The Chamonix valley is full of adventure, especially when it snows and then turns sunny the next day.
I went to the Aiguille du Midi today, and met up with a couple of friends to ski a variant of the Vallee Blanche. With yesterday giving us another 30 or more centimetres of snow on top of the fluff we had earlier in the week, it turned out to be an awesome day out. The temperatures were cooooold, though, especially on the access ridge, exposed to the wind. That was frostbite conditions. It was very refreshing, though.
The snow was incredible, and on some pitches it turned out to be really deep. It was bottomless cold-smoke powder where the wind had not had any effect, really fluffy and light, and really smooth everywhere else. After the scenic traverse at the bottom, I decided not to ski down all the way to Chamonix town, opting for the 300 step climb to the relaxed train ride down from the Montenvers.
Local knowledge and harnesses/rope/avalanche rescue gear are essential here, as there are lots of crevasses waiting to swallow up those who do not respect the mountain. There are plenty of guides in Chamonix who will be happy to share this gem with anybody who can ski at an intermediate level. There are no ski runs from the Aiguille du Midi - it is all wild high mountain terrain! It is also still early season conditions, and I had to do some crevasse dodging on a seemingly innocent slope today.
Other parts of the valley looked good today too, with lots of sunshine and fresh snow. It looks like we have a couple of clear-ish days coming up, and then some more snow on the weekend.
