Ski Mountaineering Course Diary

Day 1

Arrive in the afternoon / evening. Introductions and discussion about the coming week.

Day 2

Off piste skiing Le Tour / Trient

Organise necessary rental equipment. Short theory session on transceivers and avalanche search techniques. Head to the Vallorcine ski field. Basic transceiver use and search practice at the top of the lifts. Off piste skiing at Vallorcine and Le Tour. We focus on skiing techniques for tackling current conditions. In the afternoon we do a short stint skinning or hiking to test out the randonnée set up and gain some fresh tracks including a run down to Trient, Switzerland in the afternoon. Return to Vallorcine by taxi.

Day 3

Ski tour : Aiguilles Rouges, Col de Belvédère

We gain a head start using the Flégère lift system then skin up to the Col de Belvédère at 2780 metres. We take a short break on the Col switching to ski mode. If conditions dictate it, we descend the first 30 metres of the northern side of the col with rope assistance. Then we have wonderful skiing on shady powder slopes that broaden into the Berard valley. We find a suitable spot to stop for lunch, turn our discussion towards avalanche hazard, dig some test pits and take a look at the snow pack.

Day 4

Off-piste skiing: Grands Montets

Today a combination of skills and skiing on the back side of the Grands Montets. In the morning we warm up on with a few steeper turns or, we just go for it in the powder. In the afternoon, a session of crevasse rescue and associated skills for travel on a glacier. We end the day with a discussion of ski mountaineering equipment (general) and what we need for a two day ski tour.

Day 5

Ski tour: Col du Passon to the Trient refuge, Switzerland.

We start early catching the first lift to the top of the Grands Montets. A warm up powder run takes us to the Argentière Glacier. An ascent to the Col de Passon involves some skinning, often with ski crampons to begin and a final steep climb with boot crampons and ice axe to the top of the Col. This is a great spot for lunch with a spectacular view of the procession of peaks that form a corridor along the Argentière Glacier. Our day's journey doesn't end here. We switch several times back and forth from skiing to skinning mode to traverse gentle slopes and finally the Plateau du Trient and a short uphill skin to the hut. Now we can relax with a well earned beer or cup of tea!

Evening session: map reading, basic navigation.

Day 6

Ski tour: Trient refuge to the village of Trient via the Col du Pissoir and the Glacier Grand

We begin the day with a crevasse rescue session in the wind scoop below the hut. Today we have several skiing options each of which have the potential for an exceptional powder run. There's the Glacier Grand which is accessed by skinning for one hour, involves steep rolling terrain and invariably holds cold snow. This option takes us to village of Trient from where we will catch a taxi back around to Le Tour. Other options include skiing the Le Tour Glacier, the Glacier de Trient or the Val d'Arpette.

Day 7

Off piste ski tour : Aiguille du Midi, Glacier de Toule, Glacier de Géant

Today we take advantage of the lift access from the Aiguille du Midi into the heart of big mountain, glaciated terrain. A mellow but spectacular ascent on skins of just over an hour takes us to the frontier ridge and access to the Italian Glacier de Toule. In spring this sunny face often provides an endless carpet of perfect 'ego snow' (corn). We return to Chamonix via the Italian Vallée Blanche - a descent that usually offers wintery snow late in the season. This round trip is fondly known as the 'Spaghetti Tour', since a stop at the Pavillion restaurant at the mid-station of the Helbronner cable car; for delicious salads, coffee and pasta is unavoidable.

Afternoon wrap up and debrief of the week's activities.