World’s Longest Ski Run: Vallée Blanche in Chamonix, France
A tour of the Vallée Blanche, a backcountry ski run that has become notorious for being the longest lift-served ski run in the world. The descent starts at the Aiguille du Midi and extends down the massive Mer de Glace glacier before ending in the Chamonix Valley. However, a lack of snow cover has made it tough to ski the full top-to-bottom route in recent years.
Filmed in January 2024.
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0:00 Intro
0:52 Ride up from Town
1:32 Aiguille du Midi Summit
1:53 Tunnel Entrance to Vallée Blanche
2:14 Our Tour Guide
2:44 Hike Down
4:27 Start of the Run
5:37 First Look at Glacier Melt
6:36 Wind Lips
7:03 Split in the Route
8:37 Start of Ice Fall
9:42 Refuge Hut
11:13 First Visible Crevasse
11:50 Ice Fall Traverse
12:32 Reckless Skier
13:13 Ice Fall Traverse cont’d
15:15 Snow Cover Begins to Deteriorate
16:34 Rock-Crusted Ice
17:14 No Longer Skiable
18:04 Hike Out and Glacier Recession Levels
20:14 End of Tour and Train to Chamonix
21:24 Final Thoughts
My husband and I did VB back 1968. With no guide. The stupidest thing we have ever done. The steep steeps on the edge of the ridge was terrifying. We of course carried our skis and poles. The steps were icy. That is the most scared I have ever been in my 77 years. There were wooden sticks in the snow with a thin rope, which never would have held anyone in case of a fall. The next dumb thing we did was to go off pist about 20 feet, sat down had our picknick and a bottle of wine. We staid about an hour, as we stood up to continue we noticed about 2 feet behind where we sat a huge crevasse had opened!! Obviously it had been hidden by snow that melted. That ski adventure could have ended our lives right there. We are still married 55 years later and now days we do cross country. I grew up in Goteborg Sweden and met my American husband in Chamonix. We now live in Rhode Island. Obviously the glacier in '68 was completely different and we skied back to Chamonix. There were an incredible amount of crevasses and some blood drenched snow around several of them since there had been helicopter rescues as it was common for people to fall in. People like us without guides. And obviously some deaths.
That was fascinating to read. Glad you are still around to tell us about it
yeah I was there in the 80s and decided to pass on this. I have known quite a few people get into severe accidents/die on mountains. The most recent was the son of a friend who skied down Mt Rainier in WA, USA. Right at the end his guide went over a snow bridge and he followed and the bridge collapsed taking him into an under snow river. Took weeks to recover the body.
As a French guy (formely living with a Swedish woman), a ski instructor and avid sportsman, I only can understand (and back) your story. Every winter, news about accidents pop up several times per month during winter. Many times have i gone out of indentified tracks, but always within sights of the resort's equipments. And when going in the wild during winter, it was always with a local guide so someone would always know where they/we are. Playing safe is the surest way to play long ! Aside from this, I can say Swedish Ladies often come to France... for the better. From my point of view, at least. 😉
You made it . Congrats. That was the smartest thing you've ever done.
That's a great story! The evolving ski culture is always interesting, but it's also funny how much the big things stay the same. I hope to stay on my skis for as long as you and your husband have.
What this guide does for a living scores pretty high on the best job in the world list I'd say.
Well, you can ruin any wonderful activity, by making it your job.
This is an extremely dangerous job. Just look at valle blanche crevasse on youtube. A seasoned guide died three weeks ago by falling 20m during foggy weather. This video is glorifying extremely dangerour offpiste skiing. The crevasse drops can literally be 60feet or more.
@@alexzan1858 No I don't think it does. Because you can clearly see how careful and knowledgable the guide is. You can hear him criticising dangerous behaviour, like the guy making the jump. He makes abundantly clear that it is dangerous and how you should behave to make it work.I think it's a valuable lesson: If you do it, do it like this. Plus of course the important lesson about the real impact of climate change. This guy obviously deeply cares, so I think it's a great video.
@@ageoflove1980 Kind of like watching the dutch government videos on youtube that explain how to do certain drugs, because they rather want people to be well informed about the dangerous activities that they will do, regardless of what they'd say.
@@ageoflove1980 I am from the French alps and you are wrong. Those dude work on their own dime most times. They make 300E a day and have to take incredible idiots at some point and this is the danger. People lying about their skills to the guides. This is a fucking dangerous job and often people die or get handicaped. Still many of them love it. Edit:: My friend goes the mont blanc at least 20 times a year and has to have at least 250 Working days to feed his family. So around 250 Trips and People each year and mostly very dangerous routes. Those alpine ski route in the video is one of the easier ones.
