Hi all,
As a prep day for the haute route, I guided the Vallée Blanche yesterday April 15th. We
had perfect blue sky, calm winds and cool temperatures (-10 c at 3800m in
morning). Despite the really low snow year in the Alps, some say the worst in
40 year, we had a great day. Skiing was decent higher up with a recent 10cm of low
density snow overlying a old, hard and variable surface. The upper valley Blanche is in good shape
considering the low snow year, we measured upwards of 200cm of snow on the
glacier above 3000m. This tapers off quickly to just over a meter below 2400m.
We enjoyed spring like skiing conditions below 2700m. Our main concerns were
the thinly bridged crevasses and the very hard & icy surface below the new
snow. Like most people at the moment we opted to ski the moraine slopes below
and slightly north of "Refuge du Requin" as opposed to skiing through
the much crevassed "Salle a Manger". There is not much snow on the
glaciers below 2000m. We were able to ski to with-in a 20min walk of the
ladders leading to the Montenver Train station.
Have a great spring! It sure feels like it here in the
Alps...
Cheers,
David Lussier
Mountain Guide
www.summitmountainguides.com
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