 Poster: A snowHead
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Pedantica, don't be ridiculous. I bet people commonly put themselves in greater risk off-piste than you would on arrete. It is wide enough for people to walk against you. Don't not do VB due to arrete. I suspect tragedies happened when the snow was icy. Just don't go there on icy or windy days.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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peanuthead, it scared me just looking at the damn thing on a summer's day! 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Pedantica, in summer there aren't a constant stream of people walking down it, it's not roped and it's not swept. It's really, really not a problem. Like a staircase. With a (rope) handrail.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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under a new name, it's true that I get vertigo when hill-walking on terrain which I wouldn't bat an eyelid at in snow/on skis. Just the other week, on Skye, I had to hum a little tune to get me across a mildly hairy traverse which wouldn't have concerned me at all on skis.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Slow and steady- skis tied to your rucksack- the thought is definitely worse than the doing!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Pedantica, it's quite extraordinary how things look so different when covered in snow.
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Pedantica Despite having done a fair bit of (summer) via ferrata/ladders/fixed cables in the Alps, I don't have a great head for heights. I do feel safe enough when I'm clipped onto the cable or whatever though - and really didn't find the arrete too bad at all.
As has been mentioned, go slowly and steadily and the job's a good 'un.
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To be fair they have greatly improved how they cut and protect the path over the last ten years; the arête was a lot harder in the past.
Certainly worth doing. If you are going from Helbronner then consider traversing at around the height of the base of La Vierge to access the lower half of the Combe Noir route. This takes you down on the opposite side of the Geant icefall to the main 'tourist' route which makes it much quieter and that section, by the icefall, is comfortably steep and pretty much always in the shade so stays powder longer than anywhere else. There's also something satisfying about taking the bus from Chamonix to Courmayer and then skiing back to Chamonix. 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I walked down the arête in summer a few years back, on the way to doing Mont Blanc from the Cosmiques Hut. I've climbed a few mountains and exposure doesn't normally bother me but the arête did. I think the thing is that you go from no exposure to very exposed on two sides in a couple of footsteps. Usually as a climber you gradually work your way up on to exposed terrain and you adjust to it as you go. Walking out of a tunnel and through a daft wee wooden gate just doesn't prepare you for what's coming next. But it is only a short walk down hill, so if I was thinking of skiing the VB I wouldn't let it put me off.
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