Valle Blanche Ski Traverse and Descent

Jaime overlooking the Mer de Glace. The Dru and Aig. Verte overlooking Jaime!

On Friday morning thanks to the wonders of pharmaceuticals I was raring to go and we all headed up the Aiguille du Midi telepherique to ski the world famous Valle Blanche. There are quite a few pics and a video in this post, I make no apologies for any loading times though, it was such an awesome day it has to be shared :)

To get our touring fix after a few days of lazy lift skiing we also decided to skin across the Geant Glacier to Helbronner on the Italian side of the range before skiing down under the Dent du Geant and following the right bank of the Valle Blanche descent to the Mer de Glace.

Ollie and Ant leaving the ice tunnel from the Aiguille du Midi

First of all we stumbled and slid our way out of the ice tunnel and down the infamous East ridge of the Midi. Whilst gazing over at the towering Mont Blanc du Tacul we popped on our ski's and then descended some steep cruddy snow before cruising over to the Col du Midi.

Looking over to Helbronner past Mont Blanc du Tacul. (Skier bottom right for scale)

Ant coming to a stop near the Col du Midi (Aig. du Midi in background)

From here we had to descend gentle slopes past Pointe Lachenal and the Gervasutti Couloir however we were soon faced with ski mountaineers nemesis: 'breakable crust' - imagine trying to ski on a giant Creme Brulee and you get some idea. The tough snow conditions delayed us a little but eventually we made it down and were putting on our climbing skins under the Aiguille du Diable and Pyramid du Tacul. With skins on we started the climb up to Helbronner past the Aiguille de Toule and Le Grand Flambeau.

Ollie and Jaime skinning past seracs, Les Capucins in the background

Fresh tracks descending from Helbronner

After a quick stop at Helbronner we started our descent and found perfect powder :)

Myself descending from Helbronner. Video L Friel.

Next we had to negotiate a steep pitch of powder and crust and I had to dodge a crevasse at the last minute (thanks guys...). This brought us above the Geant Seracs which we skied past and down onto the Mer de Glace for lunch in a magnificent spot on the moraine.

Myself skiing down past the Geant Seracs

Jaime celebrating at lunch on the Mer de Glace

Skiing down the Mer de Glace was remarkable; effortlessly gliding down miles of pristine glacier whilst rock and ice rose upwards for thousands of metres on either side of us was an unforgettable experience.

Myself, Ant, Lawrence, Jaime and Si on the Mer de Glace. Photo O Mentz.

Sadly it all had to end somewhere and at this time of the season it's impossible to ski all the way back to Chamonix so we rejoined the tourist hordes at Montenvers and caught the historic train down to the valley for tea and medals.