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Vallee Blanche...
.... Will be going to Courmayeur in January with a small group of skiers,
differing levels of intermediate, and we'd really like to do the Vallee Blanche for the first time. Can anyone recommend a guide or group we can contact on the Italian side? Thanks, A.D. |
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"Le Dieu" wrote in message ...
... Will be going to Courmayeur in January with a small group of skiers, differing levels of intermediate, and we'd really like to do the Vallee Blanche for the first time. Can anyone recommend a guide or group we can contact on the Italian side? Thanks, A.D. Get in touch with the local Guides Society. They're all UIAGM certified, speaking very good english and french, very very reliable and professional Societą delle Guide Alpine Maestri di Alpinismo di Courmayeur coop. a.r.l. Strada Villair 2 11013 Courmayeur (Aosta) - Italy Tel. +39 0165 842064 Fax. +39 0165 842357 - eMail: web: www.guidecourmayeur.com |
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"Luca Signorelli" wrote in message om... "Le Dieu" wrote in message ... ... Will be going to Courmayeur in January with a small group of skiers, differing levels of intermediate, and we'd really like to do the Vallee Blanche for the first time. Can anyone recommend a guide or group we can contact on the Italian side? Thanks, A.D. Get in touch with the local Guides Society. They're all UIAGM certified, speaking very good english and french, very very reliable and professional Societą delle Guide Alpine Maestri di Alpinismo di Courmayeur coop. a.r.l. Strada Villair 2 11013 Courmayeur (Aosta) - Italy Tel. +39 0165 842064 Fax. +39 0165 842357 - eMail: web: www.guidecourmayeur.com Thank you Luca, just what I needed. A. D. |
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I'm also going to Courmayeur in January and would love to try the Vallee
Blanche. Unfortunately, some in the party have only recently learnt how to parallel ski (using the local snowflex). I'm not sure whether they will be able to do the run. I understand that we would need a guide but I don't want to attempt something that we'll struggle to finish. Articles on the internet are very inconsistent. Some say that a good intermediate can easily do it while others advocate that it's the preserve of more advanced skiers. Just how hard is it? From what I've read, the best approach would be from Helbronner since Aguille Du Midi involves a walk along a narrow ledge (with a rather steep fall into Chamonix!!). Nobody in our group has done any off-piste skiing - although I've been trying to read about the techniques involved. What do you think?? I'd be very grateful for any comments - been thinking about whether or not to try this run for several weeks now!! Niall |
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"NIALLBRUCE" wrote in message ... I'm also going to Courmayeur in January and would love to try the Vallee Blanche. Unfortunately, some in the party have only recently learnt how to parallel ski (using the local snowflex). I'm not sure whether they will be able to do the run. I understand that we would need a guide but I don't want to attempt something that we'll struggle to finish. Articles on the internet are very inconsistent. Some say that a good intermediate can easily do it while others advocate that it's the preserve of more advanced skiers. Just how hard is it? From what I've read, the best approach would be from Helbronner since Aguille Du Midi involves a walk along a narrow ledge (with a rather steep fall into Chamonix!!). Nobody in our group has done any off-piste skiing - although I've been trying to read about the techniques involved. What do you think?? I'd be very grateful for any comments - been thinking about whether or not to try this run for several weeks now!! Niall I'm more or less in the same boat, a confident intermediate happy on reds but with limited off piste experience. From what I've heard talking to other skiiers who've done it, confidence on reds is the marker. I've heard that guides will take different routes according to the party's ability. I guess the thing to do is to be totally up front with the guide and take their advice. I guess it also depends on the definition of a good intermediate. I'd say that the people in your party who've only just learned to ski parallel should give it a miss this year. I contacted the link given earlier in the thread and they've already been in touch. Will probably try and book one of their guides a couple of weeks before we go. Good luck, A. D. |
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In article ,
Le Dieu wrote: "NIALLBRUCE" wrote in message ... I'm also going to Courmayeur in January and would love to try the Vallee Blanche. Unfortunately, some in the party have only recently learnt how to parallel ski (using the local snowflex). I'm not sure whether they will be able to do the run. attempt something that we'll struggle to finish. Articles on the internet are very inconsistent. Some say that a good intermediate can easily do it while others advocate that it's the preserve of more advanced skiers. Just how hard is it? From what I've read, the best approach would be from Helbronner since Aguille Du Midi involves a walk along a narrow ledge (with a rather steep fall into Chamonix!!). Nobody in our group has done any off-piste skiing - although I've been trying to read about the techniques involved. What do you think?? Get more experience. On the Chamonix side, it's not a ledge. It's a ridge. The French sell postcards of lines of people walking down