This was my dad's commute! He was a Cosmique, based above the Aguille du Midi in 1949 studying cosmic rays, and whenever the teleferique broke down that's how they got home to Chamonix.
Lucky man.
How did they go up?
@@VilleValpuri by what was not much more than a tray, from a station in Chamonix
Ton papa fait littéralement partie de "l'Histoire de Chamonix"
@@nanskiboutski243 vraiment!
I skied that run in 1983, way more snow then than now. On the way up we saw ski tracks down near vertical shoots, tracks from the legendary extreme skier Patrick Vallencant. He was killed in a BASE jumping accident. I just couldn’t imagine how he did it. Amazing run thanks for sharing.
You are probably mixing up Vallencant with Jean-Marc Boivin. Boivin died base jumping off Angel Falls and Vallencant died in a climbing accident. They were both steep skiers living in Chamonix in the ‘80s.
Chutes
I have skied that couloir. It is every bit as imposing from above as below. Yes, it avalanched. I was the third one down that day. My two friends had chain linked their turns in the deep powder. I was the guy that tried,,laughing, tried to cut the center of each figure 8. Didn't do so well. And when the slope began to travel with me, I straightened my skis out and fairly flew to the end of the enclosing sides, a swoop to the right at some astronomical speed and the avalanche sped past me. We spent the entire day, sun, deep snow, few people, late January, early February, before the French school vacations, on that run, with a couple of stops to drink wine or beer, eat cheese, sausages, bread, made it to the hotel nearing midnight. An old has been now, remembering a single run, an amazing day 40 years ago. It is just possible, I, or one of my two friends were who you saw. Luke,, was the guide, Dave, a physician from Minnesota? and myself Dean. And yes, I have worn a parachute off a cliff, skis on, landed miles away, St. Anton, Austria. (1987?)
One of your greatest videos to date. Glad to put the voice to the skiis, never knew which one of you guys were skiing or if it was stock footage. I truly think this is the most comprehensive and informative pages out there...Keep up the good work especially showing all of u how great the skiing is in Europe!
I did that 40+ years ago, i weep to see how little of the glacier is left we did the last ladder climb a very short distance up the calley side.
Never did the Vallée Blanche but I visited the Mer De Glace's ice cave around the same time. To see the glacier gone when we had a solid fifty meters thick of ice under our feet is heartbreaking.
Weep? Really? From Roman times to 1350 the glaciers were MUCH SMALLER than now. Only from 1400 to about 1850 did they grow. Now they are returning to normal. No big deal. Unless those Romans with their big V8 diesel chariots caused the earlier global warming.
I did this in 2006 and we skied all the way down to the valley down switch backs which came out at le planard nursery slopes. It’s so sad to see how much of the glacier is gone in such a short time
@@finyyc the point is how quickly it is happening now
@@tito2735 Oh please don't start with this climate change bs
This brings back vivid memories. I skied the VB back in 2018 in March and got it in much better snow conditions, about 8 inches of fresh. I remember the ice tunnel at 2:40 feels like the point of no return. Once you step on to that ridge you’re committed. The Chamonix guides are fascinating people and look like they were born on a glacier. I was able to ski all the way to the base of the stairs with no trouble. Those were the toughest stairs I’ve ever done after several hours skiing down. I’ve never been more exhausted or dehydrated. Our guide told us that it’s rare for skiers to ski beyond the stairs as it’s mostly just a road bed back to Chamonix (not in the glacial valley) and nearly everyone takes the train back to town. Breathtaking scenery the whole way down. We stopped for lunch just below the ice fall and a small avalanche occurred just above us. They say intermediates can ski it but I agree that you need some real skills and a little bit of courage. To this day it’s the highlight of my 50 years of skiing. The sella ronda in Italy is a close second tho.
Had to throw your Climate Change BS didn't you? What a way to ruin a perfect video.
@@AllLoudOscarJulian what…..the hell..are you talking about?
@@AllLoudOscarJulianclimate change is genuinely affecting these glaciers, if you’re too stupid to understand factual science, that’s your problem. As you can see, the sane majority of people who watch this video see the devastation that heat has put on this part of the world in recent years. He did not try to make the video political, climate change has NOTHING to do with politics and it is not a “liberal” idea. Climate change is affecting you on your drive to work every day and you’re too dumb to realize it. I feel sad for you, but am also jealous of your blissful ignorance.
