Off Piste Skiing and Avalanche Training
I've been delivering more avalanche avoidance courses in the Chamonix Valley this week. The Alps are experiencing a great snow season with 'little and often' being the norm puntuated by the occasional massive dump. Again I worked out of the Grands Montets resort which has a great transceiver park designed by Genswein. The great thing about this facility (apart from it being absolutely free to anyone) is that the 'bodies' feel a bit squidgy so the probing is realistic. As we get more snow the bodies are getting harder to find (some buried more than a metre now) so your fine search and probing needs to be spot on.
I've also been getting out and about in the massif. I got an early lift to the top of the Grands Montets to access one of the valley's most famous runs, the Pas de Chevre. It's a dramatic run through some stupendous scenery, the Drus, Sans Nom and Vert providing the backdrop. Tamsin and James skied with me and we enjoyed cold powder all the way through the top steeper sections and into the lower bowls. There is a key section to navigate through (to avoid cliffs) before dropping on to the Mer de Glace and normal Vallee Blanche descent through to Chamonix.
As the day was still young we walked through town to get on the 'Midi' lift and access Chamonix's most famous run, the Vallee Blanche. It had been skied a fair bit but the snow at these altitudes was much poorer and wind affected. Luckily the ambience remains superb and we survival skied to the Requin hut for coffee. Here conditions improved and we popped behind the hut to access the steeper coulouirs and again skied the 'James Bond Track' down to town, where I managed to ski right up to my waiting car.
Grands Mont...
Pas de Chevre
Powder on t...
Pas de Chev...
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