UKC

As no one has already started this thread, here's it. Post conditions and trip reports for the MB range here.

Because of the simultaneous effect of high pressure/hot weather and load of snow on north and west facing slopes. Be careful particularly in the Tacul area (you already now this). Given the current outlook, I'm just reporting the Courmayeur guides sitrep, with a bit additional info

Last weekend, clear nights and forceful winds had created the classic thermal inversion conditions above 2000m.

Normal route to the Dent du Geant, great snow conditions in the morning turn into total slush in the afternoon. Normal route dry, south face wet because of the snow at the top

Rochefort ridge - trace towards the Canzio / Col de Jorasses (note from Luca - West Ridge of the Jorasses still very snowy, stay clear from the slope below Pt. Walker, the Rochers Whymper are the only feasible way to access the summit ridge from the Italian side).

Tour Ronde: traffic here and there, not crowded, normal route, north face and south ridge in conditions but high temperatures are creating quite some havoc.

Tacul Satellites: almost everything in condition and dry (this does NOT apply to the Pillars - Gervasutti etc).

Aiguille Croux (south ridge, Ottoz-Hurtzeler) and Pt. Innominata: in conditions and frequented.

Gran Paradiso - lot of traffic in the normal routes, NF of Gran Paradiso, Ciarforon and Monciair in condition.

Mt. Gele - in conditions

Mt. Rosa - Vincent, Gnifetti, Parrot, Zumstein in conditions, crevasses closed.

In reply to LewClimbs:

They were probably back in the valley by 9am!

In reply to jon: I don't know whats happened to the threads on here. I responded to one where Lewclimbs was saying that he was on the North Face of the Tour Ronde and started at 9am and that it was quiet, hardly surprising and slushy ditto. They seem to have disappeared but I'm repeating because I have serious concerns for this guy if he continues in this way.

I expressed an opinion that such a late start was foolish and that he should count his blessings that he got away with it this time. I then realised that this was the guy who was contemplating doing the Shroud.

To lewlimbs: If you survive that long.

Al

In reply to Gaston Rubberpants: Agreed and seconded

In reply to Luca Signorelli: cheers luca, really helpful as always. What in your opinion are the best sources for getting up to date info on conditions on the Italian side of mb, and Monte Rosa areas?

In reply to Gaston Rubberpants:

Yeah, my post looks a little lonely now doesn't it! Just to add, it was 36°C in Sallanches today!

In reply to jon: Let's just hope for his sake that he takes heed.

Al

In reply to TicTacBigToe:

Hi Jimmy,

FondazioneMontagnaSicura

Tel: 39 0165 897602
Fax: 39 0165 897647
E-mail: villacameron@fondms.org

or http://www.fondazionemontagnasicura.org/condizioni-massicci-montagna.aspx if you can read Italian.

For general weather conditions in VdA (in English)

http://www.regione.vda.it/territorio/centrofunzionale/meteo/default_e.asp

The best way to get all the information you need is to pay a visit at the Guides Bureau helpdes in Courmayeur, 9-12 am, 15-19pm. It's in the Church Square, right in front of the church. Being Courma quite tiny you won't have problems finding it.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: fantastic,thanks very much!

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Chere Couloir (was on the route today) got to base at 8:30 am, crossing of glacier was fine on decent snow (but it was obvious the refreeze had not done much other than firm up the surface)

General condition of the route was very good, complete with ice all the way and no mixed sections, snow was firm but slowly softening. Route is pigeon holed and easy to climb on hooks (you barely have to swing an axe!)

Lots of ice fall from a party above, which gave a climber below a bloody nose as we stood on a belay cowering in a corner !

Crossing back to the midi (c. 11am) snow was slush and regularly sank to the ankle, was only good on very well used tracks, so i would advice sticking to them if you are going out tomorrow. Hoping for some cooler conditions from thursday.

Anyone any info RE the Chardonnet (I understand the face was not "purged" and was unsafe until it had avalanched ?) Particularly interested in the Migot Spur/Aureille-Feutren/Charlet-Bettembourg.

Pete.

In reply to Gaston Rubberpants:

I hope the chap who was thinking about doing the Coutourier from the first cable car to the Grands Montets took heed as well.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Any info on the current state of The Grand Mulets Route?

In reply to craig h: Not often climbed in summer so far as im aware ?

In reply to Petarghh:
With this heat, I would think the descent of the Chardonnet would be a dangerous place to be. You would want decent frozen snow conditions, as it's not a place for a slip, and the scene of many accidents.
Someone with more experience may correct me of course!

In reply to Gaston Rubberpants:

I hope so too, as it sometimes seems that the youngsters are entering into a race for the biggest bragging rights in the bar. There are tons of in condition rock climbs out there at the mo, that I'm sure about from my armchair, but the big north faces are obviously 'where it's at', even if they are totally out of condition.
Take care out there guys!!

In reply to liz j: Yeah, I think there was an accident there a few weeks back with a german climber, The freezing level does appear to drop by the end of the week, but not by enough to give much confidence in conditions...

Have to wait and see what the weather holds i think, would love to get up there for a route.

In reply to Petarghh:
It's a great mountain for sure, we climbed the Forbes Arete. It was sept though, so a lot colder, but the descent is a wee bit exposed, so wait for good snow conditions.

In reply to liz j:

Maybe they just want to push themselves? Were you never young and keen?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

TR of the Domes de Miage traverse, in Italian but with nice pics

http://forum.meteonetwork.it/ditelo-foto/135832-traversata-dei-domes-de-mia...

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Cheers Luca, thats more like it.....

In reply to Dave 88:
There is nothing wrong in pushing one's self at all, but they need to learn about when to take heed of the prevailing conditions, and temper their ambitions onto something sensible. They are only young, lots of climbing trips ahead of them. What's the big rush?

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Thank you for the invaluable information!
After last July's ascent of the Contamine route, w face, Petites Jorasses we were hoping this year to attempt Shroud (very very highly unlikely; sounds like a death trap) or the Walker. Or the Piz Badile if conditions for the Walker do not present. I hear the Cassin route is drying up and may be the best option.

My partner and I envisage a bivi on the Walker (we are not that quick to be up in a day) and would like it to be pretty high up so as to be able to summit early and be at the Bocalate Hut hopefully by 10am or midday at the latest due avalanche / rock fall risk.

I'm thinking also if the Walker is viable objective to leave the Leschaux Hut around 11pm and hope for a good head start to begin climbing at 3am ish...full moon would be nice.

We're driving from London early on 5 July and I'm going to look at OHM website again now.

Cheers

In reply to liz j:

I agree, I just think it's a bit flippant to grumble about "youngsters" as if this is some new phenomenon that us pesky young generation have brought about. Most of the books I've ever read from any of the "old school" climbers usually has a story of a climb that starts with "well the route was out of condition/well above our grade, and looking back now it was stupid and dangerous, but we decided to climb anyway..."

In reply to Dave 88:
I just don't want anyone to get hurt, that's all. Anyway, this is a thread about conditions, and as I'll be heading that way come Sept, I will look foreward to the updates!!

In reply to sollyf:

It's far less than 4 hours to get to the start from Leschaux. Also, if you leave too early, the snow may not have frozen. One problem that we (and everyone else that left the hut that night, including Alain Ghersen, soloing) was finding the correct start! A French military pair hed left long before us and had headed just about straight up. Their lights confused everyone else. As I remember, it's much further left than you think.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: In terms of conditions, another bloody hot day in Chamonix. A friend up on the Midi reported an avalanche on the Tacul, no details on magnitude or exact location.

As for us. we went up on l'M did the Voie Couzy, which was nice in the shade, but after a nice first pitch the rest of the route was rather underwhelming.

Storm forecast for tomorrow.


Pete.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

No relation to MB and anything nearby, but this video of a (relatively rare) climb of the Coolidge Couloir in Monviso (3841m, the highest peak of the Alps south of the Ecrins) is worth watching.

youtube.com/watch?v=U41iQ4BKOaU&

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Thats a really well shot video, very different conditions to about a month before when i skied the route with Luca Pandolfi who made the first snowboard decent.

I would definitely recommend it as a climb its a beautiful mountain in a cool setting. Definitely feels remote compared with a lot of climbing from lifts in Chamonix.

In reply to Ben Briggs:


True, but the Coolidge is quite serious and committing for the grade, and when the route's in condition the descent on the other side is quite unnerving.

A more relaxed way to climb Monviso in summer is the East Ridge, a long and pleasant climb never too difficult.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Weather conditions and temperatures are rapidly changing (i.e. weather getting unstable again and temperatures diving). More updates later.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
New Rifugio Gonella (on the Italian normal route to Mont Blanc) officially open from this weekend

http://www.rifugiogonella.com/

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Huge bergschrund around the Chardonnet, we had intended to do the Bettemburg but couldn't find a safe way to cross the 'schrund. Also the conditions weren't great - there was also a team who had backed off the Migot due to poor snow/ice conditions.