this ridge. It's not merely a steep fall, but there are summer time rock climbing routes on the Chamonix side. And the couloirs between have been extreme skiied. It's a good black run in good snow conditions. I'd rather ski down this ridge than walk down it. I'm more or less in the same boat, a confident intermediate happy on reds but with limited off piste experience. From what I've heard talking to other skiiers who've done it, confidence on reds is the marker. .... I guess it also depends on the definition of a good intermediate. I'd say that the people in your party who've only just learned to ski parallel should give it a miss this year. Look, just take the tram to sight see once and come back when enough skill is learned. The problems with the Vallee a 1) its glacier skiing, there are crevasses. Even with guides you can fall into creveasses or be exposed to avalanches. This is an unforgiving area in bad weather which can descend quickly. Serious ice falls to one side. 2) it's at a elevation higher than most peple ski: headache, cold, judgment impairment, and other issues come to play. Take a day, just take the tram, have a nice lunch, enjoy the vew before viewing the exit. Far better to do it with reasonable skill. Cheaper than an overtended day and more enjoyment for the others who go. -- |
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In article 4188739b$1@darkstar, Eugene Miya
wrote: [snip] The problems with the Vallee a 1) its glacier skiing, there are crevasses. Even with guides you can fall into creveasses or be exposed to avalanches. This is an unforgiving area in bad weather which can descend quickly. Serious ice falls to one side. I think that this is the problem. The conditions vary so much depending on weather and snowfall. In good conditions it requires no more than ability to ski reds. In less than good conditions it is a route with lots of inherent danger. I've been down it lots of times by different routes and in different conditions, usually as a warm up for ski-touring. On one of my early trips we were caught by bad weather and rain which softened the snow bridges. One collapsed and I fell into a crevasse on the Geant Icefall. I was lucky in that I wedged only a few metres down, our party was well equiped for mountaineering and crevasse rescue, and I got out unharmed. But it is not a route to underestimate. 2) it's at a elevation higher than most peple ski: headache, cold, judgment impairment, and other issues come to play. There is considerable exposure on the ridge for anyone who is unhappy with heights. Take a day, just take the tram, have a nice lunch, enjoy the vew before viewing the exit. Far better to do it with reasonable skill. Agreed. Some confidence and ability in off-piste skiing demanded. The ability to do very precise side-slipping with the objective danger of crevasses to the left, to the right and below is extremely useful! Mike URL:http://www.path.cam.ac.uk/~mrc7/ -- o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark \__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing, " || _`\,_ |__\ \ | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and ` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user" |
#9
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In article ,
Mike Clark wrote: In article 4188739b$1@darkstar, Eugene Miya wrote: The problems with the Vallee a 1) it's glacier skiing, I think that this is the problem. The conditions vary so much depending on weather and snowfall. In good conditions it requires no more than ability to ski reds. In less than good conditions it is a route with lots of inherent danger. I've been down it lots of times by different routes and in different conditions, usually as a warm up for ski-touring. On one of my early trips we were caught by bad weather and rain which softened the snow bridges. One collapsed and I fell into a crevasse on the Geant Icefall. I was lucky in that I wedged only a few metres down, our party was well equiped for mountaineering and crevasse rescue, and I got out unharmed. But it is not a route to underestimate. I haven't skied it yet. I have gone up the Midi on general tourism principals in mind (it was early season and I skied other parts of Chamonix). UK friends made jokes of US glaciers when compared to the Mer de Glace. I would say that coming up from Italy either over to the Midi or starting from Hellbronner do themselves somewhat of a disfavor. The lower Mer is an ice fall and pretty broken up. The upper part of the Vallee is is this nice relatively gentle cirque. And that's part of the decptive part. Few things like falling into crevasses (occupational hazard for glaciologists). Or being caught in an avalanche. 2) it's at a elevation higher than most peple ski: headache, cold, judgment impairment, and other issues come to play. There is considerable exposure on the ridge for anyone who is unhappy with heights. Makes for a nice post card. But I would ski it in decent snow and it wasn't filled and tracked with novices. Take a day, just take the tram, have a nice lunch, enjoy the vew before viewing the exit. Far better to do it with reasonable skill. Agreed. Some confidence and ability in off-piste skiing demanded. The ability to do very precise side-slipping with the objective danger of crevasses to the left, to the right and below is extremely useful! Well better to carve. Side slipping is for novice snow boarders, and they would find most of the Vallee too flat in parts, but they also complain of other parts of Europe in the same way. They can't herringboine or side step. -- |
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