France ski peaks + tours April photos

[KenR]

I got to spend the first half of April skiing backcountry tours in the Northern French Alps. It was a fun time. I focused on exploring interesting pretty places more than steep couloirs, and I was lucky with the weather and my partners.

I put the best photos up on pages linked from here.

..

and if I get time soon I'll copy some of then onto TGR here.

At first I had a few mellower days with Sharon, some with Georges + Odile + Paul living around Chambery, then David + Luc around Grenoble -- and two of my long-time ski partners Eric + Craig arrived from Utah and did some great tours.

Luc on Belle Etoile (with Gilles below) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odile + Georges with the Vanoise glaciers
..

Since we had rental car, we could choose tours in several different mountain groups.
. . . [click for interactive map] . . .


. . . including the Belledonne around Grenoble, the Vanoise between Albertville + Val d’Isere, and lesser-known mountains: the Lauziere group south of Albertville, and my first time in the Pays de la Mure a little south of Grenoble.

Photos include:
* Vanoise glaciers + Grande Casse peak
* Aiguille d'Argentiere
* Dome du Gouter (by Mont Blanc)
* Mont Blanc du Tacul
* lesser known mountain groups

Ken

[KenR]

The Grande Casse is a famous ski peak in France, and the highest summit between the Mont Blanc massif and the Ecrins -- but doesn't appear much in English-speaking trip reports and photos -- I guess because it's nowhere near Chamonix or La Grave.

Eric and Craig from Utah decided to try for it, and started in proper "American" style: drove their car to the Vanoise national park. Then they switched to "Euro" mode and slept the night before up in a hut. I was with French friends and drove there in the morning to do a shorter tour right near it -- which is how I got photos ...


the Grande Casse (3855m) which I have seen from different angles all over the northern French Alps - (but missed out on skiing with them this time)

That big ski run here on its west side is the Glacier des Grands Couloirs, which guidebooks say includes a long section over 40 degrees. (Other lines on this peak are steeper, for those who need that sort of thing.)


Tracks and skiers a bit after noon. Craig + Eric said snow conditions were pretty good.

Another night at the hut, Refuge Felix Faure at the Col de la Vanoise, and then something completely different . . .


Eric + Craig spent a day exploring out beyond it on the big wide glaciers up to Col de Chasseforet (high right, around 3500m). Refuge Felix Faure is in low center of photo.


skiing south up to Mont Pelve


other skiers out on the Vanoise glaciers -- it's a big area -- some parties spend several days on skis traveling around there

My smaller tour there was pretty good too:
see more photos skiing in the Vanoise

Ken

[KenR]

I climbed the Aiguille d'Argentiere (3900m) with Eric from Utah. We started from the Grands Montets lift and climbed up the Glacier du Milieu.

Funny thing was we didn't have a definite plan for the day, except to ski something south-facing. We made like the third tram up, and my best guess was we'd go partway up Glacier du Milieu, decide that it wasn't in condition and then maybe ski the south side of the Col du Chardonnet.
Each step, we'd go a little farther, talk and decide what to do next, go a little farther, talk and . . . it turned out nice.


Aiguille d'Argentiere (3900m) seen from the Grands Montets. Glacier du Milieu is right of center between two high rock ridges. Col du Chardonnet on far left. [Looks to me like the upper headwall obviously has too little snow to consider my skiing it this time.]


coming up to the "toe" of the Glacier du Milieu (after skiing down from the Grands Montets and crossing the Argentiere glacier) [I don't think they have anything quite like this around Salt Lake City.]


Eric climbing near the low section of the glacier


looking back south across the Argentiere glacier to the Aiguille Verte -- and Grands Montets where we started from


on the glacier in the "milieu" between the two rock ridges




now we see up to the headwall, above the rimaye (bergshrund) which is mostly in the shadow -- and two skiers climbing above the steeper "choke".
[Eric and I knew that Chamonix could be crowded, and here it is: four skiers on one tour.]
[Looks to me like they're not hauling their skis -- must have left them at the rimaye -- so it's confirmed that I won't be skiing that high today]




Eric booting up the headwall -- and two ski down out the bottom of the steeper "choke".
[So I guess really they were hauling skis up. Eric talks with them and it turns out they're from Sandy, Utah, just a few minutes from his house -- I sorta remember it was ? Sarah and Mark ?]
[One of them had spent lots of time getting down the "choke", and they were talking like the snow was difficult - again confirming that this was not the day for me to ski it.]


now above the "choke" -- with the Glacier du Milieu far below, and the Droites and Aiguille Verte beyond


last steps up to the summit
. . .