This was around 2am.

Plenty of teams out on the Aiguille du Tour (normal route) which looked to be in reasonable nick.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Thermal zero to 3500m, decent night re-freeze. Weather will be like this for the next three days, but may be a bit more unstable at the beginning of the next week.

If someone is interested, the Italian normal route to Mt. Blanc (Gonella route, or Aiguilles Grises route or Pope route, whatever) has been climbed and is in good conditions. May be on the Miage tomorrow to check the Marmot lake variant.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Hi there, any news of activity of any kind on Grandes Jorasses?

In reply to sollyf:
MacIntyre climbed. Definitely some recent traffic on the NF as I'm seeing the lights of people byving below the summit on the Italian side and it look like the summited just before sunset.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Thank you for this; we are still undecided either to come to Grandes Jorasses (Linceul / Walker Spur) or Piz Badile (Cassin)...I see the isotherm is down to to 3000-3500...I'll keep checking here and weather up until Tuesday morning when we leave London.
Thanks again Luca and everyone for the info

In reply to sollyf:

This afternoon I'll check at the guides office to see if they have up to date info on the Walker or the Linceuil.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Thank you so much

In reply to sollyf: The Jorasses did see a Colton Mac ascent last Saturday as Luca said. The ice crux now is all gone, it does look like you could go up the Alexis variation but I cant promise that. Otherwise the rest of the route looks in perfect nick.

The Shroud is in as well. You can pass the shrund on the far left on a bit of a dodgy bridge but it's doable. The first runnels are a bit thin but they are all there. Temps are ok up there but you will want to move fast as the whole route gets blasted by the sun as soon as it rises which is 5.47 for the moment. We arrived too late at the shrund and decided not to head up as sunrise was imminent.

The Walker is pretty plastered for the moment obviously and will be for a while yet as there is quite a bit of snow on the ledges

In reply to Jon Griffith: Hi Jon, thank you also and very much appreciated! We arrived too late at the schrund couple of years ago too and sacked it off. Last year wasn't in nick so we did w face P /Jorasses; Contamine.
Freezing level has dropped then gone up a bit hopefully it will drop again for a go at the Shroud. Andy Perkins sent me a fot from today lunchtime and The Walker did look like it had more snow on it than expected. I think the Colton Mac is a bit too big a bite than I'd be happy chewing; quite a bit of 90 degree ice on that isn't there? Humping high up...probably not this year. Would want to get some more stuff under my belt first and a 'good' water ice season ticked also. Think we'll shout it Tuesday morning before we set off from London. Piz Badile an option too... Are you in Cham?

In reply to Luca Signorelli: from what I can make out (Many thanks again to Luca and Summitpost)the descent to the Boccalate Hut and Planpincieaux glacier is best reached by:
Point Walker to Whymper (rather than crossing under the great serac below pt Walker - too risky now?)
then down the Normal route to reach the Whymper Couloir to the big rock rib and Rochers Repossoir.
If we do Linceul or the Walker Spur we'll recce up the south first. Would make good acclimatisation from London!
Thanks again everyone

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Just found this thread. Nice that conditions are good, is it generally better in early season compared to late season (September)? Is the glacier condition deteriorating compared to some years back (=more crevasses)?
Seems that summit attempt with my hungrarian partner is jinxed (after some failed attempts on italian side we decided for french side this year, but had terrible weather at Aiguille du Gouter and had an "interesting" evacuation of the tent in hurricane winds).
No, I am not bitter..

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Here's the latest from this side of the "fence"
- Peuterey: the integral is being climbed regularly, right now the Italian guides course is at the Col de Peuterey, but there are other groups too.

- Italian normal route to MB: in conditions and being climbed

- there are also teams on the Brouillard pillars and the Innominata

- Grandes Jorasses: as said by Jon, the Walker spur is still quite snowy. It already saw few ascents but the Red Tower chimneys are very slow going on, and generally speaking the route is in full mixed nick. The normal route is in conditions and has a clear trace. Please be careful traversing from Walker to Whymper not straying away from the trace, as there a big crevasse at the "neck" of the Great Serac that I'm not sure may be visible from above. Remember that the metal poles above the Serac are NOT the to indicate the route, but are used to reflect signals from stations used to monitor the detached movement. Don't traverse below the Serac, the upper route is the only way to go. Upper Hirondelles still very snowy.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

More news from this side

- Brenva spur: very good conditions, serac barrier can be passed in several points (this doesn't mean the route is less difficult or dangerous!)

- Brouillard ridge: excellent conditions, saw already few repeats this year (quite unusual)

- Petite Jorasses, S and E face (Freboudze side) good conditions, several ascents reported including at least one on the Bonatti route

- Aiguille de Bionassays (east ridge from Gonella) good conditions

- Aiguille de Trelatete East from Petit Mont Blanc decent conditions but icy in places

- Gran Paradiso North Face OK conditions but rapidly changing

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Additional bits:

- Tacul Satellites: all dry and in conditions

- Tour Ronde: in conditions and frequented (but beware, this is prime combination for accidents, particularly on the normal route)

- Dent du Geant and Rochefort: in conditions

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Went up the normal route of the Tour Ronde (first alpine climb ) on Thursday. Very busy with 8 people in various guided groups ahead of us. Fortunately all bailed and went back on the first rock problem (large cracked slab ridge line). Met three other groups coming down who had climbed other routes to the summit.

Snow soft and nasty on the descent and on the walk back to the Torino hut around 10-11ish.

Kuffner Ridge in condition on Monday morning along with the descent down the Tacul - wouldn't like to be coming down there any later than 11am!

In reply to Kamikaze SP: Contamine-Grisolle ice route on Tacul was in perfect condition Monday and echo the descent down Tacul comment.

done forbes arete yeaterday, good conditions on route, weather came in on descent making things a little tricky, once in col though seemed to be a well walked path back to glacier..

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Beautiful photo report of the Aiguille Blanche and the Peuterey Ridge written by an user of Fuorivia.com (an Italian climbing forum)

http://www.fuorivia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=30766

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

More picture of the Aiguille Blanche NF and the Peuterey ridge by the same climber

http://www.on-ice.it/onice/viewtopic.php?t=11102

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Went yesterday to the Gonella hut to check the access to the Quintino Sella hut. Looks scary. If anyone makes it could they let us know which route they went?

In reply to francoisecall:

Tomorrow I'm seeing someone who went up there recently. I'll keep in touch!

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Nice pictorial report of a recent (last week) ascent of the normal route of the Grandes Jorasses (in English)

http://www.swissguides.com/2011/07/the-grand-jorasses/

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Interesting. The guardian of the Gonella hut told us no one had been there recently. They may have have gone up via the glacier rather than the snow couloir.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Keep up the photo reports please Luca, something pleasurably to while away the days at work before getting back in to the mountains.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: weather looks pretty bad for Italian areas for next 5 days..

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Thanks for posting that Luca - some gorgeous pics on there.

In reply to TicTacBigToe:


Hi Jimmy, actually is more afternoon instability than real bad weather. It will intermittently snow above 3500m, but given the decent night freeze, short mixed stuff should be ok.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Yesterday's snow had completely erased the trace down the normal route of. the Jorasses. As in the next couple of days temps will soar, avalanche risk up there is high.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Hi luca, we are planning to do the aiguilles grises route over the weekend hopefully. what do you think the conditions are like at the moment? any words of advice!? thanks very much.

In reply to TicTacBigToe:

Conditions are ok. Weather forecast is a buit confused, the most probable outcome on this side is tomorrow and tuesday very ugly, friday OK, weekend nice with afternoon unsettled, then bad weather back next week. But of course it's all undecided.

If you're going to the Gonella this weekend let me know via a message here, I may be around to do a bit of the walk in with you (need every excuse to do some exercise, otherwise I'll get stuck in Courmayeur forever!). If you don't mind my non stop chatting on mountain things I may even volunteer to carry some stuff.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Hi Luca,
Any idea what the queues are like for the Helbronner, in La Palud in the mornings - especially weekends? Especially Saturdays?

In reply to jon:


Hi Jon, from this weekend on expect to have to wait a bit during weekends, particularly if the weather is fine. The rush hours are from 10 to 11 in the morning and the early afternoon (but most of the people is going to sunbathe at the Mt. Frety intermediate station.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

So I notice the first lift is 7:30. If you turned up at say 7:30, what time do you think you'd get away from La Palud? I guess there'll be an initial rush, but have you any idea what time it tails off?

