Skiing ‘La Vallee Blanche’ was by far the highlight of this year’s skiing.
The run is probably the most famous off-piste run in the world, down the glaciers of Mont Blanc requiring you to ski around huge seracs, boulders and crevasses on top of glaciers to the Chamonix valley.
I caught the cable car up to the Aiguille Du midi with Lucy and my guide Doume. We then took a lift to a viewing platform at 3880 metres which provides a stunning panorama of all the alps, into Switzerland and Italy.
We climbed down to the start of the run through an ice tunnel and down the Arete, which is pretty hair raising. Crampons were worn as were harnesses and we descended all roped together. The ridge has a 40% incline either side so falling is not a good idea. Doume guided me down the ridge with great skill to start the run down the Geant Glacier.
We all had to have avalanche transceivers which highlighted the dangers of the run, even on such a perfect, cloudless day.
The Geant Glacier turns into the Glacier du Tacul however before this point we traversed the moraine taking us to the Rufuge du Requin for lunch at 2516 metres. It is a spectacularly positioned restaurant above the Valley facing the seracs du Geant, arete des perides, le mont mallet, aiguille du tacul and le dent du Geant.
After lunch we joined the Glacier du Tacul which merges with the Glacier de Les chaux to become the Mer de Glace. The snow although not ‘piste-bashed’ was excellent to ski however constant vigilance was required to ensure we did not fall into the numerous crevasses.
As the lack of snow stopped us skiing into Chamonix itself we took a bubble to the Montenvers railway to drop down into the valley itself…..what a day!
Have a look at the photos page for videos as well as photos!
