Waking up early today .. we were heading for the "premier ben" or first lift... up tothe Aiguille de midi. Although it is not really possible to get this as it is sown up by the local guides, we got on the second, which is effectively reserved for parties with guides, and if you are on your own, there is a long wait until all the guided parties have gone through.
We drove to the bottom station, parked in the closest car park, and got dressed in all our gear. Today we would have even more in the packs .. so in addition to the glacier kit, we would also have crampons, and ice axes...
This was the first time I had been up to the Aiguille de Midi, and the trip up was fascinating, with the long hangs between pylons, but generally the magnificent views overawed everything else.
At the top we did not have time to do the touristic thing, and visit the viewing galleries, but headed down the tunnel to the exit. just in side we paused to fix our crampons onto the ski boots for the walk out the connecting ridge to the col at the top of the valley blanche. The route was just a track in the snow, well packed down and icy, with enormous drops on all sides ... struggling with Skis, poles, and ice axe, whilst trying to ignore the drop, I was very thankful for the crampons.
On the col we got ready for the descent in the sun, this warmed off any early morning chill and was a perfect conditions and settings for this superb route.
From the col we dropped down into the bowl above the Rognon, keeping as high as possible we contoured around below the NE flank of the Mont Blanc du Tacul.
Dropping down the glacier now into the first crevasse zone, we kept as far left as possible, before dropping through seracs and jumble, before traversing into the refuge du Requin.
This was where the controlled skiing we had been practising the previous days was needed, and memories of the Argentiere glacier descent was very prevalent.
We stopped at the Requin refuge for a bite to eat and a coffee.
Setting off again, we traversed down onto a large flat area (Salle a Manger), and some gentle schussing in an almost straight line ... in fact it went on for so long everyone got worried about catching an edge and looking like an idiot!. Brain took the opportunity to point out all the peaks and routes around.
Tending over to the right to avoid more crevasses, we dropped down to another flat area, which angled diagonally to the left.
Up to the right was a slope heading down from the top of the Grand Montets, a route called "Pas De Chevre", Dave and I would come down here in a few years time.
From here the path climbs up to the ridge... it is an ascending traverse and we managed it with some side steps and polling.
On the top of the ridge there is a little Buvette, and was doing a roaring trade today, and we then headed down the track down through the forest back to Chamonix. Very tired legs made this more arduous than it should be, but survival skiing got us down. The track ended at the Les plannard ski area, and a short step over to the bar by the Montenvers railway station.
We drove to the bottom station, parked in the closest car park, and got dressed in all our gear. Today we would have even more in the packs .. so in addition to the glacier kit, we would also have crampons, and ice axes...
This was the first time I had been up to the Aiguille de Midi, and the trip up was fascinating, with the long hangs between pylons, but generally the magnificent views overawed everything else.
At the top we did not have time to do the touristic thing, and visit the viewing galleries, but headed down the tunnel to the exit. just in side we paused to fix our crampons onto the ski boots for the walk out the connecting ridge to the col at the top of the valley blanche. The route was just a track in the snow, well packed down and icy, with enormous drops on all sides ... struggling with Skis, poles, and ice axe, whilst trying to ignore the drop, I was very thankful for the crampons.
On the col we got ready for the descent in the sun, this warmed off any early morning chill and was a perfect conditions and settings for this superb route.From the col we dropped down into the bowl above the Rognon, keeping as high as possible we contoured around below the NE flank of the Mont Blanc du Tacul.
Dropping down the glacier now into the first crevasse zone, we kept as far left as possible, before dropping through seracs and jumble, before traversing into the refuge du Requin.This was where the controlled skiing we had been practising the previous days was needed, and memories of the Argentiere glacier descent was very prevalent.
We stopped at the Requin refuge for a bite to eat and a coffee.
Setting off again, we traversed down onto a large flat area (Salle a Manger), and some gentle schussing in an almost straight line ... in fact it went on for so long everyone got worried about catching an edge and looking like an idiot!. Brain took the opportunity to point out all the peaks and routes around.
Tending over to the right to avoid more crevasses, we dropped down to another flat area, which angled diagonally to the left.Up to the right was a slope heading down from the top of the Grand Montets, a route called "Pas De Chevre", Dave and I would come down here in a few years time.
From here the path climbs up to the ridge... it is an ascending traverse and we managed it with some side steps and polling.
On the top of the ridge there is a little Buvette, and was doing a roaring trade today, and we then headed down the track down through the forest back to Chamonix. Very tired legs made this more arduous than it should be, but survival skiing got us down. The track ended at the Les plannard ski area, and a short step over to the bar by the Montenvers railway station.