The forecast said this would be a great day ..they were not wrong on a number of fronts.
The skies were clear and the sun was warming things nicely, from the over night hard freeze. Dave and I had planned to do a route from our "hit list" that we had been meaning to do for a few trips, but just waiting for the right day.
The route went from the top station of Grands Montets, down onto the Mer de Glace and followed the Valley Blanche run back to Chamonix.
We started with a couple of runs on the normal face, to get warmed up, but also to allow the sun to take the hardness out of the surface and soften up the snow a little - we would need all the help we could get as this was technically the hardest descent we had attempted so far.
Leaving the others having a bite to eat we headed for the top station.
From the top station, we were quickly down the long line of metal stairs and onto the col. Once we had the skis on and slipped under the rope, past the danger warning sign, we slipped over the edge.
There was a relatively fierce wind blowing over the top here that had kept a crust on the surface, and we were lucky to ride it without breaking through.
Below the steep top edge the slope eased up a little and we had some great powder skiing on wide slopes to the point where the three or so routes diverge.
We took the right hand (and supposedly easier) route. As we entered the narrow gulley it got steeper and steeper, and felt like the steepest we had been down... but probably not, just narrow.
The difficulty was over come with the "one turn at a time" method, until we got the hang of it and could string more than two or three together without panic setting in.
Once through the narrow section the slope opened out again in to gentler slopes. This was about picking a line and just going for it, until you needed a breather.
Before we dropped too far down we needed to traverse south, (back into the mer de glace)
to meet up with the Vallee blanch route - not yet, but we had to ensure we did not drop down too far at this stage.
We knew we were in the right place as we crossed a noticeable ridge, and made the most to have a sit down and take inthe fantastic view .... skiing underneath the "Dru", with seemingly no one else around.
From here we traverses a bit further before we had to find a suitable place to drop down onto the glacier .. this is a changeable point depending on snow conditions and also state of the glacier.
Finding a well used but exceedingly narrow little gully, we soon dropped onto the glacier by a bit of side slipping.
Down on the glacier, we picked a route through the crevasses, and picked up the well trodden route down from the Vallee Blanche.
Luckily the lower route (past the Montanvers station) was in condition and we could walk up to the buvette on the col. Here we caught up with several parties from the Vallee Blanche, and all of a sudden we were no longer alone on the mountain.
We followed the track down to Chamonix, and the Les Plannards ski slopes in the same way as we had when we came down with Brian Hall.
Very tired, exhausted but elated we waited for a bis to take us back to argentiere and the apartment. Another large step on the experience ladder, and a really great way to finish off the trip.
The skies were clear and the sun was warming things nicely, from the over night hard freeze. Dave and I had planned to do a route from our "hit list" that we had been meaning to do for a few trips, but just waiting for the right day.The route went from the top station of Grands Montets, down onto the Mer de Glace and followed the Valley Blanche run back to Chamonix.
Leaving the others having a bite to eat we headed for the top station.
From the top station, we were quickly down the long line of metal stairs and onto the col. Once we had the skis on and slipped under the rope, past the danger warning sign, we slipped over the edge.
There was a relatively fierce wind blowing over the top here that had kept a crust on the surface, and we were lucky to ride it without breaking through.
Below the steep top edge the slope eased up a little and we had some great powder skiing on wide slopes to the point where the three or so routes diverge.
We took the right hand (and supposedly easier) route. As we entered the narrow gulley it got steeper and steeper, and felt like the steepest we had been down... but probably not, just narrow.
The difficulty was over come with the "one turn at a time" method, until we got the hang of it and could string more than two or three together without panic setting in.Once through the narrow section the slope opened out again in to gentler slopes. This was about picking a line and just going for it, until you needed a breather.
Before we dropped too far down we needed to traverse south, (back into the mer de glace)to meet up with the Vallee blanch route - not yet, but we had to ensure we did not drop down too far at this stage.
We knew we were in the right place as we crossed a noticeable ridge, and made the most to have a sit down and take inthe fantastic view .... skiing underneath the "Dru", with seemingly no one else around.
From here we traverses a bit further before we had to find a suitable place to drop down onto the glacier .. this is a changeable point depending on snow conditions and also state of the glacier.
Finding a well used but exceedingly narrow little gully, we soon dropped onto the glacier by a bit of side slipping.
Luckily the lower route (past the Montanvers station) was in condition and we could walk up to the buvette on the col. Here we caught up with several parties from the Vallee Blanche, and all of a sudden we were no longer alone on the mountain.
We followed the track down to Chamonix, and the Les Plannards ski slopes in the same way as we had when we came down with Brian Hall.Very tired, exhausted but elated we waited for a bis to take us back to argentiere and the apartment. Another large step on the experience ladder, and a really great way to finish off the trip.