A great time to ski the Vallee Blanche is...

A snowHead

...now!

From now through May is the time to find any excuse to hit Chamonix to ski the world's most scenic lift-served ski run. I've done it only three times in a 45-year ski career. Each experience was mind-blowing and magnificent. The phrase 'deja-vu' was not invented for this run.

If you're thinking of skiing it, either this spring or sometime in the future, these two articles make invaluable reading, with very astute advice. Ifyouski[scroll down - the top of the page may be blank] advise skiing it only with a guide, and have lots of practical tips. Pistehors intriguingly, and perhaps a little controversially, raise the notion of skiing it without leadership. As they say, there's nothing to stop you, but bear in mind that this is a very long run with a significant risk of problems - though the skiing is easy most of the way.

I think it's creditable that Chamonix allow people to ski it without imposing a mandatory guide, but I'd only do it with skiers I was absolutely confident of, after believing an equally confident anti-cyclonic weather forecast!

A snowHead

Please share your memories, or advice, from skiing the Vallee Blanche. It would be really interesting to share some experiences...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

David Goldsmith, Thank you for the excellent articles. I can only tell you of my experiences not doing the Vallee Blanche.
A group of us planned to go earlier this month (first weekend of the month) from the Couramyeur side, so avoiding the dreaded ridge. We were only there for a long weekend: Friday to Sunday, but surely out of 3 days there would be one day suitable for the famous run...
Friday and Saturday it snowed with low cloud, so we skied Courmayeur and La Thuile. Thoroughly enjoyed both days, but now all hopes were pinned on Sunday.
Sunday morning dawned sunny with blue skies and only a few clouds. VB must be on! We ate a cheerful breakfast, looking forward to our adventure. Ben, our party leader from Momentum Ski however was more cagey: hopeful - yes - but said we would have to check when we got to the lift. The bus took us up to La Palud for the cablecar and we had another coffee while Ben phoned. We did notice ominous clouds at the top of the mountain, but the cafe seemed full of guides who all looked ready for action. Then Ben came back in. Too much cloud: no Valle Blanche after all. So near, yet not to be...
That ought to have made for a real bad day, but actually no. Instead we did the excellent off-piste run down from Cresta D'Arp in lovely sunshine. And we still had the Vallee blanche to look forward to for another time. We will be back!
David, you suggest "From now through May is the time " to ski this run. Do you think early March is the wrong time to try?

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Jonpim. Hope the dice fall the right way for you next time. Lady Luck is always your best companion for that run. I was lucky (very lucky) enough to ski it in January once - in fact it was my first shot, back in about 1976 - but you can get crystal clear calm days in that month too. We had to wait a fortnight for the opportunity.

This winter seems to have seen its fair share of cloudy days in the Alps. My most recent journey down the Vallee Blanche was in May, which inevitably means you take the Montenvers train back into town. That would probably apply in early March too. To ski the full 2800m vertical, you need to ski it mid-winter, maybe on a lucky day in February. The last section of the run, into Chamonix, obviously requires good snow cover.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I did the VB, in late March, about 2 or 3 seasons ago, in bad weather. We'd heard that there were often 2hr queues on the arrete on nice days, and didn't fancy that. In fact on the morning in question we met at the Midi station and the guide was nowhere to be seen. I called him on my mobile & he basically hadn't turned up because he thought no-one would want to try the VB in a near white-out with high winds. After explaining to him that we learnt to ski in Scotland he agreed to take us, but with grave warnings about how awful it was going to be!

The cable car then didn't open for a further hour because of wind, and when we got to the top there was probably less than 30 people on the entire route. There was quite a bit of drifting fresh snow, and the arrete walk was very easy - soft underfoot, and you couldn't see the killer drops anyway. We were roped, but didn't use crampons. To be honest, if you've done any kind of winter mountaineering, or lots of off-piste skiing, then the arrete is nothing to be particularly worried about.

The weather actually improved quite a bit once we got off the ridge, but the light was flat and spotting crevasses was very tricky - the guide was certainly worthwhile here! He actually phoned his wife halfway down to tell her he was alright - she had looked at the weather and told him not to go!! Or maybe he just told us that, but it certainly made us punters think we had done an "epic"!

Although the skiing was not at all steep, I was a bit surprised at the difficulty - there were a couple of sections where you needed to do some real precision sideslipping between crevasses on ice covered in 1" of fresh snow!. After seeing that I'm not sure I would take any real low-intermediates down it. I know that there are zillions of different routes, which vary each year with crevasse positions etc, but still, you need some margin of error!

