The Club produces a regular English translation of the Chamonix conditions report from La Chamoniarde to help climbers without an understanding of French to access up-to-date information on conditions in the valley. An archive of these reports can be seen below: 

 

Report: 22 March 2024

La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 22 March 2024.


Some summary information:

Conscrits

Two hours of portage before the Mauvais Pas. You can hear the water flowing from Tré la Grande, but for the moment it's fine. The north face of Lée Blanche was skied on 20/03 in quite good conditions (no ice). The Dômes de Miage has been done there and back via the Col des Dômes. A team also did the traverse with descent via the Bérangère (watch out for cornices on the ridge to climb back to the summit). The Bérangère there and back is ok.

Grands Mulets

Pending the opening of the refuge scheduled for Easter weekend, here are the first observations in the sector: the lower track on the Jonction is blocked by a crevasse (ok 50m below). The higher Jonction path is fine for the moment (keep your skins on for the way up, and keep your ropes on for the way down). Watch this space.

At the moment, the north ridge of the Goûter is ice, not snow. A bit of activity on the Plateaux: nothing to report apart from a few serac falls, one of which crossed the Plateaux. From the slope below the Vallot, conditions become more technical, requiring a good crampon technique (and good crampons!): ice and "bullet hard" snow. The north face has not yet been skied.

Cosmiques

The snow was very wind-affected, packed and covered with orange dust during Wednesday night's storm. 

The arête Laurence and the Cosmiques arête are being steadily retracked (snow not too deep on the approach). The traverse of the Pointes Lachenal had been tracked earlier in the week in decent conditions. 

As far as goulottes: the Chéré was climbed in " fossillised ice " conditions. Climbers on the Modica-Noury (see the cahier de course on the website), the Super Couloir. M6 Solar was climbed in rather dry conditions.

Torino

The refuge has been open since March 1, but there are still few people in the sector. Some activity on the mixed routes of Le Flambeau. The Tour Ronde normal route was climbed on 19/03 with a descent on the Brenva glacier. The Maudit gullies are still very snow-laden. 

There are still 4 equipped abseils at 30m on the left bank of the old Toule stairs (at present, you can descend without abseiling).

Argentière

Little has changed since our last update, as the faces are still very loaded (only short weather windows). The Col des Cristaux and the NE face of the Courtes (very dry at the top) have been skied. No recent activity on the Aiguille d'Argentière, but no noticeable change (still at least one 20m abseil when descending the Glacier du Milieu). The Y-shaped couloir narrows are ok. You will need to spend the night at the refuge, as things are heating up fast and furiously! The col du Passon moraine is starting to dry out (skis off twice to reach the village of Le Tour).

Albert 1er

Good snow conditions: the cols du Tour, Supérieur du Tour, Fenêtre de Saleinaz, Col du Pissoir, Col du Midi des Grands have all been tracked in good conditions. The Aiguille du Tour is in good condition on the normal route. The couloir de la Table has not been climbed (visually very beautiful, but the entrance is very loaded). 

The Chardonnet has not yet had a visit and the gullies are quite dry. Petite Fourche also looks dry.

Aiguilles Rouges

The traverse from the Col des Crochues to the Col de Bérard is very tricky and exposed due to hard snow and avalanche debris. The crossing of the small bridge before the Bérard buvette is increasingly narrow.

The Dards, Belvédère and Beugeant cols heading towards Le Buet have all been done.

 

Hiking conditions have hardly changed since our last update.

 

 

Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.

Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.

 

 

 

Report: 12 March 2024

La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 12 March 2024.


It's been a tough couple of weeks keeping track of the weather!

Weather conditions have been complicated, with alternating episodes of heavy snow and strong, even stormy winds at altitude, interspersed with a few fine but all too rare sunny days: you have to seize your opportunities as much as possible!

Ski touring is the main activity: 

We have been tracking, retracking and retracking again between storms. Snow conditions are good above 2000m. On southern aspects, the snow is softening very quickly on lower altitude mountains. In the high mountains, the cold snow is dense and alternates with wind- affected areas. Old and new windslabs are scattered around across the massif.

Activity has returned to all the classic cols of the Aiguilles Rouges: Crochues-Bérard, Dards, Bevédère, Beugeant and those of the Argentière basin: Passon, Chardonnet, 3 cols (a 60m fixed rope has been installed at the Col du Chardonnet to descend to the Trient side), Tour Noir, Col d'Argentière.

The return track to the village of Le Buet (skis off at the Bérard waterfall) and to the village of Le Tour remain in boardercross mode. 