In reply to jon:


In Saturday it really depends if the weather is hyper good, as the 7:30 crowds is made by those who want to try the Geant / Rochefort or the longer routes on the Satellites. If the weather is OK-is I believe you may wait max for the second run, but in July you may even be lucky and get the first. It's 30 min up to the Helbronner and there's a cable every 20 min, so at best you'll be up at 08:00 or at 08:20.

If you're taking people to the Satellites it's ok unless conditions are particularly bad.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Thanks Luca. No, I'm meeting someone up there. He's coming up from La Palud, I'm coming over from the Dark Side!

In reply to jon:

youtube.com/watch?v=QzntZLHcYy0&

But does this mean you're coming all the way across the mountain via the Midi cable? I'm getting tired just thinking about!

(and this way you miss the early morning cappuccino ritual at Luisa's in la Palud!)

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Yes, that's right. I'm certainly not driving through - the cars on the French side were backed up right down to the main road this afternoon! Saturday has got to be worse...

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Nice. Appropriate - I can picture that. Jon, in the bubbles, menacingly approaching the frontier, axe(s) ready.... the occasional serac collapsing at his glance as he passes...

Or something like that.

In reply to pneame:

Glad to see you still put the E in axe, Peter!

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Hey Luca, we are going to the Gonella hut this saturday, you are extremely welcome to join us for some of the approach! Whenwhere would be best to meet? we are driving across from Alagna on the sat morning.

In reply to TicTacBigToe:

Hi Jimmy, we may meet at the Courmayeur bus square (at the entrance of the village coming from the highway) any time is OK for you Saturday morning. In any case I'll send you a message with my cellphone number.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Luca, good to see that the Gonella hut is open. I've booked this for the end of August to do the Italian route. I know that conditions can change between now and then put your regular updates are invaluable. Martin

Has anyone heard about the glacier descent from the Plan to the Requin Hut lately? I heard it was getting pretty nasty a few weeks ago but I notice it has been a bit cooler recently. We're heading out to Chamonix tonight and might try the Midi-Plan tomorrow (since Sunday looks like a washout). Thanks for any info.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: hey luca, sorry to mess you about mate, but looking at the weather forecast, it looks pretty bad for mont blanc on sunday, which would be our summit day. So going to try and look elsewhere for something to climb.

thanks very much for the offer, i ll be sure to take it up some time!!

In reply to TicTacBigToe:

No prob. I've seen the meteo as well and I agree Sunday will be ugly. However tomorrow will be fine, so I think I'll have a stroll to the Gonella in any case. If you're not finding anything better to do you know my phone number!

In reply to Luca Signorelli: cheers luca, i ll be sure to take you up on the offer next year

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
This morning the weather here is indeed beautiful. Off ultimate the Miage soon
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36081136@N05/5942525896/

However there an ominous cloud over Mt. Blanc (more L of this pic field of view) so this is gonna change soon.

Conditions high up are excellent I'll try posting a report tonight

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Cloud formations over MB
https://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewer#photo/Signorellil/5629858440881857057...

Sure indication of a change of weather over the next 24 hours

In reply to Luca Signorelli:


How come when I click on that I just get MY picasa photos?

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Im out on the 16th tour ronde and the three monts route planned . Fingers crossed for good weather.

In reply to Rich35:

Shit, there's me thinking there was just the one!

In reply to jon:


https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6oAeBjz7KELrjgsl_dRlpdXaz_lBbmDGoqxXE...

This one should do the trick

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Yes that's better thanks. So how was your stroll?

In reply to jon:

Nice lonely fun. Conditions on the Miage side are super, but access to the Quintino Sella is indeed very dry, I think however that the upper passage on the Mt. Blanc glacier side is in conditions.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZXMQ43EMWFePX9XGxYmbvNXaz_lBbmDGoqxXE...

This was taken by my daughter a couple of hours later. Give a nice idea how the change from settled to unsettled weather evolves. Just to give you a term of comparison this was taken at around 13:00 - six hours later cloud cover was all across the valley and it was raining.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Here's the report for the Courmayeur side:

Weather - it's now raining intermittently and tomorrow the weather will be unsettled until late afternoon (beware if you're in the Monte Rosa or Gran Paradiso area, there's serious danger of major thunderstorms there). Tuesday/Wednesday will be better, but there's an high probability of a new unsettled spell afterward

Conditions are uniformly good everywhere, and all the popular venues (Satellites, Entrevers/Toula, Tour Ronde, Geant/Rochefort, Aiguille Croux) are in excellent conditions and busy. Some detail

Satellites

Swiss route on the Capucin and Superlorenzi / Coup de Foudre on Pic Adolphe have now new equipped belays (bolted). Conditions are great everywhere, couloir des aiguilletes in good state

Tour Ronde: Busy, NF in good conditions, rimaye ok-ish, west couloir (Gervasutti) in condition

Mt. Maudit: Kuffner in condition and traced, access to the Fourche ok

Aiguille d'Entreves - busy

Geant / Rochefort - busy, fixed ropes on the Geant have been reported to have been seriously icy until last Wednesday, now they're clear, access to the "Gengiva" still ok. Rochefort in good conditions, but number of team continuing beyond the Aiguille seems to have dropped

Innominata/Croux - lot of people on the Aiguille Croux, Monzino busy but not crowded. West face of the Aiguille Noire (Ratti Vitali) climbed at least once, traverse decent but not straightforward. "Equipes de bras cassees" on the W face of Pt. Brendel climbed, good conditions, but passage of the rimaye very complicate.

Aiguille Noire - South Face seeing quite few ascents, conditions are dry (NO snow on the ridge except below Pt. Bich - be careful with your water!). Descent scary as usual but that's the Noire. The descent is signed with cairns, few signs, and the last section can be abseiled, but don't think is less serious than usual.

Peuterey Ridge - great conditions on the Aiguille Blanche and the upper Peuterey.

Brouillard - good conditions and few ascents in the last couple of weeks, but all from the Monzino side

Brenva - great conditions. This said, I've seen several "freight train" coming down from the Great Couloir between the Major spur and the Brenva spur. Very simply, there's no safe hour for the Couloir crossing - early nighttime may be the best, but no guarantee

Miage - Italian normal route in excellent conditions, new Gonella relatively busy but far from crowded. Rocher route "de visu" in great conditions, but so far I've not heard anyone who has climbed the route this year.

Jorasses - the normal route trace is gone again. Traverse of the Whymper Couloir in good conditions, from the top of the Reposoir you need to climb higher above a shallow serac barrier then traverse. Rocher Whymper snowy, bivy sites are in OK conditions. Big Serac unstable and throwing blocs of ice irregularly on the upper plateau, so the Whymper route is the only safe option. West ridge ok, Young-Margherita passage requires crampons. Hirondelles icy, upper section still in full mixed conditions. East face look awesome, no climbs yet this year

In reply to Luca Signorelli:


Wow. Fierce.
A long time ago I remember some mildly confused brits wandering into the 'Nat after looking at the meteo hoping for good news - "Maurice! qu'est ce que le poisson noire?" " er.. they are black feesh..." " non, non, sur les sommets..."... etc etc.
We had some beer.

In reply to pneame:

I think the Chamonix name is "l'ane" (the mule). It's not an 100% sure thing you're going to be stormed in minutes (like the far more fearsome "black clouds massing on the Col de La Seigne"- that's a "run away! run away!" telltale sign). But if you see it in the morning, with strong winds coming from W, it's likely at very least next day will be stormy

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

If you need an idea of how the new Gonella looks like

https://picasaweb.google.com/Francois.Gouy/NouveauGonella?authuser=0&au...

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

That looks nice Luca. I could almost imagine myself sleeping there! Out of interest, what does the access to the Durier from the Italian Miage look like now - I'm not going, just interested, that's all.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Looks great, thanks for those photos. I love the fact that there is already a tent outside

In reply to robdan:

But just as important or maybe more, so is the photo of the food!

Mont Blanc by the Gouter on Friday. Superb conditions. Cold and clear. Grand Couloir was completely silent on the way up, and bearable on the way down.

Gouter hut was grim, of course. New hut should be ready for 2012 though.

Robert

In reply to jon:


There's a couloir (it's in snow now) and a rocky rib, leading to a snow slope above and the col. Quite straightforward but there's a bit of scrambling on bad rock. Not paid much attention to that, as yesterday got covered by clouds very soon.

In reply to robdan:

I think that was a tent set up by the wardens

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Additional note on the Fourche access - the bergschrund is rather difficult to cross. It's snowing up there now so the slope conditions may change rapidly.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Hi Luca

Do you know of any recent ascents of the Walker Spur or what conditions are likely to be like?

I'm heading out for 2 weeks on Friday.