@@AllLoudOscarJulian He literally talks about climate change in the video.
Sellaronda is fantastic, but this one seems way more majestic and adventurous!
I last skied off the Aiguille du Midi in 2010 and I am really shocked from your video how much the Mer de Glace has receded and dropped in volume since then (14 years I guess). It was a longish walk in gear up to the gondola taking you back to the Montenvers train but not too bad. There was also an ice tunnel they had made in the glacier directly below the gondola so tourists could walk “inside” the glacier. There looks to be no ice there for that now! Also fascinatingly, there is a museum near the montenvers train top terminus with paintings of the Mer de Glace in the 17th century. It went all the way down to Les Bois - a suburb of Chamonix on the valley floor!
there is still the ice cave, it's position obviously had to be changed a lot of times thought the years
We were there on Feb 25, 2024. They still make the tunnels every year. Mer de Glace is not 100M thick instead of 300M about 30 years back!
Wow the placard on the stairs vs the glacier was quite shocking I’ve never seen such a receding since I looked at my hairline
this video is absolutely incredible. Would LOVE to see more guided backcountry run videos from North America. the pacing of the video and the way you explained everything was absolutely perfect. No one else is making content like this. Keep it up!
Damned. I did the Vallée Blanche a couple of times as a teenager 15 years ago, it's shocking to see how much the glacier, as your guide explains, shrinked. Thanks for the video, brings back incredible memories (pretty exhausting run though).
I did the VB in 2006. When were on the platform, a man fell down the narrow edge. He was lucky and got hold of a rope that was streched along the side of the mountain. If he hadn't done that he would have fallen to his death. Crazy start to the day.
I did this run in 1986 with a guide. I recall the tunnel and rope handrail but no issues with crampons or ropes attached. I stemmed around a huge serac the size of a house and the crevasses noted by my guide Jean Marie. Clouds surrounded much of the aguilles Le Dru and Les Jorasses but the views gorgeous all the same.😊
Appreciate Jean's English. 20 years ago it was really uncommon. Not easy to learn at a later age. Bravo Jean, c'est super et merci, quel guide excellent! :-)
I really enjoyed that. As an intermittent and only intermediate level skier from the UK, the Vallee Blanche was always on my 'love to do' list. At 77, that is now unlikely and so your video was a great substitute vicarious experience for me. Thank you and good luck with your future expeditions
I obviously haven't seen you ski, but I know a couple of older guys and people without a load of experience do it. I think a good guide and probably some fitness is the key for doing it (FYI, I'm definitely not an expert haha). If you change your mind and decide to try it, I'll wish you all the best Derek! All the best mate :)
It's never too late mate, I know some 80 year olds in Grenoble French Alps going to Alpe d'Huez like 10 times a year, you can still do it!
That was simply amazing. Thank you for taking us on this journey !
One of your best videos. A wonderful close up of something many of us would otherwise never see. Thank you!
Once managed to do three Grand Envers laps in a day in 2004 when I was semi young and skied 100+ days a year. The ladders to the train were brutal last time up : )
Wow this takes me back to when I (American) lived in Chamonix in the 80s and 90s with my then husband (a Chamonard). It's heartbreaking to see the change in the glacier. I miss living there but thank you for capturing such a majestic part of the region. It is a gorgeous place in this incredible world.
Skied this in 2016 in what our guide thought were the best conditions he'd seen in 25 years. Beautiful snow and weather and not too many people about. What a day.
Sad to see the glacier melt so much since I skied it last in 2013 or so. A lot depends on the conditions, but you can usually get 2-3 runs in. There's also some steeper routes and long chutes off the top (excluding the north face which basically is unskiable for most people).
Great video man, provided a really in depth guide to the route. I was up Aguille du Midi two days ago, but didn’t have a guide booked so couldn’t ski down. Looks amazing, and definitely need to do next time in Chamonix.
Sad to see how much it has receded. I did it several times in 2004 and 2005. We could ski all the way down. Last time we did it was May 1st 2005, it was the day after the official end of season, so all other lifts were closed, it dumped a good 30-40cm that night so we decided to do the Mer de Glass. What we didn't count on is that they took the guide ropes away on the first Ridge, that was scary.
In 1984 I was still fit enough to ride this route to Chamonix twice in one day. It was possible to enter the descent directly after the exit. It's true advanced skills are highly recommended. Altitude acclimation is also a factor. Without it, participants risk high illness symptoms, such as headaches and nausea.😁
That was me! Practically drunk at the top. Still a great day skiing!