Today, the Brèche Puiseux is being retracked. Tracks seen down from the Col du Tacul.

The marked Prarion and Trapette uphill ski touring tracks are no longer viable. The Lognan route is still being done despite a lack of snow lower down. The Le Tour up hill track (Caisets) is still popular, but the piste descent is shut.

 

 

Goulotte activity is becoming marginal. 

The Chéré goulotte was done in relatively dry conditions.

A major serac collapse occurred yesterday on the north face of the Tacul (see above photo).

One team bailed at the foot of the Gabarrou Albinoni (deep snow on the approach), but from the look of things, conditions were good in the goulotte, as well as on the neighbouring Modica-Noury, Supercouloir and Goulotte Lafaille. Another team also bailed on the very dry Pélissier Goulotte (Pointe Lachenal).

One team left this morning for Ice is Nice on the back of the Requin.  

No alpine activity so far in the Argentière basin. 

The north faces are well loaded at the bottom and rather dry at the top. Heavy accumulations at the bottom of the basin and towards the Aiguilles Rouges du Dolent.

At the Conscrits refuge, no activity since last weekend's opening. The snowpack in this sector has also been very wind affected (lots of wind slab). The Tré la tête refuge opens this weekend, March 16, as does the Albert 1er refuge.

 

Hiking conditions are largely unchanged:

All the marked snowshoe tracks at the bottom of the valley can be enjoyed on foot without any problems, as can the petit balcons north and south, access to the Floria and Chapeau chalets (open until mid-May), the Dard waterfall, the Cerro chalets and the Bossons glacier.

Following a very strong fohn episode on the night of March 9 to 10 (gusts of over 90 km/h in the valley bottom), you may find some trees across certain paths. Please report any feedbakc on this.

You'll have to walk up to around 1800m before putting on your snowshoes to reach the Loriaz refuge (open and guarded) and the Chailloux chalets. The bottom of the Bérard valley has very hard snow, and crampons are a good idea before putting on snowshoes.

The marked snowshoe tracks at altitude in the Prarion, Flégère and Tour-Vallorcine ski areas all have good snow conditions.

Contact us before you set off to find out if the route you are planning is suitable for snowshoeing, as the appearances from the valley floor can be deceptive!

 

That's the general overview of the Chamonix valley.

Now it's your turn to tell us what you find! 

 

 

Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.

Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.

 

 

 

Report: 23 February 2024

La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 23 February 2024.

Some quick bits of information before the weekend!

We’ve had a decent drop of snow at altitude from Thursday’s storm.

There has been a lot of rain at valley level and the cross country pistes are closed for the time being. On the other hand the Mer de Glace grotto opened last Saturday 24 February.

The Cosmiques hut opened last weekend.

The rain snow limit has been fluctuating around 1800m to 2000m, dropping temporarily to 1500m (a few centimetres of snow).

Above that there’s been an average of 30 to 50 cm of fresh snow at 2000 to 2500m. Around a metre at 3800 m. Very strong winds at all altitudes have been moving the snow around resulting in some big wind slabs.

The snowfall is obviously welcome and we should be able to make some great tracks.

Today’s avalanche control (PIDA) resulted in some big releases and therefore great caution will be needed in your choice of routes this weekend. See photos on the website from the Envers du Plan and Vallée Noire. 

Gullies will be heavily loaded for the next few days.

Not much change concerning walking and snow shoeing routes since our last update on the 15th February.

Please do not hesitate to consult us about your plans, whatever the activity and give us feedback on what you get up to. 

 

Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.

Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.

 

 

 

Report: 15 February 2024

La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 15 February 2024.

A very mild start to the half-term holidays. There was a little snow last weekend (especially at higher altitudes) but some real snowfall would be welcome!

The snow cover remains good above 1800m, but below that it’s poor!

So there's plenty of snow in the ski areas (except on the way back to the resort). At this time of year, we would like to remind you more than ever to ski with caution, moderating your speed and controlling your skis and your direction! Just a reminder: it is strictly forbidden to skin up the slopes.

Ski Touring

All the classic ski touring routes are popular (always keep your ski crampons close by). The light snowfalls on Sunday and Monday have eased conditions a little. Departures and returns without lifts remain very dry: skis on at the bridge on the Roman road at Les Contamines, at 1650m below the Loriaz refuge; the bottom of the Buet valley is still very sporty (little snow, avalanche debris to cross).

