevass-like), very mindful of avalanche danger and exposure on a micro-level, and ski well in control, there is very little objective danger IMO... but if somebody could back this up with some more authoritative information please do so!

In reply to Gouldie: I would say then go for it and good for you! But you should probably take a guide, as from what you wrote I would say your skiing ability is not really high enough to go on your own... having a guide along with mitigate the risk. In an extreme case, if you really have a lot of trouble he could put you on a short-rope during the exposed parts, for example.

In reply to John Blab:
hmm a couple of years ago we were putting skins on round about the salle a manger ready to head up towards the Breche Puiseux and a Yank skinning along the very well trodden skin track 50m above us promptly dissappeared down a hole. Very sobering. Although I have done glaciated ski tours on my tod in the past I find it hard to justify now. All it takes is 1 small hole and nobody to see you go in there...

In reply to Pinch'a'salt: My take is that when skiining up, it never hurts to rope up and it could save your life. I plan to demand we rope up on any uphill glaciar ski tour from now on.

I started a new thread on this subject: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=150648

By the way, us "Yanks" prefer the word "Americans" if you don't mind....

In reply to John Blab:
Ah, the joys of roped skiing

So sorry, 'Americans' as a word is already taken, it means inhabitants of the the American continent(s). English really needs of the equivalent to the french 'étatsunisien'

In reply to Petzl:

Does it many times on a board, it's no problem. Basically as long as you can hold an accurate line through the crevassed section by the Geant ice falls, and read the terrain to avoid loosing speed on the Mer du Glace flat section, you'll be fine on the tourist route.

The not-so-touristy routes are orders of magnitude better, Grand Envers is probably my favourite, but the first two pitches are fairly steep (about 40 - 45 degrees). There's many options, you'll have to judge the best route for you.

In reply to Doug: No, étatsunisien won't work as i can't figure out how to get the little mark over the e on my keyboard. Anyway my "French for Dummies" told me to say "Je suis American" although granted the book was probably published in the US...

We also speak something we call "American English" over here. Hell if you want to debate liguistics, you'll have a field day over that one - all my other British friends already have...

In reply to John Blab:
Thanks Brian
I wil be going with a guide who I know quite well now and who is aware of my low standard of skiing. He plans to rope me up while I side slip down the steep bits apparently.