I can never remember the altitudes around there but isn't Mint Blanc not really so bad? I know Mt Elbris in Georgia is higher but...even 15 to 18000ft I don't think is too bad but ...what is it in meters?
@@andrewawp the top of the Aigguille du Midi is at 3900M or 12600 ft and Mont Blanc is at 4800M or 15800 ft. Going straight up to nearly 1300 ft from 3000 ft was enough to get be badly. I am of Sicilian/Irish/Bavarian heritage, but live at sea level. I have always had issues with altitude, so it was no surprise that I felt such a way.
@@macmurfy2jka3000 feet that is not very high, if meters maybe
@@John572d4 yep the valley floor, Chamonix is at about 3000 feet. The Aiguille Du Midi is at 13000 feet. That’s about 10000 feet. And it you do that with the tram, it’s about 1000 ft per minute.
My wife and 20 year old son skied this in 1991. Your guide was a big step up on our guide who led our small group from the front in French and Italian without ever looking back to check that we were still with him. I would say that we missed out on most of the spectacular views because we were otherwise involved looking for crevasses. What an experience though. Oh to be 45 again and go skiing with Jean.
Phantastic Video ! I skied the VB run back in 1982. From the gondola at the top station there was only a short descent by foot, because the glacier back then was much thicker and the slope therefore started earlier. You could also ski right down into the village, no stairs and no train, all the 9000 ft.
Wow!! You have such a heartwarming and exhilarating story!! I almost cried at the end! Thanks for sharing bud!
I skied this in 1987 without a guide and don't remember any problems, but you did have to be careful with your line and follow the main track. I skied all the way to Chamonix without taking the skis off, but had to climb up over the moraine to get to a road that was skiable right into town. After a week of skiing the regular runs at all the ski areas, I skied with Patrick Vallencant for another week, only skiing off piste, including a helicopter flight to the top of the Grandes Jorasses to ski into Italy. I look back and am blown away thinking about that trip.
I’m so happy you guys did this trip it’s such an interesting perspective on European vs American slopes and resorts
Awesome video Sam! This looks like an amazing run. It was nice meeting you in Chamonix & Zermatt, glad to see you're still enjoying the slopes :)
Man, this video takes me back. I was snowboarding with the Scottsdale Sea and Ski Club in 2004 and on the day we were there it was a whiteout and that little hut was heaven on earth and great food too.....our course it was standing room only but worth it.....Thanks for posting......
Proud to say I did that at seven years old. Full day trip, the skiing wasn't great but the views and experience overshadowed it.
This was a really well made video. I did this route in 1995 and there was enough snow to ski all the way back to Chamonix. Even though it's not technically that hard, it's worth hiring a guide who can take you to the more interesting parts.
Excellent overview ! Well done.
April is the best time to visit Chamonix, sun is great and weather is not so cold for outdoor activities, thanks for your video.
Thank you for sharing. This is now bucket list of trips.
Great video. Thank you for putting this together.
My favorite video so far!! Simply Amazing! Keep killing it Sam!
Thanks Arjun!
Love this beautiful skiing tour as well informative guidance. Keep shining dude 😎
Thanks for sharing! Looks like a great day of touring. Sad to see the glaciers retreating so quickly. Our playground is shrinking!
I have been a fan of you channels for a while. With your informative guides, we were able to plan a great trip in Tahoe in January, hitting multiple resorts. But this is one of your best videos yet. The hike down the ridge and the description of the run itself was already great. But the peak was the section on the hike out and glacier recession levels. It really clearly puts into context what may be just ahead for this sport we love, and indeed the wider world.
Great video! I was there in 2017 (it was summer, didn't ski) and it's shocking how much lower the glacier is even since then. The tram ride to the top is worth it just for the views, and the train to Montenvers (where you load back down) is great too.
Sick footage Sam! I stayed in hostels with you back in January in both Chamonix and Zermatt, with my buddy Nick. I definitely will be going back to get this full experience!
Awesome video looks so cool
I did that in 1998 en I am still excited about that marvelous experience. Thank you for this beautiful video of your descend. Because at that time, we couldn't take so much photos & video. And it's still amazing.
Great story, well told and shown, with straightforward views of man-made consequences on a beautiful natural environment. Many thanks!
This is fantastic content. Thank you for posting.
Such a good video keep up the great work
Well done on the video. I've skied it many times in the last 40 years. Looking pretty dismal these days. But still a great run. And the best video I have seen of it out of many.