Nothing special to report as far as glaciers go either. The boardercross at the bottom of the Col du Passon is no problem for good skiers (one stream to cross). The Col du Chardonnet is easy to cross (NE-facing couloir snowy, rimaye filled with snow). Vallée Blanche/Brèche Puiseux sector (good general conditions): you can ski to the new Mer de Glace cable car (last ascent to Montenvers at 4pm!)

All the variants of the vallée blanche have been done. The salle à manger is fine but there are a few visible holes at the entrance and exit. The Pierre à Béranger and the central couloir (access to the Talèfre basin) look OK.

Climbing

The snowfall at altitude (30-40 cm at the Aiguille du Midi) put a slight halt to the gully activity (while it purged and cleaned up) but didn't change the conditions much either. On the whole, it's dry (often quite dry and more technical than the ratings given in the guidebooks), although there's still plenty to climb in some areas (we have had no feedback since the start of the week and the snow): Pointe du Domino (Petit Viking); Triangle de la Verte (Ravanel-Frendo + Claire Chazal fairly dry, La Pépite in quite good conditions); Mini Blast still a victim of its success, cornice at the top of Rebuffat-Terray purged; E face of Tacul (Gabarrou-Albinoni, Modica-Noury, Supercouloir, Lafaille.); Requin sector (Sorenson-Eastman: initial section difficult to protect, moraine tricky, Ice is Nice: lots of threatening snow).

The ice climbing season didn't really happen this year. No feedback, but still a bit of activity on the left bank of the Argentière glacier (Déferlante, Mini Couloir; it's over for EMHM) and at Cogne.

Hiking

Given the low snowfall at low altitude, there is exceptional hiking just about everywhere below 1600m. Higher up, it's not possible to do anything other than follow the signposted snowshoe trails or the Chalets de Chailloux (from La Flatière) or the Chalets de Loriaz! You can't get to Montenvers on foot or via the Plan de l'Aiguille!

 

 

Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.

Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.

 

 

 

Report: 1 February 2024

La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 1 February 2024.

As far as ski touring is concerned, not much has changed since last week's report (carrying skis, unpleasant Bérard valley, etc.).

It hasn't snowed again and the snow is generally hard, even bullet hard at certain altitudes, aspects and times of the day. Aim for slopes that will have softened a bit (this depends on the temperature, wind and cloud cover).

Generally speaking, it's 'best' at altitude on slopes that don't get too much sun (above 2500m) with cold snow and a good grip.

Once again, we urge you to be careful and not to forget your couteaux and boot crampons to avoid falls and sliding.

 

On the other hand, there has been some good gully activity despite rather dry conditions (or the new "normal"). Here's some feedback (many thanks to those who filled in our cahier de course), which is tricky because it always risks increasing the risk of overcrowding: if one or more roped parties are already involved in a gully, it's better to go for plan B, "choice involves giving something up!"

Beware also of the weather and the NW wind at altitude.

 

Argentière glacier :

The Passon, Chardonnet, Tour Noir and Argentière cols are getting regular traffic. The bottom of the Passon has not improved, nor has the gully above Les Pétoudes (the latter should be avoided).

The couloir en Y on the Aiguille d'Argentière is probably OK. The rimaye on the Glacier du Milieu is filled in, so it’s easy. The narrow section is very dry (descent in 3 abseils of 20m, belays on flakes/spikes which need to be checked, newish tat) then a little snow above until the col (ice but which can be avoided, therefore preferable to leave the skis at the bottom of the gully). Looks like ice between the col and the summit.

One team baled at the rimaye of Petit Viking, a "big glide crack with loose snow". The rest of the route is in good condition by eye.

Looking at it, the top of the NE face of Les Courtes is too dry to ski.

The Lagarde couloir was climbed last weekend in good conditions.

Some teams seen on the Ravanel-Frendo, but no further information.

Claire Chazal (Pointe Farrar): the rimaye can be crossed 100m to the right of the gullly. Fairly good conditions (just the right amount of ice, mixed sections are protectable) except for the dièdre which is dry and hard.

Still plenty of activity on the modern routes on the Aiguille de Bochard.

 

Plan de l'Aiguille

Still a lot of teams on Mini Blast, still a cornice at the top of Rébuffat-Terray.

Still a few teams on "Nouvelle Génération" but it's the end (mixed passage on pitch 1 and a 75 m pitch very difficult to protect + last two pitches after the dry traverse). The belays have been reinforced.

