Chamonix Chalet news

Nick off the Floria at Flegere, Jan 5th 2010

Evolution 2 in Chamonix have sent a report of current conditions on The Vallée Blanche January 2010:

“For Skiers:
First off, present conditions mean it is only accessible to the very best off-piste skiers (80cm of powder, wind-crust, the safest route is the steepest, and a few crevasses to hop over…..). With new snowfall this might change, but for the time being, guides can only take very advanced groups of up to 3 people (works out 120€pp). Crampons are needed for the ‘semi-equipped’ arête, where skiers have to ski a small section of the ridge. Not for the faint hearted!”

“For snowboarders:
The present conditions mean the Vallée Blanche is temporarily a no-go area for boarders. (A guide with 2 Russian snowboarders, predictably got evacuated Thursday (Not Evo 2, I must add)). Information will be available as soon as the guides believe it is safe.”

You can also join Evolution 2 guides to find out the weeks’ Vallée Blanche conditions, weather and availability.
From 17.00hrs to 19.00hrs every Tuesday in the VB bar in Chamonix – a great bar run by a friend of ours, which is on the ground floor of the Vallee Blanche Hotel.

The Vallee Blanche

The excellent Henry’s Avalanche Talks will also be back in Chamonix at Le Vert on Wed 13th Jan, from 18.30.
Topics covered include: current conditions, trends and general information of how to take care in an off-piste environment, followed by a Q & A. I’ve been to these talks and they are fascinating and very useful, highly recommended.

Finally, here’s a great video roundup of recent conditions by Chamonix guide Seb Montaz, from January 7th: