 Poster: A snowHead
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Scribblings from The Tarentaise .. Vallee Blanche (Chamonix)
Chamonix is almost as beautiful as La Plagne .... 
This Trip Report is more a pictorial than an epistle, as it’s very difficult to describe the absolutely savage wildness and beauty of this place, but if you love high alpine scenery, then put this on your list – you will absolutely l love it!  .... and the Vallee Blanche is within the reach of anyone than can ski off-piste competently, but ONLY with a guide.
We set off shortly after 06h:00 from Chez Moi at Les Charmettes, after breakfasting on double porridge rations und strong coffee .... 
We are all French .. well except me of course ..  ... and I am in great company ... guides Francois & Louisa, a trainee guide, a couple of instructors – great buddies that I ski with a lot and today is a Jolly ...
... and arrive in Chamonix about 09h:00 having stopped en-route for more coffee and .. well .. who could refuse a pain au chocolat or two ...
We are pre-booked, produce our number plates and we’re away ...
First glimpses of the wild & rugged landscape ... 
Crossing the bridge ... it’s a LONG way to Tipperary ...
Getting closer ...
We descend the arête of the Aiguille du Midi, to the ridge. It is an absolutely beautiful day ....
... and pose for posterity...!
There’s not many people about, but we are doing a variant and soon we are alone, but together in threes, on the ropes ...
Happy bunnies ...
The powder is heavenly, but not too deep and we have super FUN ... genial! ..& survey our route .. I tend not to drift far from Francois tracks, to avoid certain doom, down a dastardly French crevasse ...
The landscape takes on a tormented form of such breathtaking proportions that I can only look on in sheer awe. I have never seen such a spectacle ... These poor photos of mine don’t do it justice. It is fantastic ... 
It’s time for lunch and what a spot for a picnic ...
.... see the logic of having a surfer along .... ... our Western European habits of pre-made sandwiches are frowned upon. This is how it’s done here ... There are four varieties of cheese, three varieties of pate – a half kilo of EACH! Plus beautiful sliced hams saucisson and other delicacies, breads, wines, olives and fruit. QUELLE delight! I will ignore Francois complaints in future when he says, “My ABS pack ... is too ‘eavy ... “!
Our lunch is vonderbar! I sit and enjoy the food and my friends company. There is great excitable banter and merriment – laughing and joking as we munch and crunch – this is fine dining! .... a moment to savour and to treasure .. !
Chamonix’s own ‘Angel of the North’ ...
More genial powder over the crevasses ... I am a VERY happy boy ..
Still majestic on the way out ..
We stop for a swim ... ! ... brrrr .... NO ... it’s not a thermal spring ... 
and then we get to go inside a glacier ...
That ‘Indiana Jones, rickety-looking old walkway, on the far rock face is our way out ..
... from thence we climb to the Mountain Train and descend into Chamonix, which of course I can’t photograph because of ‘Low-Bat’ ...
... to a ‘New-Bat’ AND a well deserved beer in Chamonix ...
... and we relax, bathed in the late sunshine, nice tired & content with our day’s adventure and journey & content with life ... AND slightly smug in the knowledge that as we sip, a Coq au Vin of delightful consistency simmers gently, in my slow cooker at Les Charmettes, ready for us starving pilgrims when we return. Oh what joy .. !
Succulent chicken meat, falling off the bone and delectable Coq au Vin sauce dribbling off the chin .. ah.!  .. the sensation ... the taste ! ... a bit of soaking up with fresh baguette and a bit of soaking up the Saint Emilion ... Paradise regained... ! “Let me sing and I’m happy ... “ ... though clearly my companions ears and those of foreigners in proximity are experiencing some distress, as I round squarely into ‘The Sound of Music’ ... (Julie Andrews version)
“Garcon, une autre bier s’il vous plait ... ! “
.... “Oui, .. & it is on the roof if you get ‘im to stop .. “
No sophistication or taste these Chamonixians ..... but democracy wins as I am threatened with duck tape .... & bier it is ...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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BernardC,
Hi Bernard..I am guessing you did Envers and topped them off with the FO couloirs..?
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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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Sounds a fantastic day....
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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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St Bernard, The skiing I take take or leave......your description of food however has me salivating like a starving dog at KFC drive-through window.
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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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hi,bernard c,glad you liked cham as it is my second home and sing its praises to anyone who will listen! i have done the vallee blanche a couple of times and whilst i agree that you must take a guide,i dont agree that you need to be able to ski off piste competently..its just that i wouldn't want anyone who cant ski off piste to read that it is a requirement and give it a miss thinking it would be too difficult for them!!it isnt groomed so of course technically it is off piste,however, there are many different routes down it,from hairy and scary to tracks so gentle they hardly resemble greens..any level of skier can go up there and get down safely,with a guide of course(there is no special requirment ability wise),and i urge anyone that hasnt done it to put it on their "things to do before i die list"..it really is amazing
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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snowpatrol, when you book the guide, do you get the opportunity to say, 'I'm a numpty, so I'd like a green route, please, not a black one'?