Thanks

Kevin

In reply to Kevin Avery: Was up there yesterday. Walker Spur is in very wintery conditions for the moment. I'm not sure that it will shift the snow for a long time as it's all still left over from the spring so its nevee on the ledges. Lots of incoming snow now down to 2500m. That's not to say you cant do it- just be prepared for alot of mixed climbing instead of rock

Jon

In reply to Jon Griffith:

Brilliant, thanks Jon! Will see what things look like like when I arrive then. Psyched for anything good and classic really. Certainly not averse to a bit of mixed climbing, haha!

Cheers

Kev

In reply to Luca Signorelli:


My reason for asking was that it was something asked on here a short time ago. I remember when I approached the hut from the Italian side (1975), we just went straight up the short steep glacier, from where the Glacier de Bionnassay becomes the Miage, to the col. I wondered if that was the way nowadays, or indeed if the glacier still exists! It would seem from your description, that it's just a snow slope now...?

In reply to jon:


The glacier is still there, but in summer the slope is difficult to access from the Miage-Bionassay junction. I'll be there again as soon as the weather gets less foul and take few pictures, so you may get the idea.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

That'd be great, thanks!

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Rain stopped, sun peeking out the cloud cover on this side.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36081136@N05/5946332077/

Snowline down to 3200m, snowfall above 3800m looks serious.

Streams/torrents have been greatly swollen by 24hours non stop rain

The Monzino bridge is gone, unfortunately there's been a fatality this afternoon as an Italian hiker has drowned trying to cross the Freney torrent. Other people coming down.the Monzino had to be helicoptered out

In reply to Kevin Avery:
The normal route of the GJ is now in full winter conditions

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36081136@N05/5947152954/

Unless a freak heatwave arrives, it will take while until the upper decking clears out

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Luca,

Thanks for the useful updates.

I'm off to Chamonix this Friday and we are looking at the following as a provisional plan. Would be useful to have any local news on the routes and if the recent snowfall will have affected them.

Sat / Sun either: Couvercle Hut and Aig du Moine or Argentiere Hut and Tour Noir or Aig d'Argentiere

Then Monday through the week up to the Conscrits hut for two nights with Domes de Miage before heading over and across Aig de Bionassy to Durier Biv then MB and down to Cosmiques Hut.

Particularly would like to know what the Aig de Bionassy is like this year as a friend indicated it was very icy recently.

Many thanks,
Marq

In reply to jon:

I took this one hour ago

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36081136@N05/5950023769/

The access is to the L of the spur bordering the suspended glacier, then up the spur then on a rising traverse across the suspended glacier.

I promise I'll pay the beers, but now you owe me a visit here!

In reply to Marq:
>

Conditions are very cold and snowy up there. Seen from the Miage this morning the Bionassay lookeed in true winter conditions. Tomorrow there's another stormy passage with snowline down to 2500m, after that a relatively settled spell but with cool conditions and strong winds. Someone staying on the St. Gervais side may confirm it, but I believe there's a serious corniches buildup on the Bionassay ridge coming up from the Miage Col.

In reply to Marq:



The information board at top of the Grands Montets lift today said that the Argenttiere hut was closed. I'm not sure how current the message was but is worth checking out.

Hi Luca.

Have you heard any recent reports on the state of the seracs on the Brenva face? Those above the Brenva Spur look enormous in recent photos - such as in the Peuterey ridge report that you posted above.

Thanks!

In reply to Keith Anderson: I wouldnt go anywhere near that route for the moment. the lower seracs have been very active and there is a huge amount of car sized debris reaching far down the glacier

In reply to Luca Signorelli: hi guys. Given how uncertain the forecast is and how much snow has fallen, we're pondering routes for the next few days. In your experience, what routes would come into decent condition again quickly after weather like this? We're only here till friday night and keen to do something. Only current thought is to head to the ecrins.

Any wisdom appreciated.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Hi just wondering how conditions are fairing? So has it been quite wet/lots of snow higher up?

Should arrive at Chamonix on Friday.

Particularly interested on conditions for Cos Arete, Mont Blanc and Mont Blanc du Tacul?

Cheers.

J.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Rain has stopped, frontier ridge coming in view now. Snowline down to 2800m on this side, according to reports there's 50cm of fresh snow at Helbronner. Tour Ronde, Entreves, Kuffner, Rochefort and anything on the Italian side above 3000m is plastered. As usual the SW sector seem to have got the worst deal - Brouillard, upper Innominata and Brenva side (the spots visible from my current location - are solid white. Grandes Jorasses still invisible buy I think they can't be much better.

As Jon said, Brenva side is off limits now. The problem ain't that much the seracs on the spur exit (they're fine) but the slopes on the Gussfeldt couloir. In any case, given the quantity of new snow around, it may take a while until Brenva goes back to conditions.

Next few days are supposed to be OK but not settled. In this kind of setup the first sectors.going on condition are those south facing and below 3500m. Tacul satellites, Geant, Croux.may be OK by weekend, Triolet will be dry in a couple of days

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Sorry to labour the point, but isn't the Col Moore start to the arete still possible under snowy conditions (which should prevail once the current snowfall has consolidated). I also read in my old Guide Payot that the rocks to the left of the Gussfeld couloir can be climbed - do you guys have any knowledge of this?

In reply to Keith Anderson: Translated report from the OHM site a few days ago (note its snowed a huge amount since then)

Leaving from Col Moore. Descend down about 50m and traverse well to the left towards the Sentinelle Rouge. From the small snow col at half height between col moore and the Sentinelle go up rotten rocks up to a snow slope that brings you right onto the spur above the Gussfeldt couloir. Snow ridge in excellent nevee. Exiting out of the seracs is easy by traversing well to the right

Things are very snowy on the Cham side too. Was up the Aiguille Rouge yesterday and there's snow on the tops round there and in gullies. The L'em etc are also covered, and a brief glimpse of the Jorasses showed it to be very white!

In reply to Kamikaze SP:
Webcam at the Index has quite good snow cover..... !

In reply to Keith Anderson:

As Jon pointed out, yes, a slight variation of the original start is possible with such snowy conditions, and the upper detached barrier this year is OK. This said, my personal suggestion is to stay away from Brenva for the next few days. At the moment, there's an unusual quantity of fresh snow, high variability, strong winds and the temperature pattern is unclear (it's alternating very cold moment with others when temperature soars) . And by the way - from this side I can't see the Tacul slopes, but I suspect it's not the right moment to go at the Three Mt. Blancs.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Hi there, does anyone have any insight into a mid range forescast.
We're heading out there on friday for two weeks and wondering what's going to happen over the next week or so

Thanks

In reply to dermo:

Hopefully the sun will come out for a couple days

The weather has been rubbish lately!

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
This morning irregular cold drizzle, should get better later and tomorrow. Saturday another stormy passage, but leer wait the 11:00 forecast to confirm.

The Monzino bridges have been rebuilt yesterday, so the hut is accessible once again.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Good news; the new stormy passage on Saturday has been called off and the weather should improve over the next few days.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Excellent, lets hope it lasts for a while

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Forecast looks good for Monday. Was thinking of doing aiguille du argentiere via normal route (mileau glacier) . Any one been up there recently and know of conditions?

In reply to tompilgrem:

Storm down in Cham last night. Snow down to bottom of Aig l'M,everything above looking quite white. Raining in the valley most of the day. Bad weather again tomorrow (Sun), but better Monday morning.

In reply to tompilgrem:


Snow, snow, snow & more unconsolidated snow on top of the snow...

In reply to wilkesley:

Looks like a day route on Monday then.

Then more bad weather ... (ish)

In reply to Kamikaze SP:

Caught a glimpse of the Aig. Rouges a few minutes ago and they look well plastered. So even if it's good tomorrow, I doubt if even L'Index would be a pleasant climb.

In reply to Anonymous:
Cat 4 today at the Midi!

....still, not bad skiing conditions for July.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Italian side this morning

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36081136@N05/5973542206/

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Italian side this morning

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36081136@N05/5973542206/

In reply to Luca Signorelli: not long back from a walk along the Balcon Sud, Weather much better than yesterday with most of the summits clear of cloud at first but dissapearing early afternoon. North face of the Jorrasses looked very white, more like mid winter than summer & lots of fresh snow evident, even a little at the Lac Blanc.

Heading to the Haute Maurienne tomorrow, hope its a bit better there

Up round the Tacul this morning, felt like winter!

Cold, lots of snow and loads of people skiing!

