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MOUNTAIN CONDITIONS

The season is coming to an end and autumnal weather is expected next week.

Most of the ski lifts and mountain huts are either closed or soon will be.  For more details, consult the relevant pages on the Chamoniarde site.

Regarding hiking, conditions are excellent and should remain so if the weather is favourable.

In the high mountains, the season is finished and even if the snowfall last week had temporarily improved the conditions of some routes, the hot weather since has reversed most of this, with rockfalls becoming frequent again.

 

For now, conditions in the Tour sector are OK, (the hut closes on Sunday 20th September.)

All the huts in the Mer de Glace sector are now closed  but climbing here should still be possible on pleasant autumnal days.

In the Aiguille du Midi sector, the Pointes Lachenal traverse and the Cosmiques ridge are still being done despite the dry conditions. There have been some parties also on the  Contamine-Grisolle (exit at the top of the Triangle then return by the shoulder) , the Chéré Gully and on the south face of the Aiguille du Midi.

There has been no recent information about the Midi-Plan traverse.

The Trois Monts is still being done but the route remains more technical than usual, despite the presence of a fixed rope at the Mont Maudit Col.

Crossing the Valley Blanche is reported to be complicated in places.  However, interest in this route will fade with the closing of the Panoramic lift this weekend.    

A track is visible on the Plateau route above the Grand Mulets.   No further information is available.

Normal route of Mont Blanc:  The Bellevue cable car closes on Sunday 20th and the Mont Blanc tramway the following weekend.  The Nid d'Aigle, Tête Rousse and Goûter huts remain open,  (closing dates were given in the last update).  There has been an increased amount of stonefall  in the Grand Couloir and several  parties have chosen to turn back in recent days.  Also, the cable was severed  by a huge, night-time rockfall.

In the Conscripts sector, the conditions are now as dry as they were before the last snowfall.  The Glacier de Tré-la-Tête is dry and below the Col des Dômes  it is necessary to weave between treacherous crevasses.  There is ice, “canolles” (unstable ice formations) and a risk of stone fall on the slope between the Dômes and the Bérangère.  Therefore, to do the Domes de Miage  it is preferable  to go there and back from the Col des Dômes.

It is over for Mont Tondu, except from the south via the Valley des Glaciers.

On the Italian side, there has been reports of parties on the SE ridge of the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey and of rock climbing on the Aiguille Croux.

There has been regular activity around the Torino hut (Marbrées, Entrèves, Tacul satellites, Dent du Géant, Rochefort ridge ...)   Care is still required on the approach to the “Salle a Manger” due to the unstable terrain.

 

As for climbing and hiking in the Aiguilles Rouges, all the lifts will be closed after this weekend.

The conditions described in this update  will certainly change in the coming days.

As the huts are now closed, it will be more difficult for Chamoniarde to obtain information, so do not hesitate to send in your feedback.