Snowed off Mt Blanc 4810m

Yesterday a group of us "strolled" up to the Refuge du Gouter. It wasn't quite the hell- hole it normally is because the train was not working. Why the train wasn't working nobody seems to know [or care]. Consequently far fewer people were prepared to walk the extra hour and a half.
This morning the 2.00am wake up call came and went due to a huge storm, fresh snow, and very strong winds. We were left with no choice but to descend back to the valley - where as so often the weather was sultry and hot.

Aiguille du Chardonnet 3824m

Certain routes are in perfect condition, not least the Eperon Migot on the north face of the Chardonnet.
yesterday we walked to the Albert 1er Refuge from the village of Le Tour. [It is still too early for the cable cars to open for the summmer.]

This morning Stuart Bygrave and I had breakfast at 2.00am and set off at 3.45am The climb was in perfect condition and the neve was like cork. We arrived on the summit at 8.00am. We were totally alone

Skiing is still very good

Chris and Kim Dovell and I had two days ski touring around the Emosson Dam. Yesterday we climbed the Point de La Terrace and to day we climbed the Bel Oiseau
The skiing conditions are still very good especially today as the skiing was as good as it gets.

Late May skiing.

Andrea and I climbed up to the GD St Bernard Monastery on our ski mountaineering skis and spent the night. Andrea met the Monks and was introduced to Justy the Avalanche search dog who is a Golden Retriver not a St Bernard. [They are too big to climb into helicopters.]
This morning we skied back down on beautiful spring snow and back to the car.

Emosson Dam

Last Friday the road to the Emosson Dam was opened for the summer Mark Hanson and Robin Tarling and I left the car park at 6,30am while the snow was still frozen and to ensure that we got good spring skiing on the descent.
We Crossed the Dam and climbed up to the Point de La Terrace.

Snowed in at the Grand St Bernard Monastery

Rogue report from the High Sierras, California, USA

Mark's friends & clients call in to test out the new audio blog, fresh from a weekend trip down to the spectacular High Sierras. They climbed & skied a couple of nice corn-snow descents. Hear what makes the High Sierra such a great place to spring ski...

The picture shows Beth tromping up the very large Mt. Wood (no ski lifts here!)

Perfect Spring Touring Conditions

Patrick Keatinge Mike Tothill joined me straight from skiing across the Hero's of Telemarks route in Norway. Last year Patrick trekked to the North Pole, so this year they wanted something steeper.
We started with the Col du Argentiere. The next day we climbed up to the cabane du Velan in indifferent weather. The next day we climbed Mt Velan in just under six hours. We skied perfect snow all the way back in about 45 minutes. We spent another night in the Hut and the next day toured over to the Super St Bernard Ski station.
Finally on May Day we finished the week with an ascent of Le Buet. The ski from the summit was perfect. Not a bad turn on the whole descent.

Andrea Ski's the Valley Blanche

Andrea [7 years old] enjoyed perfect conditions as she skied the Valley Blanche for the first time in under an hour.

Wildhorn 3247 m

Last week saw the most stable weather for some considerable time. Perfect snow cover, clear skies at night blue skis the next day which meant perfect spring snow.

Peter Folkman andI drove around to Les Diablerets cable car. After climbing the summit of Diablerets we skied down to the Cabanne Prarochet and spent the night.
Next day we left at 7.00am and toured over to the Cabannes des Audannes. It was a Saturday the weather and conditions were perfect but we hardly saw a sole.
The Cabannes des Audannes would go into anyones top ten mountain huts. The next morning we left at 6.00am and climbed the Wildhorn in about two hours. We skied from its summit past the Wildhorn Hut and on to the road head and down to Lenk.

Mont Velan 3731 m

At the start of the week We had great snow for off piste skiing but poor conditions for hut to hut ski touring. Eventually we got a good forecast and so Tom Becky Nathan and Me set off for Mt Velan. We put our skis on and started climbing from the road in Bourg St Pierre. Four hours later we arrived at my favourite hut in the Alps the Velan Mountain Hut.
Next day we set off at 6.00am just as dawn broke. It was a perfect day. After about 2 hours we had a challanging climb over the Col du Gouille. This involved putting the skis on our backs and using a series of chains to help us over the top. On the other side we had to absiel down to the glacier.
We arrived on the summit at 11.45am. Far below us we could see the Grands St Bernard Monastery.
An hour and a half later we were back at the car having enjoyed stunning skiing.

Col du Argentiere

So far in April we have had a day of snow followed by a day of beautiful weather. To day was good. Chris Dovell and I skied off the top of Grands Montets through the seracs zoomed across the Argentiere glacier and then climbed up to the Col du Argentiere. On the descent we had every type of snow from powder to sun crust to spring snow.

Le Buet 3020m

Chris Dovell & I set off from the car park at 7.00am and arrived at the summit of Le Buet at 12.00. Stunning views from the summit but cold and windy. We got some good skiing in on the way down but the legs were not quite as fresh as we would have wanted after 1800 meters of ascent.
The beer at the Hotel Le Buet was most welcome

Zermatt

I spent the last week in Zermatt. We had mixed weather with lots of fresh snow. This snow fell with no wind. Friday produced stunning skiing with descent after descent of untracked powder.
Now back in Chamonix and still it snows.

Grands Montets lift broken again

We were skiing at Grands Montets to day. Despite it being very warm we had good snow and it never really turned slushy. We felt sorry for the people who got stuck in the Grands Montets lift when it broke down for over two hours .

Important information for telemarkers

Anyone thinking of ski touring in the alps on telemark gear should down load the above video.

Off-piste at Grands Montets today

I was skiing at Grands Montets today. New snow but quite heavy but we still managed to put fresh tracks in all day The top lift was broken [again] .