The snow only lasted as far as the Montenvers, but that was fine. By the time we got back to the bottom, the weather had cleared, and it was time for some beers!

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Thanks Plake, you certainly had an exciting time.
I had the impression that the run was simply closed on bad-weather-days. You seem to suggest that if you are willing to accept the weather, then you can go down in any conditions.
You're not related by any chance to the legendary Glen , are you?

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I was 14 y.o. (many, many years ago) It was our thrid attempt at it. The two prevous one were put off due to bad weather. This third time, we went as far as to reach the top, before the guide declared that we had to go back "because of bad weather". At that time my mother lost control of herself, and decided that having come so far, she was going down, bad weather or not, guide or not.
Being a good son, I felt dutybound to follow her, to make sure she was safe.
Off we went, in the cloudy weather. Luckily for us, after a few tuns we met a group of well equipped people skiing down the same path...And about halfaway the clouds opened up to a fine, sunny day. The wiev was spectacular! And I immensely enjoyed the skiing. After about one hour (they caught up with us at midday lucnh break) the rest of our group rejoined us. The thing i did not like was having to walk the last two km to Cham, because the snow had melted.

After all it is free

Matteo. Your mother sounds like the sort of person who could lead a nation. I don't think she lost control of herself. She could probably part the Red Sea.

Well, she looked she could have shot someone, that day, she was blindly enraged.
I still remember that!

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From the Courmayeur side, many years ago. I think it was about Easter time-ish. We had to walk down the last bit to Chamonix, too. Tried twice since then (both from the Courmayeur side). Both times the guide called it off before even reaching the mountain - once because of too much snow, and was a based on other guides going up to recce., the other was high winds closed the cable car.

I should try again sometime - as my sister lives there, I've got into the habit of thinking I could do it again anytime, which is not a good habit to get into.

Personally, I wouldn't do it without a guide as I've met and heard too many stories of guides getting into problems (crevasses, etc.) scouting out the new season's routes. Of course, that sort of anecdotal stuff may make it seem more sensational, but I'm not sure I'm ready to emulate Joe Simpson.

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The other classic to rival the Vallee blanche is to climb the Briethorn above Zermatt then ski down below Castor and onto the edge of the Monte Rosa glacier. The Briethorn is the easiest 4000m peak in the Alps since it is right next to the 3800m Klien Matterhorn. However climbing with skis on my back ice axe crampons, food water and a video camera, was exhausting work in hot sunshine.

We climbed it without a guide about 10 years ago then skied off left round the back onto the Monte Rosa glacier and eventully back into Zermatt.

A fabulous trip skiing over partly open crevasses Shocked

and below perched seracs. The hazards were fairly obvious and given stable weather and lots of traffic route finding was straight forward.

Once down the Briethorn we only saw 2 other skiers all day.

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Another article from pisteHors.... perhaps wise to err on the side of caution and use a guide if you have the slightest doubts about your ability and mountaincraft? More deaths, including one in the V.B.

Danger, Crevasse!!

Peter S, you may have the necessary ability and mountaincraft, but for the rest of us, as PG urges: get a guide Exclamation

You know it makes sense.

If you're looking for a guide, could I recommend tom@cham as he calls himself on other forums.
If you want his contact details, PM me.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I have been reading this thread with interest as I am wondering about taking my 2 older girls to do this during the Easter holidays next year. The ifyouski article was very infomative and we would certainly get a guide.

They will then be 15 and 13 and will have 4 weeks skiing under their belts. They are both competent, but different. The older being more cautious, the younger being completely go for it. Would this be OK for them? Has anyone taken their kids down it before? Any other considerations? Lots of questions as Mrs Z would never forgive me if I came back with less than the number that I set out with.

A snowHead

Ray, no problem with kids, my youngest son skied it aged 10. You don't have to get a specific guide you can book to join a group. I haven't done it for a good few years now but you can find details on www.guides-du-montblanc.com. The guides are extremely careful and will vary their route according to snow conditions and skier capabilities. The only really scary bit are the ice steps on the the ridge at the very start but even that's tamer now, I understand they have a rope on both sides of the steps! It's a fabulous day but best skied, IMHO, later in the season although the disadvantage then is that you can have a long walk back into Chamonix, unless you catch the train from the Mer de Glace.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

The VB has to be one of those days that really lives up to the hype. Just standing in the queue for the Midi bin get's me exited !

I've skied it in April and February, in Feb skied right down to Cham - and then spent the afternoon on the Grands Montets - what a day ! That time we skied the Envers du Plan with a guide.