Excellent Video! Many Years Ago I hiked up the Vallee Blanche from Montenvers to the Summit of the Aiguille du Midi! Epic walk in crampons & ice-axe ! Recommended!
Happy Centennial Anniversary, the winter Olympics held in Chamonix France 100 years ago Happy Easter! Blessings and HUGS 👑💜
That was so incredible. Thank you.
thank you so much for taking us with you like if we were there as well 😃, fantastic informative video and good that you repeated in your words the things the guide said! So it got much more clear.
iv done this run with my dad, amazing memories great video
What a great guide, you can tell he loves his job. Would love to crack a beer with that guy
Beautiful. Thank you both for the views, and more importantly for the commentary.
I was in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in the early Fall of 2016 to hike on a day trip from Geneva. I was blown away by the beauty and perfect 70º weather. Actually, it was overwhelming. Would love to go back and ski La Vallée Blanche, but only with a guide after watching this video.
This looks like an incredible day! It's too bad the ice is receding so much. You did a great job capturing the video but I'm sure the footage still doesn't do these views justice! Thanks for sharing
Never did Vallée Blanche, but I did do a guide day at Le Tour when I skied Chamonix last year. The guides were fun and helpful!
I skied Vallee Blanche last winter with my parents, two days after they had gotten 18 inches of snow . I can attest to the danger or crevasses, because a snow bridge collapsed as my mom skied over it. She didn’t fall in but she had to get evacuated in a helicopter with her leg being fractured in 5 spots and tearing her acl and mcl.
I skied this in 2016 with about 40cm of powder on top. It was certainly a slightly different ski experience, but mostly my memories are of how the scenery took my breath away. And I agree it was humbling walking up those stairs and seeing all those markers, that's something lost with the addition of the gondola. But then, I remember seeing photos by the little railway that when they made that you could walk out the train and onto the glacier at basically the same level.
I skied the Vallée Blanche top to bottom in the early 90s, absolutely stunning run. Sad to see how much the glacier has retreated 😢
We did the valley about 45 years ago. I Remember the wind on that ridge line. It was a hairy traverse. I don't remember any guide routes at the time. Beautiful experience
Thanks for showing this! I was there in 2001 at 3800m on the Aguille du midi going up in the most scarry cracking old lift I ever took. It was rather spontaneously, unplanned, while being on a hiking trip for 10 days in the Alps in the corner of Italy, Switzerland and France from Amsterdam because I just had received a brand new car and hey.. I wanted to do it too because I was an experienced skier at the time but my travel buddy thought 400€ per person was a bit too much and he actually was more of a snowboarder. Later he regretted it, now I really do too! Now having seen what I missed. Especially because back then it was possible to ski quite far. Then there were almost no other people doing it being just off season in spring and you can see now how it is deteriorating and soon it won't even be possible.
Wow how amazing is this ! Never imagine that the disappear of the glacier could be that much
1:49 a restaurant at the top of the world!! so fascinating, and incredible video!
Great video, loved the guides respect for the glacier.
Great video!!! Thank you for posting this!!!
Thank you for doing this program, Jean was clearly a great guide. I am heartbroken seeing the glacier receding.
Was he though... complaining about the guy doing small jumps all while not wearing a helmet. No matter his experience if he falls and concusses himself he's putting those that have to get him off the mountain at risk that far out backcountry. Doesn't sit right with me
low speeds + what's a helmet gonna do when you slip into a narrow crevasse? i get your point but he seems familiar enough with the area to do this without a helmet.@@Two_bomb
@@vuurscheet2101 Yeah, maybe. I still think coaches/guides have a duty of care and should be leading by example, but that's just my opinion. To draw a comparison, I wouldn't want my kid taking driving lessons with someone who only wears their seat belt above 20mph.
@@Two_bombyou’re a weak man
Did it in January 2012 on snowboard with a guide on skies. We were lucky to get much more powder. Back then it was possible to ski further down the glacier and then have a short hike uphill to the Buvette des Mottets. After a lunch there we continued our decent through the nerrow path in the forest almost all the way down to the Chamonix (Planards).
Amazing video. Makes me want to sharpen my edges, and I haven't skied in 20 years! Looks really fun!!
Went there last year in January. Did a day trip from Geneva and it was an absolute perfect day. Highly recommend getting the lift pass. Dress warm because it was -25 Fahrenheit the day I went up!
