Great day skiing at the Grand Montet and Argentiere

After a week of bad weather in Chamonix we finally got a good day. My daughter Chloe graduated from the French Ski School at the Flocon (Snowflake) level today. I caught the bus to Argentiere around noon and headed up to Lognan.  There was a long queue for the Grant Montets telepherique so I caught the gondola to Bochard and did a thigh burning run down,


The new AT skis and boots are great.  Some fresh snow at the top, firm icy sections in the middle and wet snow towards the bottom.

I waited in the line for the Grand Montet lift and chatted with Jean and Stan from Alsace,

The cloud descended as we waited for our ride.  Once on the lift, a cheer from everyone packed into the lift went up when we burst through the cloud back into the sunshine!  Jean, Stand and their group skied the normal route down.  I ducked under the rope and headed for the direct route that other skiers were on.

Great snow and a great view!  I dropped over the headwall past a crevasse and got some great powder turns in,  Veering left I even got some fresh snow.  This is Chamonix skiing at its best.

Then I descended in into the cloud with poor visibility.  I teamed up with four Norwegians as we skied down then back onto the Bouchard piste run and below the cloud.

I spent the rest of the day skiing with our Swiss friends who had arrived today and come up to Argentiere for a great afternoon skiing.  Needless to say, they were all excellent skiers.

Back in Chamonix we headed out to dinner at La Boccolatte and had a magnificent Raclette.  I don't think I have ever eaten so much cheese!

Amitié australienne Français

Amitié australienne suisse

Vallee Blanche ski descent in icy conditions

The forecast was for deteriorating weather so we decided to head straight down the Vallee Blanche after a nice breakfast. Nils said the direct run down the Vallee Blanche glacier was heavily crevassed.

It was fast but difficult skiing on the firm icy snow.  Turning could be tricky with ruts from other ski tracks.  The run steepened as we approached the Geant icefall, then got very steep as we descended to the left of the icefall.  It was spectacular being so close to the icefall, but turning on the steep icy moguls was very challenging.

This was my hardest descent of the Vallee Blanche glacier run.

At about the traverse to Requin hut Simon tweaked his knee during a fall and decided to walk the remainder of the steep section.  Tufu (a local) and Sara (a Swede) were also descending.  Sara was happy to put her crampons on and tie onto a rope with Simon.

The descent route became even narrower right next to the icefall, then it was over.  We emerged onto a flatter section.  There were crevasses however, so everyone put their skis on and we zipped across to the other side where the descent was now easier.  The ice finally gave way to some softer more enjoyable snow as we continued down the Mer de Glace (the "Sea of Ice") glacier.

Its a relief to get out of the area of difficulty and just cruise down the wide expanse of glacier.

We skied almost to the staircase, then climbed it to the small gondola lift, again marveling at the marked level of the glacier over the last decades and its dramatic retreat.

The Montveners railway was busy. We had to be 22 euro tickets to get down it (having bought one way tickets up the Ag. du Midi the day before).  I had a nice coffee while we waited and finally got a photo of most of my gear all together.

The train ride down is certainly much easier than walking, as Mark and I did two years ago.  We had great hamburgers at the popular Elevation 1904 bar near the railway station.

GPS Log