 Poster: A snowHead
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Ok so this is my fisrt time on here and i know that i can't spell.
Am off ot Chamonix tomorrow for a couple of days but would like to know is it worth taking a guide with me to do the Aguille di Midi(or however its spelt). I'm a competent skier but would i be getting lost and whats it like for crevasses. Any info would be much appreciated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's too early in the season to ski the Vallee Blanche. If you visit Chamonix again later in the season, be sure to take a guide if you want to try this route.
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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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My folks are out there now and assured me it was open. I've heard its really meant to be something. Would it be easy to get lost on then? Cheers
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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switchskier, your spelling won't improve if you attempt this without a guide. If the weather is clear and you don't mind missing a few hours skiing, the trip up the Aguille Du Midi is well worth it as a travel experience if nothing else. Otherwise, this time of year you'll be best off over on the sunnier side - Brevant or Flegere (there's guiding possibilities up there too but if you're heading out tomorrow you'll probably find that it's not safe off piste - check with the guides office)
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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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switchskier, Even on the main route, there are crevasses which may be partially hidden that would be easy enough to fall into if the covering snow collapsed - a British snowboarder died that way in 2005.
It is a spectacular trip. Some really helpful information can be found here
If it is open, you should be able to find a group that you can join via one of the guiding agencies listed. That would be much cheaper than hiring your own guide for the day.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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switchskier, 5 words to sum up the Aguille du Midi, Vallee Blanche.......Snow Bridges covering Bottomless Crevasses
The Alpine Guides, can spot these, you do not have the skills/crampons/rope/harness, hire the Guide. Have a safe winter.
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It is possible to ski the Vallee Blanche from the Aiguille du Midi in January - I did it back in the 1970s - but the weather in January doesn't make it as assured as later in the winter. After good snowfall you are, however, likely to be able to ski all the way into Chamonix, which is nice, rather than having to take the train down from the Mer de Glace.
You'd want serious clothing and protection to attempt it in seriously-cold conditions, as have been experienced recently. Take local advice from the guides - and bon chance! It's a brilliant experience.
Here's ifyouski.com's first-rate article on skiing the Vallee Blanche: click here.
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switchskier, I have skied the Vallee Blanche twice, once in 93 no guide just followed a poor skiing group at a discreet distance (stupid but I was younger). The second time a couple of years ago, someone fell, I stopped and got a bit behind the rest of the group. In my haste I tried to ski directly towards them (fresh powder new tracks) only their screaming made me stop just above a crevasse, whoops. Use a guide and follow the tracks.
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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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switchskier, don't even think about it without a qualified guide. With a guide, it is relatively safe and not too difficult ... and well worth the effort/expense.
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switchskier, if you were in high season (when there are lots of people around), and familiar with off-piste glacier conditions you could do the classic route without a guide, preferably if you've done it before guided. You should however never do this a) by yourself or b) without a harness, rope and the knowledge to use them in crevasse rescue. However, this is not high season, and I doubt you'd have asked the question in the way you did if you'd got that experience - so don't do it without a guide. Go to the guides' office (Maison des Guides) and sign up to join in a group, which they will put together for you (depending on who else signs up). Another possibility is Evolution 2. Tell them the level of skier you are, and you should be able to get on a compatible group. This has the advantage that they may (conditions permitting) take you down one of the many other routes, all of which offer infitiely preferable skiing. And if they won't take you, it'll be for very good reasons.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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switchskier,
The classic vallee Blanche is little more than a track through stunning scenery and you might wonder what you have paid the guide for....but it is a 1/2 day trip and very long and there is no bale out. In january there may not have been enough snow to fill the crevasses or the bridges will not be the strongest. If you have seen the Mer de Glace in the summer you will know what I mean and you will be skiing over that...!!! Its not enough to follow someone else's group, which apart from bad form, they may not be going down the clasic route. There are many variances and they are all harder than the 'tourist' route. And there is no way you should be on these without knowing what you are doing.
And then there is the weather, the route down might take you 4 hrs or so and if it closes in you couldn't pay that guide enough...!!!
Do yourself a favour and get on one of the guided trips and ask them what route they are doing! Its only money and it should teach you a lot at the very least. When you know the area a bit better you can make the decision about the guided options but first time round is not one of them.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hmm, wasn't open when I was there last week!
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switchskier, Afraid I've got to endorse all of the above. It's not especially difficult but no way attempt without a guide!
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You know it makes sense.
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A fantastic route and a must for any intermediate and better skier while in Chamonix. Take a guide and do it in March or April, there is far too much new snow and not enough old (base) snow at this time of year. Furthermore the 9 km along the Mer de Glace will be purgatory if it has not been extensively skied yet - which it won't - not to mention the fact that the fixed ropes are not on the arrete and the cornices still there etc...
Do it later in the season when fully open and trailblazed - with a GUIDE!! 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The Aguille is now open and the conditions are said to be exceptional. First busy day today, should bode well for the rest of the winter. 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Is it skiable to the valley?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I should think so, although as always, last few kms of rock/root hopping. Best its been in say 7 years. (At valley level)
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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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I was there last April and one evening we had dinner in a bar and all of a sudden the barman locked the door and it was only 7pm. I thought this was odd and asked him why, he said a friend of his who worked at the pub had just died! Apparently he was an experienced skier but had skied off a rock face by accident. After hearing that I won't be going anywhere I shouldn't without a guide. Life's too short to be worrying about saving a few quid!
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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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Thanks for all that. IN the end went with a guide but didn't think it was really all that difficult, though it was spectacular. Didn't come anywhere close to somthing like La Grave. Not sure i'd bother doing it again, having done it once i can say that it have but i agree that normally its a bit too risky to set off without a guide.
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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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switchskier, well done. Which route did they take you down? And was it skiable right down into the valley? If so what were the conditions like on the track? (JT and I should be out there doing it again next week ).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yes, any reasonably competent skier can ski the classic route, which makes it a spectacular introduction to far off-piste.
Re the many skiers who ski down without guides - the famous apocrophal Vallee Blanche story is of someone who's companion fell down a cravasse. He put a rope down and someone else climbed out!
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switchskier, There are other routes down the VB - which will be nearer what you've experienced in LG. 
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switchskier, check out www.philingle.com for pics of a few more routes off the Midi. Sure there are a few things up to your standard there
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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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The Ridge Down is hairy, chimp-like in fact.
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Here's a picture of the arrete...just visible in the bottom righthand corner
The route that we took down the VB, a few years back, was down a fairly steep, widish gully, which narrowed to a ski length or two in width before opening out. I do recall a long pole-out as well. Don't know which route this was but I doubt it was the classic route.
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