In reply to Luca Signorelli: I'm heading out on saturday for two weeks and some of the routes I've been looking at are midi plan traverse, forbes arête, chere couloir or left edge route on the tacul, the charmoz by the charmoz-grepon couloir possibly followed by a traverse of the grepon. So how are these routes looking or what alternatives are would the UKC hordes suggest (with all the snow I'd like to do a bit more mixed)?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Hi all, was up on pointe lachernal yesterday, snow was ok. No tracks heading up the Tacul, was wanting to do it for acclimitisation and as preperation for 3 monts route.
Was wondering roughly how long it may take before it will come back into condition on experiences?
Alternatively would anyone reccommend any alternative 4000m peaks to do for acclimitisation that are easy enough, pd's ideally. Cheers.

In reply to mountainsheep:

I am here on a family holiday, which means we go got a multi pass, so have been up to the Midi several times over the last few days. Two days ago I spoke to a couple who had just done the Chere. The Midi Plan looked OK, but the rocky bits are covered in snow. The top part of the Cosmiques was still covered in snow yesterday. The Tacul triangle is very white and I would suggest keeping away. Yesterday the lower part of the Frendo still had lots of snow on it. I couldn't see any tracks on the arete, do don't think it has been climbed in the last few days.

Went to the Mere de Glace today and the Jorasses are plastered. Two days ago we walked up to Lac Blanc and there was snow down to the lake. Some has thawed, but I would imagine the Aig. Rouges are wet and cold.

Personally I would stay away from gullies and stick to ridges. With lots of unconsolidated snow, descents could be a problem.

In reply to wilkesley:
I have just uploaded some photos taken from the Midi and the Mer de Glace over the last couple of days, which should give you some idea of conditions.

In reply to mountainsheep:

Things are the Triangle (Tacul) are a reasonably safe bet - loads of teams on Chere and Contamine Grisolle y'day. I imagine the Contamine was much of a snow plod to the mixxy bits.

The Midi Plan had tracks on it but again very powdery.

Can't comment on the Forbes but I would imagine that the glacier would be quite interesting.

In reply to Kamikaze SP:

does anyone know how the lower rock routes are looking. - eg around envers hut and from the plan?

thanks!

In reply to jussy:

The routes around the Envers hut were fine yesterday when we were up there. Not sure about routes from the Plan.

In reply to wilkesley:

Thanks for that.

In reply to Kamikaze SP: Cheers, I'll nip into the ohm when I arrive

raining again here in cham...

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Anyone know how the Brenva spur, and Frendo Spur are looking at the moment?

In reply to bluerockman:

Covered in snow. Guides aren't recommending anything.

hows the slopes on mont blanc du tacul looking? and in general the royal route to mont blanc? heading to cham on sunday hoping to bag this.

In reply to scottie390:

Deep in fresh snow..just waiting to slide..

In reply to Anonymous:


Given that it is well known as an avalanche risk under normal circumstances, that is not remotely surprising. It is one of the most dangerous highly popular routes in the Alps.

I noticed Icicle have 24 people up at the Chabod hut (Gran Paradiso) presumably becasue all those on the Mont Blanc course got diverted there instead.
http://twitter.com/#!/IcicleChamonix

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
First day of clear weather in more than one week! The latest metro gives from Sunday a moderate stable outlook with rising temperatures. However, the MB area should be.influenced by the large depression still lingering over most of W Europe, so for at least the beginning of next week weather wont be completely stable.

Conditions on this side are easy to explain; everything is solid white above 3500m. South face of MB and Jorasses are a sight to behold. Given a couple of days Tacul satellites, Geant, Rochefort, Entreves and the low altitude stuff like Triolet should be in conditions and busy, higher venues like Freney and Jorasses will take far more time, as the quantity of snow there is staggering, This includes the Brenva side (but the Kuffner ridge may go in conditions fairly quick), It must be said however that unless a freak late August heatwave comes out of nowhere, the area may enjoy the best mixed and ice late summer and early autumn conditions we've seen in almost a decade.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

The Italian side skyline this morning

http://flic.kr/p/a81A5x

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
There's people at the Eccles hut and a guided team is attempting Innominata ridge

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Whats the ski-touring like Luca?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

A bit ambitious... What do you think?

In reply to jon:

There's a lot of snow up there but temps are ideal. There"s a cloud build up now in front of the south face but no major storm threat. From here the bigger problem seems to be all the corniches on upper Brouillard.

I'm spending most of the day with family sunbathing at the Checrouit, so I may follow the situation between one beer an the other.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Should look better and better as the afternoon goes on then!

In reply to jon:

Well, right now is mixed grilled.meat plus sausages, lamb and vegetablesnplus a couple of liters of Val d'Aosta wines at the Maison Vieille hut, so yes sir, looks like it will be a fun afternoon, oh, incidentally the Kuffner from here seems gorgeous!

Was up the midi today intending to do something on the East Face of the Tacul or something on the back of the Pointe Lachenal(?)

Was fairly cold around 4am, but the ground was properly frozen and still a lot of fresh snow around. Soon as it got to 6am it got really hot and everything turned to mush. Ended up doing the standard Lachenal traverse.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

This in case you don't believe me on the Kuffner's conditions...

http://flic.kr/p/a83jLT

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

...and this is in case you don't believe me on the conditions of my meal..

http://flic.kr/p/a86uWh

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

There are certainly occasions that I wish I lived in Italy... There's something special about a long drawn out Valdotane lunch.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

You sir are a very cruel man.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Will routes like the South Ridge of the Moine or the SW ridge of L'Eveque will be climable next week - given recent heavy snowfall?

Many thanks

Laurence King

In reply to Calvi:

He is, isn't he..... I was already upset at the thought of gazing peacefully at the Italian side of the Mt Blanc massif with a nice crisp white wine at hand.... but now I'm really distressed....

In reply to Kamikaze SP:

There were people climbing up towards the summit of the Tacul about 2pm this afternoon and a couple of people below the Tacul triangle on the RH side. Some people really do have Kamikaze tendencies!

In reply to wilkesley:

Yeah we saw people going up/down the Tacul slope yesterday ... I know I wouldn't go near it with a very large barge pole.

The triangle maybe, but the main slope ... not a chance.

Forecast till tuesday looks good.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
The sky this morning
http://flic.kr/p/a8ABBY

As you may see, rising temperatures have eaten away a sizable quantity of snow, but a lot remains. If the weather holds next week snow and mixed conditions will be excellent.

In reply to Kamikaze SP:

Yes was very nice there yesterday although the previous 10 days were crap .

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Just got off of Chere Couloir, fantastic conditions! cloud base was low this morning and there was a brilliant inversion at 7:30 from the aig du midi, bad weather seems to have left for the minute.

In reply to Camdenelectric:

Can vouch for the brilliant inversion!

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Latest news from "the front":

- Innominata Ridge climbed, traced but still very snowy

- Brouillard Ridge not climbed

- Aiguille Noire normal route still quite snowy and not yet climbed/descended

- Tour Ronde normal route climbed and in conditions

- Dent du Geant climbed and in conditions

- Rochefort ok until the Dome

- Aiguille Croux and Pt. Innominata in conditions

- Triolet basin rock climbs in conditions

- Access to Quintino Sella hut and lower Tournette look particularly nasty

- Trelatete from Pt. Mt. Blanc still snowy but traced

- Matterhorn Lion Ridge (Italian side) still NOT climbed and very snowy

- Gran Paradiso and Rosa easier routes in conditions, but snowslabs here and there particularly on the Rosa, the avalanche risk is not trivial.

Weather will be excellent until Tuesday with progressively hotter temperatures, but Wednesday and Thursday may be seriously unsettled.

In reply to Kamikaze SP:
Where abouts where you?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

- Italian normal route to MB (Gonella / Aiguilles Grises) climbed few times (including solo) and in excellent conditions.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Are the rock routes on the Aig. du Peigne free of snow? Planning on being out and about from friday/saturday for about 3 weeks and just sussing out our best options for acclimatising. Cheers
Dom

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Does anyone know the conditions on the Forbes arete?

In reply to Camdenelectric:

Just doing the Midi-Plan traverse, was a nice day. Apart from when everything turned to slush.

Mountainsheep - I may be heading up that way in the next couple of days, so I'll message you if I do go up that way.

In reply to Kamikaze SP:

Put your message on the forum. I'm sure there are plenty of other people (including me!) who would also like up to date Forbes arete info

In reply to Somerset swede basher: Will do if I go up.

As yet the forecast for Wednesday-Saturday doesn't look promising.

In reply to Kamikaze SP: Me and Camden are headed up to the Albert 1er (well the bivi spots up there) this afternoon and doing Forbes tomorrow, so we may well see you up there

In reply to mountainsheep:

Won't be up for a couple days, waiting for a mate in the valley.

Let me know what conditions are like if you get on it.

Latest sitrep:

Weather has been good for the last few days, and activity in altitude has been considerable. From tomorrow to Sunday instability will return. After that, it looks like another relatively settled period may come.