The belays on Cécile and la Mésange (Peigne) have been re-equipped so that you can abseil down them (60m). On the whole an easy gully on squeaky snow/ice that is quite difficult to protect (1 to 3 points per pitch) + a dry pitch in the middle with some very tricky moves that can be easily protected.

Fil à Plomb doesnt look doable: numerous dry passages (exposed slabs) above the key pitches.

On the face of it, the Mallory could be an option, but the quality of the snow is a big unknown (often loose sugar snow at these altitudes and orientations at the moment).

 

Glacier du Géant area

The Cosmiques arete and the Marbrées traverse are in good condition and accessible on foot.

One team turned back on the Cosmiques icefall (more water than ice).

Triangle du Tacul as dry as ever.

Goulotte Pellissier fairly dry.

Numerous teams on the Gabarrou-Albinoni: good conditions, fairly well filled (pitches 1 and 2 a bit thinner). There is a lack of bolted belays (summer rockfalls) and sometimes a bit of moving together is needed. Modica-Noury has plenty of ice.

Good conditions (direct start via mixed pitches, then a relatively well-filled gully) on the Supercouloir, but obviously a lot of people.

Goulotte Lafaille in good conditions.

Valeria gully: the approach under the serac (which looks threatening) is "scary" (recent ice fall). Goulotte "pretty dry but it's done".

One team turned back at the Ratoune rimaye ten days ago (no ice, sugar snow).

Requin sector: fairly good conditions in Ice is Nice (last pitch dry, abseils re-equipped at 60m) and in Eastman-Sorenson.

Few changes to the skiing in the sector (Vallée Blanche, Col d'Entrêves, Brèche Puiseux busy).

Couvercle sector: access and descent OK via the central couloir. The Whymper on the Verte can be considered (alpine conditions).

 

 

Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.

Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.

 

 

 

Report: 27 January 2024

La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 27 January 2024.

Here's some news as we approach a period of high pressure!
 
Skiing
 
The snow cover is exceptional above 1800m, but below that it's terrible. There was a bit of snow in places last night at high altitude (Argentière glacier, Vallée Blanche).
 
The classic ski touring routes are popular. Don't forget your couteaux/harscheisen, as the snow is often hard on all aspects (you need to be a good skier). Also beware of the risk of falls/slides both off and on piste. You will be walking/ carrying skis until you leave the woods if you don't start from a ski lift (Roman road in les Contamines, Plaine Joux, la Flatière, le Buet/Couteray, Finhaut).
 
The Bérard valley has thin snow cover and has also been devastated by avalanches, so it's not very pleasant! The same goes for the Passon descent towards Le Tour. A large avalanche has gone down the Pétoudes gully (Trient), which should be avoided for the time being!
 
Bullet hard sections on the descent of the Brévent/Cornu towards the Pont d'Arlevé.
 
The three Cols is in good condition (apart from the bottom of the Passon, see above). The descent couloir on the N side of the Col du Chardonnet is well filled in.
 
The Vallée Blanche is being done every day. The Aiguille du Midi arête is equipped (Z not in place). Glaciers generally well filled. The bottom of the Vallée Noire is very icy. The Requin refuge opened its doors on Saturday 27 January. 
 
You can ski as far as the old staircase. The cable car is due to open soon, so keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, head back up to Montenvers via the old stairs and the path. The descent to Chamonix is out of the question (the bottom of the glacier is chaotic). No news of the Brèche Puiseux but it should go: expect 2 abseils of 30m + exit to the right under the Grandes Jorasses at the bottom of the Mont Mallet glacier and not via the couloir).
 
 
Climbing
 
Gully climbing is back on the agenda. No news from the Argentière basin. The Couturier looks very icy.
 
Some teams on Mini-Blast (good conditions) and Rebuffat-Terray: fairly dry conditions + beware there's a big cornice at the brèche overlooking the whole route... Some teams also on Beyond Good and Evil but it's very dry.
 
A few climbers on the Chéré but it’s pretty dry, especially the first slope below the start. You can climb the Modica-Noury and the Gabarrou-Albinoni but beware of (over)crowding. It might be worth looking a little further afield, even if it's generally dry and we have no information (Supercouloir, Lafaille, Valeria, Ice is Nice; Pellissier: dry).
 
It won't be a winter to remember for ice climbing. The hot weather finished off the few routes that existed, particularly around Cogne. A few ice climbs are still possible on the rive gauche of the Argentière glacier.
 
 

Translated with kind permission from an original report by La Chamoniarde.

Readers are reminded that conditions in mountain environments are prone to (sometimes rapid) change and that they should use their own best judgement when visiting them.