La Chamoniarde mountain conditions report for 19 April 2024.
Here's a little snowy update following the return of winter as well as an overview of the routes we've reported on before, when the weather was milder. It's going to snow again tonight, and the wind has been working hard since yesterday: beware of the avalanche risk.
Glacier conditions are generally good to very good.
Lifts open: Grands Montets, Brévent (partially open, closed this Sunday), Aiguille di Midi, Montenvers and Skyway.
Albert 1er
20cm of snow fell without wind. The last few days have been busy, particularly on the Chamonix-Zermatt haute route. The Col des Écandies works well to get down to Champex. It's a 20-minute walk to Trient from Arpette. The Col Supérieur du Tour was retracked yesterday.
The Col du Passon is still being done. There is no snow on the normal descent to Le Tour, so you either have to cross over to the Péclerey side or take the moraine path on the right bank (500m descent on foot).
With the exception of the Aiguille du Tour, there were no summits done this week. Before this wintery interlude, Tête Blanche and Petite Fourche were climbed. The more technical routes such as Aiguille du Chardonnet and Grande Fourche have not yet been climbed.
Argentière
The Grands Montets lifts are open until 5 May.
The refuge telephone numbers are working.
Few changes in the sector. Ski touring activity on the main cols (Chardonnet, Tour Noir, Argentière) and on the Aiguille d'Argentière (Glacier du Milieu) with no particular problems.
Some skiers on the N-face ski slopes (Col des Cristaux, NE des Courtes), but watch out for avalanche risk over the next few days.
Couvercle
Access to the refuge is still via the central couloir.
The Whymper couloir was done last weekend. For those wishing to ski it, as with any steep slope, especially those that take the sun, be sure to gauge the conditions/your abilities.
Cosmiques
Since Wednesday, around 40/50 cm of snow has fallen with no wind, but no snow today, and the wind has picked up. It's pretty deep even with skis on!
Lots of fresh snow (accumulations up to 1m) in the Vallée Blanche, which is still going strong: the Salle à Manger is easy to cross, but there's a walk lower down (5 to 15 minutes). Watch out for the opening of two crevasses at the bottom of the Vallée Noire (and for conditions that can rapidly evolve towards hard/frozen snow + slopes swept by avalanche tracks/debris at this time of year).
The Brèche Puiseux is still being done.
The Tacul and the Trois Monts were done last weekend (quite a few sections on foot, but watch out for avalanche risk soon). On Maudit, the route is more complicated than usual (see photo above), a crevasse blocking the route halfway up requires you to climb steeply to the right). There were a few rockfalls below the Col du Maudit following last Sunday's heatwave, so some people turned back.
Thursday's snow filled the gullies up (no activity since), so we'll have to keep an eye on how the wind develops over the next few days. There has been some activity on the Contmaine-Grisolle, the Gabarrou-Albinoni, the first pitch of the Supercouloir is dry, but the rest remains good (you have to start by the Gervasutti pillar) and the Lafaille goulotte (good overall conditions). Good overall conditions on the Tour Ronde (Gervasutti couloir, "normal route", N face a little dry but by eye looks OK).
Grands Mulets
A total of 60 cm has fallen this week with little wind, so a new track will have to be put in. For the moment, the snow is of good quality, it's cold but today the breeze is getting stronger. Yesterday, a team attempted the N ridge of the Dôme du Gouter, but it's still very icy, so they turned back (a team did it last weekend, so bring good crampons and ice screws). Some are going to try the summit again tomorrow, via the Corridor route (which went well last weekend, but the Mur de la Côte is tricky to descend). The N face had been skied. Bosses ridge still technical (ice below and above Vallot).
Conscrits
No one has been here since Sunday! About 15cm has fallen daily, and yesterday, Thursday, 60cm with a bit of a N wind. The few sunny spells today mean that we're back in winter. You need to carry skis up to the glacier after the Mauvais Pas; watch out for snow on the slabs and ice above for those who will be attempting to cross the Mauvais Pas over the next few days!
The Miage traverse with descent on the Armancette (beware of the avalanche risk over the next few days, so opt for an out-and-back via the Trè-la-Tête glacier), the Tondu and the Col des Glaciers (watch out for the exit at the top, which is getting steeper) have all been completed. A team was seen finishing the Mettrier arête. The NW face of the Tête Carrée was skied, as was the N face of the Trè-la-Tête (conditions were quite good, snow worked by the wind but no bad ice). For the Lée Blanche, it's better to bypass the ice on the left and join the ridge coming from Tré la Tête, rather than the NW ridge as shown in the topos.
The Royal traverse was done last weekend (they put crampons on a lot). The snow was pretty hard, with bits of ice, and dry overall. No worries about finding the Dômes abseil to reach the Durier refuge, and the Bionnassay ridge was in good condition, with hard snow on the ascent to the Piton des Italiens.
For hiking, the document published in the last update is still valid. Don't forget that at the start of the season, the trails are neither marked nor cleaned. Many trees are in the way following storms and torrential floods. It's sometimes difficult to get through, even more so with a mountain bike.
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.