The normal route isn't a hard ski - but it is a great day out in the high mountains. Most of the time you can stand on your skis and marvel at the beauty of the scenery going past.

If you have ski-toured in Europe, across glaciers, you should have the skills to complete the VB normal route yourself, but if not, then a guide is the way to go.

There are only two sections that are really need caution. The first is the walk down the infamous knife edge at the start. A guide will probably rope you up for this. There will be a lot of people, with big snowy steps, and a view of Chamonix, straight down.... After this the first 10 or so metres are steep, and then you are on the glacier proper. From here until the ice fall you ski slowly and enjoy the view.

Once at the ice fall you'll find things get a little narrow. You guide will tell you EXACTLY where to go. Follow his/her instructions to the letter.After that you can then enjoy the scenery again until you either reach the gondola and train back to Cham....or enjoy the woods on skis.

IMO the very best day on the VB involves skinning up the the Helbronner, have a cup of Espresso, and then skiing right back to Cham................fantastic !

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I did the VB in Feb 03. With a guide. Although the skiing is not too difficult, I think it would be madness to do it without a guide. If you've started, you've got to finish, it's 20km at more than the usual altitude, and anything could happen, including sudden weather change.

I don't know how true it is, but at the top station, while there was still chance to turn back, our guide told us about a hydro station at the bottom of the glacier. Apparently they have a grille to stop chunks of ice clogging the works, out of which they fish bodies now and then, that have been carried down the glacier for decades, depending how far up the unfortunate soul fell into a crevasse! I think this was calculated to weed out faint hearts!

It was snowing for us at the top, near white-out. That meant that I had little sense of the drop on either side of the arête: probably a good thing. There's a longish, steepish, powdery descent onto the glacier. We'd got under the cloud by then. After that, there's lots of very flat skiing on the glacier, and some flattish but bumpy skiing to the side of it. Then comes the ice fall, which is easily the hardest bit. Our guide said we had to follow him exactly, and not stop until the bottom, no matter how much the thighs might be screaming. I think that's because of the risk of ice bridges collapsing if you're stationary. You do have to be quite accurate and style counts for nothing: lots of snowplough turns and side-slipping!

There's then another long flat section to the end. It was in this bit that I remember peering into crevasses: I think I was concentrating too much at the ice fall to really take them in there.

I'd like to do it again on a nicer day.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Laundryman, no it's true, apparently it takes 50 yrs for bodies/debris to be regurgitated by the glacier, you can see the bits of the Air India plane that crashed on Mont Blanc in 1956

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David@traxvax, I think it may depend on the size of the glacier and the distance from the end when the debris enters it as well wink

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It seems that the weather, and lifts been closed is a big problem. Suggest that a trip be taken at the earliest opportunity in the week as the opportunity may not present itself if left to the latter part of the week snowHead

After all it is free

PG-just a thought.Would there be a 'window' during the bash week?Or would it be impossible,impractical or just plain daft Confused

Given my rubbish geography,are we even close enough to make it viable?? As I said;just a thought.Mind you,I do fancy it snowHead

Snowskisnow, it's a long way from BSM to Chamonix, a minimum of 2 hrs driving each way. One of the best ways to do it is ski from La Ros to La Thuile, catch a bus to Courmeyer and ski down from the Italian side. There is an off-piste route from La Thuile to Courmeyer but I've never skied it, although my son has carrying his gear with him and staying overnight in a refuge.

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David Goldsmith, do you mean you have skied the classic route (the one officially called the Vallee Blanche) 3 times, or do you include all the more difficult, variant routes?
I think I have only skied the classic once, but if you include all the variants, I once skied it 3 times in one day! All the French variants keep further left, cutting the corner to various degrees.
I have only skied it once without a qualified guide and that was with two locals. At one point we had to jump off one sheet of glacier about 7ft down onto another sheet accross a cravass! (Some other people without a guide had obviously decided to follow us at a distance and this was too much for them. We saw them turn and start laboriously climbing up again.
On two other occasions we went throughthe tunnel to Italy and skied the Italian side down to Italy a couple of times (skiing the top part right under the lift is very exciting variant and very steep) The other ways all start (after a short hike) with a long descent down an iron stairway.
Then at the end of the day we skied the Vallee Blanche (keeping high to the right one time, and not joining the classic till, I think, the ice-fall).

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Interesting! I've never known the ice-fall as bad as that, anything like.

You know it makes sense.