- Brenva spur - climbed from the Gussfeldt couloir, excellent condition

- Tour Ronde: great conditions everywhere and LOT of people climbing there. On the normal route there are now bolted abseil points. While an inevitable development given the traffic, their only real effect will be making the normal route even more busy. If you can climb somewhere else in the next 20 days, just do that.

- Dent du Geant: good conditions, access obviously traced and not particularly dry given we're in August. Expect plenty of traffic in clear weather days

- Mont Blanc: all the normal routes traced and busy, but my humble opinion (based on pictures) is that the Tacul descent is a disaster waiting to happen. Some Chamonix based climber or guide may disagree on that - I'll be just glad to be proven wrong.

- Grandes Jorasses: north face still in snowy conditions. Normal route still snowy. West ridge the only route seeing any traffic.

- Gran Paradiso: the main peak is BUSY, BUSY, BUSY - this is the worst part of the year in regard to this, particularly if you're starting from the Vittorio Emanuele. Everywhere else in the massif the traffic is nowhere as bad. Expect a real queue to get to the actual GP summit.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Tacul Satellites: all dry and all in conditions, including the Gran Capucin

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Anyone know how the midi plan traverse is looking?
Cheers J

In reply to Camdenelectric:

anyone know about jungfrau in early september? i've heard it might be too icy...?

In reply to owenel: unlikely to be icy since this year has been remarkably snowy

In reply to alasdair19: Any thoughts on how thr frendo is looking... planning a weekend raiding trip

In reply to Timo Austino: given that i live in sheffield not sure I'm all that useful for advice. if you have stable weather friends have had a good time in wintereresque conditions. if i was there I would work out what is tracked descent and approach wise otherwise you'll spend a lot of energy getting there and getting of. there are spurs with less rock climbing you could have a look at. the spur underneath the midi is not an easy option in my experience...

for me the prob with weekending is acclimatisation. how about the n ridge or n face of badile...

In reply to Timo Austino: Really good did it this morning!

In reply to Dave Searle: now that's what I call beta! nice work

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Forbes Arete was in great condition today: Easy approach on hard snow. The Bosse was an easy snow walk. The ridge had just enough snow on to make moving confortable, maybe a bit powdery at places.

In reply to Timo Austino:

Couple guys I know did it yesterday and reported quite good conditions on the snow arete/ice.

Just try to hit it before the afternoon sun

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Climbed the Innominata on 10/08/11. Lots of snow over everything - 5b chimney and 4c wall clear, but all the "mixed" ground was covered in 2ft of soft slush. The top section of the Brouillard Ridge was in a similar state. All climbable, but makes for very slow going; we left Eccles at 0500 and didn't reach summit of Mont Blanc until 2030ish. Not a route to be underestimated, and certainly not in current conditions.

We traversed Pic Eccles from the Eccles bivouac, although the descent to the Brouillard glacier from the upper hut and then SW couloir to the col looked doable.

There was a tragic accident involving the death of one climber who fell from Pic Eccles early in the morning, our thoughts go out to the climber's partner, family and friends.

Also; personally agree regarding your thoughts on the E face of the Tacul - looks like it's poised to go at any minute (but would also be happy to be proved wrong).

Jax

In reply to traditionalJax:
>
First of all, congrats for the Innominata.


The climber was French, his name was Jean-Christophe Avi and he was 48. Apparently he died because of an abseil accident on the Freney side of Pic Eccles - the ropes got stuck and he fell after detaching from the ropes to fix the situation. I'm terrified by abseils even on bolted routes, and this does not much to dispel my fear. My thoughts go this his family as well.

Today has been a strange day for mountain accident. On the normal routes, two spaniards have been searched for 24 hours after they failed to return to the Gonella hut (they had told to Davide, the warden, they had planned to return there after climbing MB). Yesterday they got found relaxing at the Tete Rousse - they had suddenly decided to change plans and "forgot" to notify back to the Gonella. All well and good except that an entire rescue team was dispatched for hours on the mountain to find them. Oh well.

And speaking of people taking poor decisions while climbing - three italian climbers have been "rescued" from the Presanella (Central Alps) after they called rescue because they felt too tired to continue and didn't want to bother descending. The rescue coordination center is not taking it too well and everyone is invoking what happened last year, when two spaniards (again) had to be extracted from the Tournette spur because they were exhausted. As their "rescue" was not deemed to be a real emergency, they had to pay 3500€ each.

Conditions:

Weather fine, the best so far this summer. Slight afternoon instability, getting a bit worse Sunday, but not really unsettled. Temperatures getting quite high but not scorching.

Climbing conditions are excellent in the Triolet, Croux/Innominata, Aigulle Noire, Tacul satellites (including the lower part of the Gervasutti pillar) and Glacier/Trelatete. More snowy than usual above 4000, plenty of snowslabs on north and east facing snow slopes, avalanche danger there is high. Some activity in the Jorasses west ridge, but everything else is in autumn conditions. If temperatures continue to be this way look for the ice routes on the NF to be in great nick after late September.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Did the north face of the tour ronde yesterday and seemed to be in pretty good condition. There were several other teams on the route but not too busy.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
I'm very sorry to hear about Christophe - we met him and his climbing partner the evening before and spent the night with them in the old Eccles Bivouac hut.

Sad times, as his partner called to us before he was airlifted off "take care" everybody.

Jax

In reply:
We did the 3 Monts today and reached the summit of Mont Blanc just before a sunrise. At that point conditions started to get a lot worse and heavy clouds rolled around Mont Blanc very quickly. The wind had been very strong all the time after the shoulder of Maudit.

There were lots of people going up towards the hellish conditions when we walked down towards the Midi. Middle of the Tacul E face the snowfalls started and when we took the cable car down to valley it was snowing a lot.

Does anyone know if something serious happened on Mont Blanc later on Sunday?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

We're heading over next week and trying to plan a whistestop itinerary.

What are the Aiguille de Rochefort and Dent du Geant like at present? Also thinking about the 3Ms but there seems to be mixed feedback about the route up Tacul. How about the Gouter route?

Finally, how are the Tour and Tour Noire looking?

Thanks

Charlie

In reply to charliep:

Of course conditions can change a lot in a couple of weeks but I did the Rochefort Arete/Aiguille de Rochefort 2 weeks ago and the arete was in superb nick. Lots of folks were doing the voie normale up the Dent as well so bon chance!

In reply to charliep:

At the moment conditions both on Rochefort and Geant are excellent, but getting rapidly dry because of the persistence of relatively hot weather. Friday there may be a rapid stormy passage (still unclear) but afterwards the high pressure will almost certainly return, so I believe you may find relatively dryer conditions (and lot of traffic...)

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
How will drier conditions effect the top half of the Frendo? Does the ice get very thin?

In reply to ClimberEd:

Would strip a lot of the snow off it and make the snow arete more icey - when we did it last year (dry september) it was pretty much all grey ice.


Anyway, this thread should be closed as I've left Chamonix now and don't want to get jealous ... haha

In reply to Kamikaze SP:

slow going?

In reply to ClimberEd:

yup!

In reply to Kamikaze SP:

Im off to Cham with a mate on 22nd for 2 weeks. I have been eyeing up the Frendo for a couple of years.

My mate and I both lead UK 4c/5a and Scottish 3/4 but I dont want to end up struggling.

If its in similar conditions to when you did it what does the last pitch top at Scottish4? (I have been told you can get rock gear if you go on the left)?

In reply to JamesM:

Just came off Frendo, it's in good nick at the moment - the rock is nice and dry. Very little snow low down, and ice at the top is in good shape. We went left at the rognon - once we had reached the rognon, it was quite stepped out and you could get in rock gear in many places.

It's hot here now and looking to stay that way, so it may get stripped even further though....

The snow ridge does soften up a lot - we were on it around 10-11 and thought we should have been earlier, but the day before and yesterday after we finished we saw people starting the ridge at 5:30pm... we were glad we weren't them. We also had 2 stakes for running belays which we appreciated on that ridge, until we got on to some ice that would take a screw. But nobody else here seems to use them

In reply to JamesM:

Sometimes people go left sometimes right.

This season everyone's being going left. I am led to believe (by a couple who did it last week) that there's 1 bolted belay on the left and stacks of rock gear. We took the rognon direct so unfortunately I can't comment from experience.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Hi Luca (or others)

Any update on conditions around Gonella - MB (Grises, Tournette, Bosses SW)?

We had been thinking of heading over the border, but all this sun has us wondering if we'll just be walking into a crevassed world of slush...

Thanks in advance

In reply to troglodyte:

Both the Aiguille Grises route and the Tournette are in conditions
The Tournette was climbed the 18th, the main problem as usual was the transition from the glacier to the rock spur below the.Sells hut. At the.moment there's a serious heatwave on most of NW Alps and the MB area is no exception, but the Tournette is notorious for being the last route to the main summit to stay in conditions even after a long dry spell (it remained climbable even during the.worst moments of summer 2003.)

