 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, we are off to Chamonix in a couple of weeks. We are advanced skiers looking for some off piste but nothing too hardcore. Does anyone know of any areas or locations off the piste? Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pfski, goto Grands Montets. Off piste everywhere you look. From side of the piste to dodging crevasses and everything inbetween. Given that some of the best stuff is on glaciers and the crevasses are wide open this year you would do well to hire a guide on your first 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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Pulled a French chap out of a crevasse last March on the Argentière glacier, it was only 1m from the safe route. He had stopped to look into it and the edge he was standing on collapsed. Luckily we had stopped to take a photo of the sun glistening on the ice falls!! Beware. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Well worth getting a guide, there is plenty of off piste all over Chamonix, but you'll be best off with someone who knows what is fun and safe in the current conditions. 
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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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Is the Pendant bowl crevassed?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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http://www.facewest.co.uk/Guide-Mont-Blanc-Off-Piste.html
Assume this is the updated version of the one I have. Swirly has the Anselme Baud guide knocking round the flat but that is best described as the advanced manual.
Needless to say, be careful - the combination of the crevasse and avalanche hazard is arguably more extensive than in other places. Furthermore, some places, including those that look relatively benign e.g. the back of Le Tour, are potentially very dangerous. Guide wise, I've had good experiences with Chamex.
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With no guide and no locals showing me around, I'd probably go to Flegere-Brevent rather than Grand Montets (especially if you're looking for something "not too hardcore" - GM is harder than FB).
But every time I skied in Chamonix was either with a guide or with someone who knew the area well, so I never had to make the choice!
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Sideshow_Bob, no, there's no glacier there.
pfski, the Grands Montets is the area, but there's good stuff at Flegere and Le Tour as well (although I've done very little at Le Tour). Beware of avalanches on the area to skiers' left of the Flegere area though if the weather starts warming up - the slopes above the ski area go a lot. In Argentere/Grand Montets the 'safe' stuff is off the Bochard lift. If you cut directly under the lift you cross a very brief tail of the glacier as you traverse from there to the Canadian bowl (between Bochard and Herse lifts), but it's nothing to worry about unless you start hiking up the hill. The Pendant/Lavanchet bowl is glacier free, but you should pay careful attention to any avalanche danger - Lavanchet does go fairly frequently (look for very young saplings). There's also plenty of fun stuff off the side of the red piste down from Bochard, and also some great gullys and ridges in and around the trees between the two chair-lifts serving the blue pistes above Plan Joran. You can also get fun tree skiing ("the Magic Forest") to skiers' left of the Plan Rougon lift - always tend to the left though to make the Retour Pendant lift, and do NOT drop below the road traversing the hill, or you have a long walk back up. From the Grands Montets lift itself there are two black "pistes" which are never actually groomed, so you get off-piste conditions all the way down, and the piste just merges into the surrounding off-piste anyway. Beautiful conditions up there at the moment, and it's an absolute must in good weather. Currently Point de Vue is shut, and there's a humungous crevasse right across it, but Pylones is open and easily skiable. Just after it splits from Point de Vue it forms a track through a small col, and there's a section to be careful of to skiers' right just as it opens out. This is always crevassed and roped off. Just below it there is also a snowy ridge that's fun to ski off, but currently there is an exposed crevasse just below that ridge, so do take care there. There's no need for a guide for any of this - just follow the many tracks (not always a good idea, but pretty safe here). If you want something a bit more hardcore to finish off your trip you could try the Pas de Chevre, but you will need a guide for that, and you should also do the Vallee Blanche (by something other than the Classic Route), again guided.
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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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GrahamN, thanks, thought it wasn't. Le Tour is good fun and has some fantastic (but very avalanche-prone) open pitches to the left of the Herse chair (better if you hike up but you can just cut across) and the Posettes couloir down to Vallorcine is a blast. I've found it not to be as busy or quickly-tracked-out as GMs. Never actually got round to skiing Brevent/Flegere yet.
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worth chipping in again that the avalanche risk is substantial at the moment, chipping in for a guide (while not infallible) may be an even better investment this year!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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I'd second about Les Houches. Just got back from there, the tree skiing was great. The addition of Les Houches is new this year, apparently.
Beware the buses, though, it was taking 2 hours to get back to Les Bossons from Le Tour, and this was every day.
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You know it makes sense.
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cp1000, d'oh, I meant the Tête de Balme chair 
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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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Thought you might, but didn't want to second guess you. I agree with your comments on avalanche prone - the guides we have talked to have been very vocal on the subject.
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Poster: A snowHead
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cp1000, More tourist/week/end skiers die in le tour than anywhere else in the chamonix valley. In fact if i had to hazard a guess if you could seperate out the hardcore skibums & locals from the the tourist skiers that le tour & more specifically the backside of le tour would account for more skiing fatalities than the rest of the valley put together.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks everyone, i will take your advice onboard. What kind of prices will we be looking at for a guide? Thanks in advance.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Wondering if anyone might know where I can rent avalanche safety equipment (ABS pack, trans, shovel, probe, etc) for week of Feb 27-mar 6 2010.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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...in Chamonix that is!!
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I've rented ice-axe and crampons at Technique Extreme, on the road from the main drag to Chamonix Sud, before, so you may be able to do so for what you want. Has a bit of a TKMaxx feel about it, but much cheaper than other places, and do the job. Otherwise probably just about any of the main shops would also do so - Snell Sports is probably the biggest (and possibly the priciest). I've not tried renting an ABS before though.
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Thanks for the info!
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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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You will rent an arva kit (transciever, shovel & probe) from any of the big rental places in cham e.g. snell's, coqouz sports, sanglard's, technique extreme, etc. I would however be quite surprised if you could rent an ABS backpack. Though times have moved on & it's not beyond the realm of possibility.
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| frank4short wrote: |
| You will rent an arva kit (transciever, shovel & probe) from any of the big rental places in cham e.g. snell's, coqouz sports, sanglard's, technique extreme, etc. I would however be quite surprised if you could rent an ABS backpack. Though times have moved on & it's not beyond the realm of possibility. |
Thanks - no real need for the ABS, just an afterthought.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Snell sport will rent abs packs for around 25 euro per day; or at least that was the price 2 years ago.
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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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