[KenR]

At the top, I still wasn't sure what mode I was going to take going down. skiing or booting, thru two tricky sections: first immediately off the summit, and then thru the steeper "choke".


on the summit: Eric sitting and my skis standing
[I decided to start on skis off the summit, but was glad that Eric went first to check going down the hardpack section just below the top. I followed and sideslipped most of the top 50 meters, finally worked up the nerve to make a turn, which actually worked.]


Eric entering the top of steeper narrower "choke" section.
[Fortunately this came after lots of warmup turns on almost-that-steep snow above -- still I was glad to have him check it out first.]


Eric exiting the bottom of steeper narrower "choke" section.
[Next was my turn. I was in a good position to change to crampons and down-climb, but after practicing on the (now softened) snow above, I was going to keep my skis on. The "choke" slants a bit from right to left, so there is a risk of sliding into rocks, but once I moved above the entrance I knew I wasn't going to side-slip -- I just started nailing the turns, and soon I was thru it.]


below the "choke" it was great to feel the freedom to link bigger faster turns down the headwall toward the rimaye (bergshrund) -- an amazing space to ski.


after we stopped at the rimaye to pick up our extra stuff we'd left, the freedom continues (with the Droites + Aiguille Verte beyond)




almost down to the Argentiere glacier -- some fun slaloming thru rocks on mushy snow, still very skiable


on the Argentiere glacier, looking east to Mont Dolent (Refuge d'Argentiere not visible on slope near left)


still decent skiing on the groomed piste all the way down to the bottom

Ken

[KenR]

Refuge des Grands Mulets is the hut on what used to be the "normal" route for climbing Mont Blanc. Nowadays the "old normal" route is thought to have too long an exposure to getting hit by falling seracs, so it's not done so much by summer climbers. But skiers still often use the Grands Mulets route in the downhill direction, because they can get thru the danger zone quicker.

For the slower uphill part, a route for avoiding that risk is the north ridge of the Dome du Gouter. Craig + Eric + I sorta doubted that the north face of Mont Blanc itself was in condition to be skiable by mortals like us, so we thought we'd try the Dome as a ski tour itself. Too much for us to do in a single day from the first lift, so . . .
our first step was to take the lift from Chamonix up to the Plan d'Aiguille ("mid-station" to the Aiguille du Midi) and ski up to the hut.




long traverse going southwest under the Aiguille du Midi . . .




the tormented Bossons glacier -- getting across it is the crux of today's tour


ahead to the Dome du Gouter and Aiguille du Gouter, above "la Jonction" -- the (slightly less?) crevassed zone where we will cross the tormented glacier
[nice to see that ski track in ahead of us thru those crevasses -- but where are the "Chamonix crowds"?]


up to the north face of Mont Blanc du Tacul, which Eric + Ken climbed a couple of days before (but not starting from this low)


coming into the Jonction, critical crevasse zone


Craig climbing thru the Jonction, with Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit above


northeast back to our traverse from the Plan d'Aiguille lift


north ridge of the Dome du Gouter (4304m), which we hope to climb tomorrow


north across the valley to Mont Buet and the Aiguilles Rouges


Eric boldly passing in front of a giant mammoth


skiing up toward the Grands Mulets rocks (lotsa downhill tracks) and Dome du Gouter


almost to the hut: Refuge des Grands Mulets (3051m) -- but getting to dinner and sleep still requires the skill and strength to make it up an exposed "via ferrata" climb on steep rocks with a chain to hold onto.

[Zeppelinskier]

EPIC!!!!

[KenR]

The Dome du Gouter (4304m) is pretty high, almost to the summit of Mont Blanc. I climbed and skied with Eric + Craig from Utah. We figured the north face of Mont Blanc wasn't in condition to be skied (for us mortals) because of previous high winds blasting it, so we planned instead to do the Dome du Gouter as a tour just on its own.