The Gonella route is ok, but if you return the same way in the afternoon snow may be really soft.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Thanks for the info! We'll keep an eye on the weather and check out our options.

Also found this online: http://www.summitpost.org/tournette-spur/160072 - assume it's your information? If so, a big thanks again!

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Am thinking of Point Lachenel traverse/Midi Plan/SE Ridge Tour rond over the next few days. Anyone any idea of conditions on them in this over warm weather? Also, anyone advise me of the technical grade to return to the Midi from the Plan? Are there fixed ropes this season? or is it better to descend to Requin? In which case,what's the glacier like? Any advice appreciated.

In reply to Tom Hutton:

The fixed rope was there two weeks ago. It's not suitable for abseiling but it's a big help when you climb up the chimney. For me it's very difficult to estimate the grade but my very wild guess is about French 4b/c.

One 50m rope is long enough for the abseils. But only if you can find the right anchors As you can see, abseils don't go straight down:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3feiNHVVHoUhRTKFAxndQSbo7F9jHyu-1RoHD...

Here's a second picture I took where you can see two climbers standing very close to the first anchor and it's easy to spot the hole where you come through when climbing up:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Eo1TpWyiv1qMgLsxxZdhgibo7F9jHyu-1RoHD...

In reply to Tom Hutton:

The return to the Midi is often harder than the outward journey. The snow is softer on the delicate unprotected bits that you have to descend, you are tired etc etc. But if it's very hot, then it's probably preferable to descending the Envers du Plan, which can be a worrying place. Much quicker, too.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Hi Luca, is la Visaille the highest you can drive up the Val Veny, even say in September? Or can you get as far as Lac Combal? Do SAVDA buses go to Visaille or Combal?

In reply to jon:

No, La Visaille is the highest you can get (actually the place near the bridge with the.barrier is called Chalets de Miage. You can pass the barrier only with the agreement of the Elisabetta wardens or the people building the new Gite at the Combal, but they're extremely reluctant to do so for insurance reasons (few people knows that the Combal basin is private property!)

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

You're right, I didn't know. I remember getting a lift all the way up there a long time ago from a British Army Landrover when the British Army had their annual 'put a Brit on Mont Blanc' trip. They must have been stationed somewhere near Chalets de Miage? Do they still do that or have worldwide events stopped their holidays?

In reply to jon:

Mark Stevenson of this parish took groups of them up for the last couple of summers, so it seems the tradition is still going strong.

In reply to jon:

The route was opened to cars and buses up to the Combal from 1970 (the year the military road was widened) until mid 90s, when massive landslides from the L side of the valley convinced the local authorities to close car accessed for good
Personally I'm strongly in the "let's close all the valley to car traffic except those.going to campsites" field, but that's quite controversial in Courmayeur. My first MB picture ever was taken in a still pristine Combal in 1968 at the ripe age of 7, and I'll love to think I could see it returning to that state sooner or later.

The Red Berets; they were stationed at the Fior di Roccia barracks in mid Val Veny, between Zerotta and what's now the picnic park. Their annual passage was one of those Courmayeur rituals people now seems to fondly associate with the village golden era. Despite what one may believe they were incredibly well.behaved and I don't.remember any major accident during their stay (we're having far more problems with skiers in winter!)

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

So the story involving my old boss, a revolver and a bar in Courmayeur is just bullshit, then...?

I remember the Brits were dragged up and down the mountain by Alpini troops - is that much true?

In reply to Tom Hutton:

Hi Tom. Did you have a crack at this? A mate and I are looking at this for later in the week. Ohm said traverse is more technical ice due to lacking snow. Do let us know how you get on. Cheers.

In reply to jon:


Weeeeeeellll... I wouldn't consider anything involving a revolver and a Courmayeur cafe "a major accident"



Depends what you mean for "dragged". The whole trip was (in my understanding) some sort of annual exchange between the British Army and the "Taurinense" Alpine Brigade of the Alpini troops. The Courmayeur detachement of the Taurinense is the Sport Training School of the Aosta Battalion, which is and was probably the finest in Italy, as it produced a lot of World, Europe and Olympics ski stars and many very good ice and rock climbers. Also, back then the majority of the Alpini involved where locals with a great knowledge of the terrain, so I believe that almost anyone, their ability notwithstanding would have been "dragged" by them up and down the mountain.

My impression and my dad recollection however was that the whole affair was really laid back and more a relaxing holiday than anything else, with plenty of sunbathing in Val Veny and strolls around Courmayeur. I rememeber chatting with a Brit medical officer in early 90's who, for some reason, had wandered into my friend Adriano's perfume shop in Courmayeur's main street (a very young chap) and he told me something like "Well, a lot of my colleagues have been sent to the Balkans now... and I've been sent here. Guess who got the best deal?"

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

All this puts me in mind of going to the Carabinieri(?) in Courmayeur to report my friend's car having being broken into and everything taken. We were ushered into an office with a wooden floor that was polished to a mirror finish. Our escort stepped into the office and onto two shoe sized pieces of carpet and shuffled around like a skater! We were allowed in, in our big boots. A lower ranking Carabinieri followed us around on his carpets, skating out the marks we left on the floor! Keeping a straight face... in the face of such a spectacle was almost impossible. When we left - pursued, of course, by our own personal skater as far as the door - we just about collapsed.

In reply to jon:

Those were the "pattine" ! If you had grown up in a traditional Italian family of the North you would knew very well about them, as you would have been chased around by your grandma fir not wearing them after the floor had been polished. Just out of curiosity, when did this happened?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Mid 70s. Do they still do it?
My gran used to chase me too.

In reply to jon:

Ok, so it was definitely the old Carabinieri station in Passage Radaele, at the corner with Via Marconi (close to the Cafe Posta). Yes, it had/has big oak floors (now it's been transformed in luxury apartments - of course). Back then the Carabinieri had a huge tradition of punctiliousness to defend (mainly in opposition with their eternal rivals of the State Police, who had less money and far looser manners) and I've little difficulty to believe you had a "personal track remover". Now it's all changed of course (and there's no need to use "pattine" on wood floors, as the modern types of polish does not require them!)

We must have crossed paths a lot of time back them without knowing. In summer I was always hanging around with friends in Via Marconi (I lived at the top of it), nicknamed "The Bronx", as our favorite sport (when not climbing) was to beat the hell out of each other every afternoon or make inappropriate use of air guns, back then were legal in Italy and very much popular with us kids. Those were the days!

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Would these be chaps in cute little outfits with nice jaunty hats with a feather in them? In June 1998 a crowd of them were getting ratted at the Pavillon and stopping anyone going down until they'd staggered into the cabin (my friend Mike was keen to get me to nick one of their hats - he'd buy me dinner if I could manage it...).

It gave us an excuse to have quite a nice meal while we waited.

On returning to La Palud, it turned out that one of the disgruntled junior ranks who'd been sitting in their trucks waiting all day had dinged the side of our car as he left. Cost me $300 insurance deductible. So, are these the people I can (finally) send the bill to?

No long-stored up seething resentment, you understand, just a polite query.

In reply to pneame:

Yes and yes. Indeed you should have sent them the bill, as for law they must pay whatever damage produced to civilians during exercises. A lenghty process but the money normally arrives if you're producing enough documents.

My only doubt is - where did you park the car? If it was the cablecar parking lot there's no doubt they should have paid.

Good your friend didn't stole the hat... thing may have gone pretty hairy in that case (no, not from the legal point of view...)

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

My impression too! Never underestimate people just because their clothing makes you laugh! And we were heavily outnumbered. All in all, a good tactical decision.

It was in the telepherique car park. I have a feeling that the Italian equivalent of the statute of limitations may have run out after 13 years - I never bothered filing a police report. I'd fairly carefully read the fine print on the insurance ( credit card car rental insurance) and felt there was a good chance of things working out OK. Which they did.
And if not - what will be will be. The usual calculation of time vs. money, and when I have time off I regard my time as extremely valuable, even though when I'm working it isn't worth much at all!

In reply to pneame:

Not sure if the Alpini outfit is funny - personally I've worn one and I'm quite proud I did it. Guess for non-Italians may be different through.


The 'pherique car par is private property, so any such problem (speaking not much for your one, of course, as I agree it's a bit of seasoned issue! A bit more something for anyone should incur in such trouble in the future) should be immediately reported to the telepherique station, and then to the police. The "funivie" owners are not responsible for the issue "per se", but they may reinforce your claim.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

My apologies, Luca! Certainly isn't a reflection on the Alpini as such - there are some extraordinary UK uniforms as well (those chaps outside Buckingham Palace, for example).

