Engleberg skiing

Andy Bonwick wrote in news:c8f5dcFk9cbU1
@mid.individual.net:

On 24/09/2014 06:35, Cab wrote:
Andy Bonwick wibbled forthrightly:

I always favoured the beer & tabs approach to training for the Alps.

I used to get the BMC bus from London to Chamonix and arrive at about
9am, put my tent up in the site opposite the hospital then jump in a
cable car up to Le Brevent for a walk along the ridge and down into
the valley to shake off the horrors of the bus journey.

The next day would usually see a group of us going up to the Midi
then a snow plod up Mont Blanc du Tacul before either setting up a
bivi near the old Cosmiques hut or begging our way into the Midi
station to sleep in one of the corridors then walk down the Vallee
Blanche to Chamonix.

Once that was done I was normally acclimatised and ready for bigger
things and longer stays above the snow line. It's amazing how long
you can stay up there for when you're skint and don't want to be
constantly paying for telepheriques.

Heh. IIRC, Plod now frowns upon people camping near Cosmiques and they
do move them on. Officially speaking.

They've always frowned on it but they can't do anything about it if the
last telepherique has left the Midi and you're stranded. Leaving
anything resembling a camp site set up in the day time would see it
removed so you've always got to carry everything or lower it into a
crevasse. Allegedly.

My acclimatization routine in the early '80s was to camp in the Vallée
Blanche for a few days and climb on the Midi. Loads of people did it
then, and there was often a military camp up there too. The last time I
did that, after several years absence, was 1989 or 1990; there was no-one
else there, and we weren't hassled, but that could have been because it
was rather stormy.

--
Jeremy
K1300GT

In article ,
says...

On 23/09/2014 08:48, Jérémy wrote:

snip

To be fair (I was rather pulling Cab's leg), you've got to be in pretty
good shape for even the easy routes to be easy.

I always favoured the beer & tabs approach to training for everything.

Fixed that for you.


--
Will
ZRX1200
XJ600S

Champ wrote:

On Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:29:52 +0100, PipL wrote:


Which is why I usually walk rather than take the bus.

It was easier last time, though: one of the advantages of snowboarding boots.

I thought one of the advantages of snowboarding boots was to fell smug
in the company of skiers when having to walk anywhere?

At its apogee on the arrette from Aiguille de Midi to the starting
point of the Vallee Blanche


Take snow crampons for your ski boots for this descent. It's snow and
steep so a hard boot like an Alpine boot or a ski boot is best.

Frankly, the next time I ski this I am going to ski straight from the
head exit along the VB side and then down the couloir or the face and
over the bergschrund.

That circus of guided skiers all crawling down the fixed rope is
really annoying.

On Fri, 08 Apr 2016 17:45:04 +0100, "
wrote:

I thought one of the advantages of snowboarding boots was to fell smug
in the company of skiers when having to walk anywhere?

At its apogee on the arrette from Aiguille de Midi to the starting
point of the Vallee Blanche

Take snow crampons for your ski boots for this descent. It's snow and
steep so a hard boot like an Alpine boot or a ski boot is best.

This is nonsense - I've walked down there loads of times in snowboard
boots, and it's just like walking down your own stairs in slippers.
I've remotely understood why skiers make such a meal of it, but I
think it's mostly down to inexperience rather than any inherent
problem with ski boots. I know Ace of this parish would walk down
there at least as quickly as i do.

Frankly, the next time I ski this I am going to ski straight from the
head exit along the VB side and then down the couloir or the face and
over the bergschrund.

Ok, that I'd like to see.

That circus of guided skiers all crawling down the fixed rope is
really annoying.

It is that! I think it just takes one scared person to hold everyone
up.

On Sat, 09 Apr 2016 14:52:10 +0100, Champ wrote:

On Fri, 08 Apr 2016 17:45:04 +0100, "
wrote:


[Aiguille du Midi]

Frankly, the next time I ski this I am going to ski straight from the
head exit along the VB side and then down the couloir or the face and
over the bergschrund.

Ok, that I'd like to see.

That circus of guided skiers all crawling down the fixed rope is
really annoying.

It is that! I think it just takes one scared person to hold everyone
up.

This is one thing I really want to do (the Vallee Blanche, not holding
people up) but everything I've heard about Chamonix puts me off
stopping there. I suppose I could stay elsewhere and just drive over,
but then organising a guide would be a problem.

--

-Pip

On Sat, 09 Apr 2016 18:56:26 +0200, Pipl wrote:

This is one thing I really want to do (the Vallee Blanche, not holding
people up) but everything I've heard about Chamonix puts me off
stopping there. I suppose I could stay elsewhere and just drive over,
but then organising a guide would be a problem.

Telephone the Bureau des Guides in Cham. They should be able to
advise, and I imagine one might just be able to join a general group.
I would think it's perfectly do-able as a day trip from somewhere else
in the area.

Champ wrote in newsm1igbt5cs1p7ud145inn8hdskn06pljf6@
4ax.com:

At its apogee on the arrette from Aiguille de Midi to the starting
point of the Vallee Blanche

Take snow crampons for your ski boots for this descent. It's snow and
steep so a hard boot like an Alpine boot or a ski boot is best.

This is nonsense - I've walked down there loads of times in snowboard
boots, and it's just like walking down your own stairs in slippers.
I've remotely understood why skiers make such a meal of it, but I
think it's mostly down to inexperience rather than any inherent
problem with ski boots. I know Ace of this parish would walk down
there at least as quickly as i do.

I have, and would in the future, take crampons. The cut path on the
Chamonix side doesn't require them, but you can avoid the crowds by walking
down the crest of the ridge as one does in summer. It's a good idea to have
crampons for this as the snow can be wind-blown and hard.

--
Jeremy
K1300GT