Hmmm I must admit that I really want to do the VB. I have read so much of the impact of the scenery as you go down it (also repeated here). But am feeling a little unsure now about taking the kids down it after all these comments about the dangers and potential pitfalls.

Does anyone know the figures of fatalities on that route, you all make it sound as if only 80% or so complete the route with one in every group falling off the arrete at the beginning and then another getting lost forever down a crevasse.

Exactly how wide is the arrete (1 foot / 3 foot / 5 foot ?) and how many steps down is it? How long (approximately) in either skiing time or distance is the ice-fall?

Thanks for any help.

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snowball, I checked my dates - this was early Feb 1988; apart from the night before there had been very little snow all season and the summer before (87) was a warm one... some of our number did it again a few years later and said it was tamer then... but it's a glacier so will be different every year.

Ray Zorro, if your kids are confident, competent and sensible then trust your guide - as indicated by other posters the guides will generally err on the side of caution and will say if they think it's unwise. As for fatalities, someone here may know different but I've not heard of fatalities on the tourist trail, only to those either skiing alone or on the more serious routes down - 95% is Blue Run skiing.

The arrete is a scary place although I guess the width varies with conditions (at the top its probably 2-3 foot wide? dunno how many steps but it's maybe 200metres?). AFAICR, the ice-fall is at about three quarters distance; the remaining will be a lot of polling and some walking to get you back to Chamonix.

A snowHead

Ray Zorro, take a guide....... Very Happy

As far as the dangers go, it IS dangerous, as in any offpiste skiing. Taking a guide will minimise thses risks. How are your children with heights ? I would say the most 'exiting' part is the arrete, and if they get frightened there it's a long way down with miserable children.

However, as everyone here has said, it is one of the best days you can have in the mountains..........

A snowHead

I really fancy this now. four or five years ago we went to Courmayeur for a long weekend - I hadnt been skiing very long and was very disappointed to learn that since the Mont Blanc Tunnel was closed, we wouldn't be able to do the VB as it would mean a very long taxi ride back from Chamonix. No-one mentioned a route down the italian side - or is that not counted as the Vallée Blanche?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Ray, whatever you do take a guide and take their advice. As well as roping you up for the ridge, if you need, they will carry poles (and maybe even skis, thinking of your daughters) so that you can concentrate on getting down. I really am not sure about 4 week old skiers taking it on - it depends greatly on how they have come on, their confidence - and also the conditions.

We did the VB in glorious sunshine in Feb 2003 (no wind - even at the top). It was absolutely brilliant - a never to be forgotten day. Despite the crush at the top, we saw no one and had fresh tracks between setting off on a 'variante' of the classic route and arriving at the spot for lunch. (Our guide was waiting for a couple of days till the full moon, when he and some mates were going to come up to the Refuge on the last cable car, have a meal and ski down at midnight!)

We were able to ski down to Chamonix (at Planards?)- but remember that if this is your route, there is a 10 minute uphill hike to get you out of the valley. It's not a problem at all- but we noticed that some less fit folk were pretty shattered at this point.

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Ray Zorro, different bits of the arete look different, but this cross-section is my memory of the sort of thing you may find on the worst bits. Usually there are two paths to get down quicker. (I've never heard of it taking more than half an hour, but there are hold-ups when the demand is high).
There is always a rope to hold and in my experience guides always rope you together and carry most people's sticks, so you have a hand free (he often wears crampons as the anchor man on the rope but you don't).

Actually, looking at it again, now its on here, I've made the path a bit too narrow)

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

snowball, thanks for that sketch, it really helps.I think I am worrying about nothing, the kids would probably cope far better than me!!

Thanks again everyone for all the comments.

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I should have said that you are walking downhill, down the arete.

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Ray Zorro, I did the VB with a mate and his 15-year old son, an excellent skier and sensible chap. No problem at all. My own daughters, about that age and also excellent skiers, didn't fancy it. The only note of caution I would add is that if any of your children are wilful, headstrong, think they know best because they can ski better than dad, etc, then leave them behind!

As an example, one aspect of normal protocol that changes is that if the guide stops, you stop above him, because he may have pulled up at a crevasse. If someone tries to stop below because they've been told that in lessons to avoid knocking people over, it could be curtains!

After all it is free

Yes, that is a general rule off-piste.

I found these rather nice photos of the VB. My appetite is well an truly whetted now.

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I think Im going to have to go to Chamonix in 2006 to try this run the descriptions above are really inspiring.

Help!!

A great time to ski the Vallee Blanche is...

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