Vallee Blanche

I'm going to Chamonix next weekend a with 'friends and wives' and we are
thinking of skiing the Vallee Blanche during our stay. My wife would like to
ski Vallee Blanche with us, but she is not very experienced with off-piste
and I'm a bit concerned if she will be able to do that route.

Has anyone skied that route? How steep are the steepest spots and are there
any bad mogul fields/ other scary stuff during the route? Do you think that
ok piste-skier can manage that route without too much risk involved?

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:45:03 +0200, "Diagonal Style"
wrote:

I'm going to Chamonix next weekend a with 'friends and wives' and we are
thinking of skiing the Vallee Blanche during our stay. My wife would like to
ski Vallee Blanche with us, but she is not very experienced with off-piste
and I'm a bit concerned if she will be able to do that route.

Has anyone skied that route? How steep are the steepest spots and are there
any bad mogul fields/ other scary stuff during the route? Do you think that
ok piste-skier can manage that route without too much risk involved?

I've done the "top to bottom" VB a couple of times, and also lots of
other routes down from the Aiguille de Midi, and also from the
Helbronner (Italian) side.

The standard VB run you get with a Chamonix guide consists of 3
sections
- the top, which is wide, open, can be a little steep
- the middle, where you negotiate the glacier seracs
- the run out - flat, safe and boring

No one (apart from snowboarders when there's fresh i.e. slow snow!)
has a problem with the run out. The problems will come at the top and
the middle.

In the top section, you have to be able to ski unpisted pitches.
These can vary from beautiful fresh powder to a mogul field, depending
on when it last snowed. Either way, you need to be comfortable in a
variety of conditions.

The middle section isn't particularly technical, but you *do* need to
be able to ski *exactly* where the guide tells you to. Some of the
snow-bridges are only the width of a skier' skis (iyswum i.e. about 2
feet) with visible crevases either side.

Only you know you're wife's abilities. Also, it depends on her
temperament. If she's the sort of person who will just get on with
it, then a fairly average skier can do the VB without trouble. But if
she's likely to panic or freeze, remember that you're a long way from
home. Of course, the guide will *always* get you down - they're have
an enormous amount of experience. But, you want it to be a fun day
out, not an ordeal.

I'd just add that for most reasonable skiers, the VB is not a
challenging run, but it is a stunningly beautiful day out - as
beautiful place as anywhere I've seen on earth.

Hope this helps

(PS: don't be scared of heights, either - the access along the arrete
from the top of the A de M lift can freak a few people out!)
--
Champ

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 15:15:56 +0200, "Diagonal Style"
wrote:

Thank you for the excellent report. I'm mostly concerned that the girls
might panic a bit in some spot seeing a crevasse or steep section and could
not get to the end of the route. Or at least could not enjoy the skiing
because of the potential dangers.

Well, that's the $64k question :-) If they're the sort who might
panic a bit, it could spoil everyone's day out.

One more question - have you always skied with a guide when starting from
Midi, or do you think it is possible to make without one? We are all rather
experienced with off-piste, but have never been in chamonix before. We are
thinking of using our guide budget in Grands Montets and ski the VB by
following tracks.

I really, *really* wouldn't recommend doing the VB without a guide.
The route through the glacier really can be quite treacherous. Sure,
plenty of folk do it by following tracks, but I certainly wouldn't put
myself in that situation.
--
Champ

Champ wrote:
I really, *really* wouldn't recommend doing the VB without a guide.
The route through the glacier really can be quite treacherous. Sure,
plenty of folk do it by following tracks, but I certainly wouldn't put
myself in that situation.

the $64 question being, could the OP rescue one of their party from a
crevasse if they fell in? I suspect for anyone who has to ask about the
route the answer is no and by the time the rescue services come or some
friendly guide helps out the person down the crevasse may be in a bad way.

In message , davidof
writes
Champ wrote:
I really, *really* wouldn't recommend doing the VB without a guide.
The route through the glacier really can be quite treacherous. Sure,
plenty of folk do it by following tracks, but I certainly wouldn't put
myself in that situation.

the $64 question being, could the OP rescue one of their party from a
crevasse if they fell in? I suspect for anyone who has to ask about the
route the answer is no and by the time the rescue services come or some
friendly guide helps out the person down the crevasse may be in a bad way.