We started from the Refuge des Grands Mulets and climbed the north ridge, at first on skis, then on crampons. The ridge itself wasn't in condition for skiing (by us anyway), so we skied down the "old normal" Grand Mulets route back to the hut . . .


light of the full moon and lights of the valley, west toward St Gervais + Combloux + Sallanches - (while going to the outhouse in the middle of the night)


skiers starting out from the Refuge des Grands Mulets a couple of hours before our planned wake-up time


guided by headlamps and the light of a full moon -- with the Dome du Gouter and Aiguille du Gouter


our time now: Craig + Eric starting out skinning two hours later -- but the moon had set by then (because we were on the north side of the mountain)


leaving the "old normal" Grands Mulets route and skiing up onto the north ridge of the Dome du Gouter


Craig up ahead, now on crampons


Chamonix valley lights below Eric


Craig + Eric on the edge of the ridge, getting thru a steeper section
(great "styrofoam" snow for climbing on crampons, but not for our level of skiing)


dawn light on the Aiguilles Rouges + Aiguille du Midi + Aiguille Verte


another party near the summit of the Dome du Gouter (4304m)


Skins off now, near the Col du Dome -- and glad to join with other descending skiers after the high winds hit - (later we found out that the Aiguille du Midi lifts had been closed)


getting lower on the "old normal" route, the wind is still blowing hard, but some of that snow is collecting in our valley, and skiing the "fresh" is kinda fun (when it's not too variable)


almost back down to the Refuge des Grands Mulets, where we snacked and picked up our extra gear.

Then once we got down to the level of the traverse back to Plan d'Aiguille, the wind near the ground was no problem for us. But the lack of snow on some of the ridge crossings was a hassle: taking skis off and on, also punching thru the surface while carrying skis.
Final surprise: When we reached the Plan d'Aiguille lift station, they told us the lift wasn't running, and we had to wait almost an hour until the winds subsided enough for them to operate to take us all the way back down to Chamonix.

[ see more photos from other days of skiing ]

Ken

[KenR]

some thoughts . . .

* I was surprised at how few other backcountry skiers we saw on obvious tours from the Chamonix lifts, versus how many we saw in mountains nearly unknown to English-speaking skiers.

* Weather was never really stable (Why don't the Alps get better weather more often like Utah and the eastside Sierra?) -- just an ongoing "push" between moist air from the southeast (Italy) versus dry air on the northwest (France). Every evening we were checking the latest models + forecasts on the web, on the phone with local partners, making our best guess about where to drive to start our tour the next morning. It worked.

* Skating was great too. Most of my touring partners also skate on cross-country skis, and la Feclaz (near Chambery) delivered some primo groomed snow on its fun rolling-curving trails into mid-April. One day we skated in the morning and skied up to a hut in the afternoon.

* Bicycling was great too. Two afternoons of bicycling on quiet narrow paved roads thru the farms and vineyards of Savoie were enchanting.

Ken

[greg]

nice TR. sounds like you had a good time.

we do often get stable high pressure zones in the alps. just not right now. plus the weather from north west is never dry. it's stormy cold and brings lots precipitation from the north atlantic.

[hutash]

Great TR thanks for some great pictures. I have only skied a little of that area once, and really want to go back.

[mtcham]

WOW! Well done! This is one of the best TR's from Chamonix. So many great photos many of which I've shot from the opposite direction dreaming that I would love to go where you did but knowing full well I never will.

This one in particular looking back at Cosmiques, the Ronds and the exit chute makes them look a lot less terrifying.

Thanks for posting your adventures.

dawn light on the Aiguilles Rouges + Aiguille du Midi + Aiguille Verte

Ken

[mtcham]

This is one awesome skin track. Sorry guys but KenR's photos stoke me from head to toe.

Craig climbing thru the Jonction, with Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit above

[cramp]

Wow. Excellent TR, especially the detailled write-up of your routes.
Thank you for sharing.

[Hicks]

Awesome photos, thanks for sharing.

Looks like you were lucky to find those standard routes deserted.

[vertigo]

wow, thanks for that. i'm going through a bit of a post season comedown, and those pictures have really cheered me up

[Dam Skier]

Very nice indeed. It's been four years since I've been to Chamonix, and your photos make it clear, must get back soon.

[stuckathuntermtn]

I bow to you, sir.
Man, Europe is just amazing. Maybe someday.

[treewell-dweller]

well-played! and thanks for sharing...

[carvedog]

below the "choke" it was great to feel the freedom to link bigger faster turns down the headwall toward the rimaye (bergshrund) -- an amazing space to ski.

Sweet TR. I loved this pic btw. Wow.

[jumpturn]

Sweet Euro stoke!

Thanks for sharing.

[powdherb]

excellent twilight photography. way to get the dome. I'm going to be pissed if this goes the second page.

[Mani_UT]

Stunning. I really need to head there one of these days! Thanks for sharing!

[adimmen]

most excellent

[Ripzalot]

well played!

[verbier61]

very solid stuff, thanks!!!!