I tend to find many (all?) military uniforms amusing, although I probably shouldn't. Comes of living in a place where military-esque camouflage is almost regarded as formal wear, as I'm sure I didn't always have this attitude.

On the other hand, I'm always a bit jealous of military types, as they tend to have phenomenally good training in whatever sub-discipline they end up in. And a good amount of self discipline.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

I'm planning to do Mont Blanc via the Italian route on Mon 29th or Tuesday 30th. Are there any reports on the condition of the glacier and the ridge from Piton de Italian to the Dome du Gouter?

We tried Gran Paradiso yesterday (26th August) but turned back 250m from the summit due to strong winds. The bottom of the glacier is very icy and the recommended route is now to traverse the north moraine and then the north (left side of the glacier).

Martin

In reply to mcrtchly:
The latest report I've heard was four days ago and the route was in good conditions
Some hole on the glacier and metal ladder to help crossing large crevasse one hour above the Gonella hut, but the Piton ridge was OK. Today winds and sudden temperature drop must should have made it icier, but I think conditions up there are still reasonable.

In reply to JamesM:

We decided against for the reasons you suggest. Did Domes de Miage instead - great route but even here the descent was ice rather than snow resulting in some very slow downclimbing on front points in places.

In reply to Tom Hutton:

Made the same decision much to my partners disgust. Unless it was well within your comfort zone it hasn't been in nick over the past 10 days.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Probably too late now but...

Just came off this yesterday. Gonella route is now closed (the warden has taken down the fixed gear on the glacier) however he described a route over the Grises ridge, but not all the way up it, picking up the glacier on the other side, then traversing over some steep, concrete like ice to the central line of the glacier. So we did this.

We think maybe we dropped too low after coming off the ridge, because the glacier section we picked up at first in the centre was interesting... certainly much tricker and crevassed/icefall than we expected. Talk to the warden about the best route if you want to do this (he was out checking the routes on Sunday when we rocked up at the hut), and check the level you should traverse at on the glacier. Maybe if you get to the hut early enough a recce mission the day before would be worthwhile

After this heavily crevassed section (which we suspect was not intended) the route is in good nick to the top, and straightforward. And much quieter... only 3 other teams around until we hit Gouter.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Just back from a mini trip to Cham:

Tacul Triangle - excellent condition

Tacul East Face - Very lean. Gervasutti Couloir still clinging on, Jager Couloir gone! Diable Couloir missing the lower section. Other routes in similar poor condition.

Tour Ronde - North Face looks in good condition but other routes such as Gervasutti out of condition

Frontier Ridge - Parties climbing it but the ridge is very lean. From the bivi hut there was little snow present on the lower half.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
What happened with that very interesting thread about clientXGuiding company????

In reply to cariva: The complaint one???

In reply to cariva: I suspect it got a bit personal and then deleted ...

In reply to Jgh69: Yeah...I was actually wondering about some of the heat that came up at some point...to bad! It was really fun/funny and instructive at the same time.

In reply to cariva: I know I quite enjoyed it myself but I think towards the end the OP was getting a bit of personal dig...

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Has anyone been up the east faces of the cham aiguilles recently? Looking for info on the state of the bergshrunds on the approach to the E face of the Dent du Requin, Aig du Plan and Grepon in
particular.

Dave

In reply to david0811: From the OHM:

mercredi 7 septembre 2011
Voici les dernières infos concernant les différents secteurs :

- Envers des Aiguilles : il a plu très haut jusqu’au sommet du Grépon, il y a 4 jours la rimaye passait encore. Les accès aux autres voies se font avec plus ou moins de difficultés. La rimaye de la Ryan ne passe plus.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:
Hi - anyone know how is Les Courtes Swiss route looking at the moment ? same question about Kuffner ridge and Grand Jorasses traverse
thanks
Greg

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Wondered if anybody has any current information or experience of crossing the Freney glacier to access the west face of the Noire or Pointe Gugliermina?

In reply to gregkub:
Had a look at Kuffner on Monday - death on a stick at the moment !

In reply to Anonymous:

I'll be there Saturday. Conditions must be extremely dry, but I'll let you know

In reply to Anonymous: Maybe I`m getting old

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Is there anyone around chamonix at the moment free for an alpine route this weekend?

In reply to alec roberts:

Hey your not the only one getting old for sure...

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Cheers Luca, it was only a offshot idea.

Was up at the Eccles the other day & seemed a good idea at the time.

In reply to walts4:

Very dry up there, access to the Schneider ledges is technical but not impossibile. The Gugliermina face is in great conditions.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

There’s some trouble brewing in Coumayeur, in relation the Ferret/Veny valleys access: tomorrow will begin a “two-to-eight weeks long” operation to “secure” the short narrow between Mont de la Saxe and Mont Chetif (the short section of the valley between Entreves/La Palud and Courmayeur proper. This means that for two-to-eight weeks the ONLY way to move from Entreves/La Palud (and Val Ferret) to Courmayeur and back will be via the A5 highway (this means going down to Morgex, then back). Also Val Veny will be completely closed to any car/bus traffic, no exception. The only way to move in and out Val Veny will be walking from Dolonne.

This is not one of those “it’s closed just in theory” things – the residents of the area have been all evacuated and huge protection walls have been built on the Saxe side, as there’s a serious and definite risk of major rockfall during the work. Stop to the traffic (even pedestrian) will be enforced, so if you don’t know any shortcut (and my lips are sealed.…) there’s no way you can go from Entreves to Courma and back without using the special shuttle set up by the administration – but this will run only from 7 in the morning to 20 in the night.

From the practical point of view this mean that if you’re coming down from the Jorasses (the NF is now in a great nick) you need to use the shuttle and after 20pm you’re simply stuck there, but if for some reason you’re coming down from Mt Blanc on the Italian side you will have to anticipate a long walk down to Courmayeur via Dolonne. Be warned...

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Typical instance of "a picture is worth thousand words": the view from my balcony this morning. Dent du Geant in the center and Grandes Jorasses on the right

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36081136@N05/6225277807/

In reply to Luca Signorelli: That looks extraordinary Luca.

Particularly striking to see the snow come right down to the butteresses above the trees, not just plastering the higher mountains.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: PS : what a view to have from the balcony of your house - you bastard!

In reply to Simon4: You beat me to it, he's at it again! :O)

Come on Luca! Some of us live in Birmingham...

(Actually mate...you can post views from your balcony any time)

In reply to Nigel Modern:


Shirley some mishtake - you mean you EXIST in Birmingham.

Is it raining there, or is it just about to rain?

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Stunning trip report of a very recent ascent of the Gervasutti route, east face of the Grandes Jorasses. Check it out..


http://maxbonniot.blogspot.com/2011/10/sous-le-joug-du-sphinx-face-est-des....

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

The new Gervasutti hut has been put in place this afternoon - is a cross between a IKEA kitchen, a train WC and a boiler. And obviously the big panoramic windows doesn't point at the Jorasses!

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/8366/boilergerva2.jpg

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/5228/boilergerva1.jpg

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Jesus Christ Luca....

In reply to jon:

Yes, that's precisely my reaction. It's vile, simply vile. As good old Ivan Negro said, that's what happens when you leave architects work in a vacuum...

In reply to Luca Signorelli: Who ok'ed that? It just doesnt fit in with the surroundings, it looks like part of a space station.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:


I thought you said that English wasn't your first language! As fine a piece of damning with faint praise as I have heard for a long time.

It is vile though, a masterpiece of insensitive and inappropriate brutalism.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: That is also a seriously dangerously placed door, imagine trying to get into that when it is icy, dark and blowing a hooly and you are knackered.

In reply to Luca Signorelli: And obviously getting through the door is about V+.

Although it might be easier in winter given optimal snow conditions.

In reply to pneame:

... or impossible, of course.

In reply to jon:
I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt, although why I am so charitable completely eludes me

The thing that's really annoying is that if they had felt obliged to tidy things up, why couldn't they have just left it as a halfway decent bivvy ledge, open to improvement?

rant, rant....

In reply to pneame: The old hut was pretty tricky to get in too.

In reply to Ben Briggs:

Is it just me who gets a blank page when trying to open Luca's images?

In reply to MG:

Ah. Yes. I see what you mean. (Googling like mad - always wanted to go there, never have)

But at least it fitted in well with its surroundings!

In reply to pneame: It was nice place. Very remote and quite serious to get to. The new thing looks horrible.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

Good Christ! Who approved that?!

In reply to MG: Apart from anything else, all those "eco-bling" features don't actually work reliably at sea-level. I can't imagine they have any chance at 3000m for more than a few months. Automated air circulation...no, can't see any potential problems there

In reply to MG:

and those solar panels will work just fine with a thick layer of snow on them!