Is it true that a party had someone fall into a crevasse and discovered
a bloke already in it that nobody'd missed?

Or is that an urban myth?

--
Sue ]

MadCow wrote:
Is it true that a party had someone fall into a crevasse and discovered
a bloke already in it that nobody'd missed?

Or is that an urban myth?

It is not impossible, people do the VB alone and if they don't tell
anyone where they are going it would be like looking for a needle in a
haystack.

This guy was never found who went missing in the area earlier in the year:

http://pistehors.com/comments/A546_0_1_0_C/

In message , davidof
writes
MadCow wrote:
Is it true that a party had someone fall into a crevasse and
discovered a bloke already in it that nobody'd missed?
Or is that an urban myth?

It is not impossible, people do the VB alone and if they don't tell
anyone where they are going it would be like looking for a needle in a
haystack.

This guy was never found who went missing in the area earlier in the year:

http://pistehors.com/comments/A546_0_1_0_C/

I remember reading an article in a ski mag about a party who lost a
member down a crevasse. When the guide lowered ropes etc it was actually
someone else that emerged first! They had been there for half a day or
so. Lucky or what?
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
"And don’t forget my dog, fixed and consequent"

My friends are in Chamonix until the end of the week so you can have a
conversation with them. There will certainly go to Aguille du Midi and Valee
Blanche as every year, and they are experienced. I certainly suggest you to
take the guide. It costs 150? (if I remember well).
After the first, upper part your wife will certainly be tired. We also went
there with some rather unexperienced ladies, so after 10 minutes all of us
almost went mad.


Diagonal Style wrote in message
...
I'm going to Chamonix next weekend a with 'friends and wives' and we are
thinking of skiing the Vallee Blanche during our stay. My wife would like
to
ski Vallee Blanche with us, but she is not very experienced with off-piste
and I'm a bit concerned if she will be able to do that route.

Has anyone skied that route? How steep are the steepest spots and are
there
any bad mogul fields/ other scary stuff during the route? Do you think
that
ok piste-skier can manage that route without too much risk involved?

I guess we will be trying to talk girls out of it. Still thinking about the
guide though. 150 for a group doesn't sound that bad but if that's a price
per person then we will skip it.

"MaN" wrote in message
...
My friends are in Chamonix until the end of the week so you can have a
conversation with them. There will certainly go to Aguille du Midi and
Valee
Blanche as every year, and they are experienced. I certainly suggest you
to
take the guide. It costs 150? (if I remember well).
After the first, upper part your wife will certainly be tired. We also
went
there with some rather unexperienced ladies, so after 10 minutes all of us
almost went mad.

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 17:41:19 +0200, "Diagonal Style"
wrote:

"MaN" wrote in message
...
My friends are in Chamonix until the end of the week so you can have a
conversation with them. There will certainly go to Aguille du Midi and
Valee
Blanche as every year, and they are experienced. I certainly suggest you
to
take the guide. It costs 150? (if I remember well).
After the first, upper part your wife will certainly be tired. We also
went
there with some rather unexperienced ladies, so after 10 minutes all of us
almost went mad.

I guess we will be trying to talk girls out of it. Still thinking about the
guide though. 150 for a group doesn't sound that bad but if that's a price
per person then we will skip it.

I'm using a Cham mountain guide for the week after next, and his rate
is €320 per day for groups up to 3 people, and €360 for groups up to 6
people.

Most guides doing the VB have up to 6 people with them, tho to be
honest they all find it so bloody boring they might charge more.

Good guides try and book their time by the week. That way their
income is much more reliable, and also they get chance to build a
proper relationship with the clients, and take them places well
matched to their tastes and skills.

The VB is a good day out for a punter, but it must be incredibly
boring for the guides. Mind you, a couple of years ago when I climbed
Mt Blanc one of the guides we were using on our group had literally
lost count of the number of times he'd been up there!
--
Champ