BernardC, your TRs make me want to cry. I can and do rustle up lunches and suppers like that (not for nothing have I spent a LOT of time in France) but my skiing won't - and never will - permit me go to the places where you play so joyfully. 
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| BernardC wrote: |
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Can you explain what's going on in this photo? Is that nfLaP?
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BernardC, sounds like you may have overdosed on the fine food, companionship, skiing and scenery... Delightful report...
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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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| BernardC wrote: |
| it’s very difficult to describe the absolutely savage wildness and beauty of this place, but if you love high alpine scenery, then put this on your list – you will absolutely l love it! |
Absolutely. The VB has a lot of knockers, but it's still my favourite lift-served place to ski for the spectacular scenery. I've now found somewhere, though, that knocks even it into a cocked hat scenery-wise, but you have to "earn your turns". I must get my finger out and do a TR.
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wow inside that glacier looks amazing
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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BernardC, great day out, Bernard. Never done the Valle Blanche - perhaps next year ..........
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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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Hurtle, the guide will ask how proficient you are and decide on which route to take you down based on that info..seriously there are way more average or worse skiers up there than experts and numptys(your word!)galore!.. the first time we went through the VB my gf had two weeks skiing behind her..there was a random swiss lady booked with our guide who had skied it before and wanted to take a tougher route.. the guide decided to take us down it..my gf found it hard going(but still loved the experience)..so if you want the easiest route insist on it..
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BernardC, once again a delightful read in between the much-less-interesting patients
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You know it makes sense.
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snowpatrol, thanks. The only other problem is my fear of the arrete...
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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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Hurtle, me too, though I am still thinking about the VB (by a numpty route, bien sure) later this month, when my son will be staying with us for a week or so after he finishes his job in Courchevel. He's a superb skier, and I (irrationally) somehow think I will be safer if he is around. I was up there the other day (up and down in the lift) and the arete didn't look too bad - there's a rope to hang on to both sides, though the wind was ferocious and it was minus goodness knows how many up there. Maybe Nick would carry my skis down the arete - I skied with a guy in Meribel once who had done the VB with a French woman guide. He said they were five hefty blokes and she had insisted on carrying all their skis down the arete.
Actually, having seen it, it's no longer the arete which is my biggest fear - but that bit that sort of disappears over the edge at the bottom. What's that like, folk who have done it?
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Poster: A snowHead
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I should hastily add that I don't intend using my son as a guide - I'd pay for a proper one! They run trips from here, with transport, the cable car etc included, so I can talk to the guy in the shop before making a decision.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pam w, i think what you are describing is the arrete getting *slightly* steeper as it goes on. really, though, when it is equipped you would need to try quite hard to fall off. the arrete ends with a big flat area where you sort your kit out.
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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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Hurtle, and pam w, the arete is the worst part but you are all roped up to each other and the guides are excellent and will talk you through it step by step..once that 100 meters is behind you it is plain sailing..the only time something goes wrong up there is when someone ignores what the guides tell them..like skiing off track etc etc..honestly,its the fear of the unknown and the mystique of the place that makes it seem so daunting.. once you have done it you will wonder what you were afraid of in the first place 
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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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pam w,
If you don't like a precarious edge then the arete will be your worse moment...... the angle down the ridge is ok and the path will be well trodden in unless a big storm has been through in which case they will not let you up ...until they have cut the path in...and for other reasons of course.
Only very early in the season do you go without a rope being laid out...but you will still be in a well worn trench as it were, anyway. You could..if you had to and were brave enough, traverse/ski the arete on the Italian facing side....so a fall would not do you much good but you'd likely survive it...but it would be hard to fall off it, IMV... The Cham side on the ridge is another story.....8000 vertical feet, if you want to put the sh**s up someone... and that is generally the view you see as the pics are taken from the walkway.... but the trench is dug in the other side so unless you are in crampons astride the ridge that isn't reallly in the equation, IMV..
The ridge is a few hundred mtrs long and there will likely be a mass of people on it..this is comforting but also slow.....
This is why you pick a bluebird day as any wisps of cloud you see off the ridge from the valley, means it can be a very exposed-to-the-wind and cold time getting down the ridge.
The walk off the ridge is nothing....you just keep going until the terrain flattens out and you can find a place to put skis on... you will then get the guide talk about skiing in his tracks and then set off down your particular route...
You can ski across the flat to the Rognan knoll..and then down the path...which will mostly be a side-slip amongst the most fantastic seracs..... or you can pick a variant..which basically means you hug the left hand side of a massive spine going all the way down the Mer de Glace.
In reality....good skiers look to do some decent skiing in amazing scenery in a variant.....and this is where you really do need to know what is going on....but others like the day out in high alpine terrain and go for the scenery and end up
on a pretty mundane path for the most part...
Depending on the conditions..new snow will trick it all up...old snow will be a doddle for any half decent turn so a 5 weeker should breeze it... you will learn the value of a side-slip tho..
I would guess you should do something like the Petit Rognan which is more skiing than side-slipping or probably the Gros Rognan....but talk to the guide if you are not sure.....
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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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BernardC, I've sent you a PM (but I'll be away 5th-12th)
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FAQ
