Vallée Blanche Chamonix 2016

Filmed on Thursday 18th February 2016.

I had been looking forward to skiing the Vallée Blanche for a very long time as well as the descent of the arete. Having been skiing down every run Chamonix had to offer including Grands Montets with relative ease and style it came as a shock to take a tumble when making my first turn off the arete...

It was a struggle... I couldn't possibly have lost the ability to ski overnight so started to question my fitness, lack of oxygen at altitude.... it just didn't make sense but I had lost the power in my legs to ski.

It was only at the penultimate stop before the climb to the Montenvers Hut that I pulled up my salopettes to discover I'd just skied the Vallée Blanche with all the top buckles on my ski boots undone! Not the most stupid thing Ive done in my life but its up there...

The Vallée Blanche starts at the top of the Aiguille du Midi and finishes in Chamonix’s town centre (snow permitting). It’s an unmarked, unmaintained and unpatrolled high mountain off-piste ski itinerary which offers some of the most spectacular scenery that the Mont Blanc range has to offer.

The Aiguille du Midi cable car is the starting point for this popular route. The Vallee Blanche routes start at the top of the Aiguille du Midi (3812m) where after exiting the ice tunnel you are straight on to the ‘arête’. This is potentially one of the most dangerous points of the route as it is essentially a ridge edge which has a 50-degree pitch on both sides. In high season, a safety rope is placed along the descending path but it is still pretty intimidating knowing a safety rope is all that there is between you and the pea-sized buildings of Chamonix town centre.

We skied the classic route ‘voie normal’ a fairly straight-forward providing you are following the advice of your hired guide. The route can be fairly busy during high season. After descending the arête, the route heads to the right of the large rock outcrop known as Le Gros Rognon (‘the big rock’). Along the descending route you will see large séracs, crevasses and ice falls which are pretty impressive sparkling away in various shades of icy blue from the winter sunshine.

You need wear a harness when skiing on a glacier. This allows you to be rescued from a crevasse should you fall in and to assist a crevasse rescue. You will need at least one rope per party and the associated hardwear required to perform a rescue (slings, carabiners, ice screws, pulleys etc). But most importantly you should know the correct method of performing a crevasse rescue.

Видео Vallée Blanche Chamonix 2016 канала Philip Reid