Its tragic how climate change is going to affect glaciers in future years. Skiing in the alps seems to me like its dying with the lack of snow. Japan and North America look like they will hold up for a bit longer but you can already see the effects on them as well. Really just depressing stuff, especially when you hear terms being thrown around in the ski world like "possible final descents". An example is when Cody Townsend skied the combatant last year and realised the névé (permanent snow) had receded forever. I think it's best we try and enjoy whatever snow we have left because you never know if it'll have the same amount of snow it did when you skied it before.
Yeah I think this year I skiied about 10 days max? Just not enough snow around me. And what sucks is if I travel far to go to a good mountain, I contribute to the reason why the winters are warmer.
@thecheesanator7980 this winter was awful, I went to mad river glen on the first week of march and almost every run had massive bare patches on it, it was so depressing.
It really is tragic tbh I live in Pennsylvania and I haven't skied in over 10 years for a variety of reasons. I have fond memories of skiing at Elk Mountain in Late March with my dad in the late 2000s/early 2010s with almost their entire footprint open even that late in the season. I was considering trying skiing again this winter but after looking at conditions and such it was honestly too depressing for me to head out. PA used to have some excellent (albeit small compared to elsewhere) places to ski, but it seemed like every single resort anywhere near me (even ones with robust snowmaking) really struggled to get their full footprint open - even once they did by mid February, most got it washed out by rain this past week or so. While some places claim they are going to try and hold out until next weekend (March 16-17), I highly doubt most will be able to do so since they're already dealing with significant terrain closures, thin cover, and temps way too high for any snowmaking. It's tragic, but it feels like skiing in the Mid-Atlantic is not long for this world. :/
We are all victims!!😂😂😂😂
You know California just got like 10 feet of snow...
Took first cable car, went quick down the ridge before the circus and off I went. Had the whole Valley Blance to myself and did it in about 35 minutes. Being alone in this place was so special. Had to wait for the cable car at Montanvers to open. Not common to be able to ski to town, but fun if you like single track.
Great video, well made informative and good views!
That was GREAT! Interesting, beautiful, scary concerning the future - and I didn't even know about it! And I am from Switzerland and even spent a whole winter in Zermatt, from where you can actually SEE Mont Blanc from many places up in the ski area 🙈. Thx!
Did this in 1997 with a mixed group of boarders and skiers. We got so lucky with the snow and made fresh tracks for much of the way down.
Thank you very much Jéan for showing us the ways around this massive run!
Nice, well done! That was crazy!
That was amazing. I've been skiing since I was 12. Now 68. You lost me at "we had to hike to get out". Lol.
Thx for this great video ❤️
wow that was so cool it is sad though i would do it
wow! what an amazing video. Everything is great, thank you
That upper lift is marvel of engineering and that view from the top, holy shit!
WOW - I remember visiting the glacier back in 1989 and the glacier was, as you say, right up to the old gondola. So incredibly sad and scary how far the glacier has retreated in just a few years.
I skied the Vallee Blanche almost 40 years ago, as hard as that is to believe. We were able to ski right down into town.
I loved learning about glacial erosion in school and skiing it in action here is incredible. I skied Zermatt for the 2003 season and seeing photos on the wall of bars of the glacier from the 1960 was shocking!! Kids born today won't get to enjoy these stunning ski runs.
The same with the "Aletsch Glacier" ... in the next 20 or 40 years it will be 'history of former times'.
Excellent description of the Vallée Blanche downhill route, with intelligent use of the camera. I used to do the Vallée Blanche 3-4 times a year over the last few years, after climbing the surrounding peaks, and each time I saw beginner skiers struggling between the ice blocks, down the obviuosly unprepared route. Without a comfortable skiing level, people should avoid this difficult route (even if popular).
The infrastructure is incredible, especially the restaurant
That was really cool. Thx for the expose. Europe is on my bucket list, but it looks like I better get there soon, or I might be on Europe's ski field's bucket list...
Oh yeah in 1983 we skied all the way into chamonix village!!!
This is excellent content
EPIC !!!! WELL PLAYED , you're channel is rad
man I love your narration
In 1991 I did it without a guide. Great experience. Could ski to Chamonix Town.
The snowfield/icefall reminds me of Mt Rainier's Muir snowfiled. Something like 2 miles of snow when i visited, with close to 100 inches of snow that spring. Unfortunately you have to carry your ski up to ski it. A few people went evem beyond (which requires a climbing permit) to ski down. Insanely cool imo and i hope one day i can be good enough a skier to do that
One time I was skiing the powder in the trees in a white out at My Baker (see USA extreme skiing resorts video on this channel) and I saw some tracks diverging a bit from my usual route so I followed and stopped at about 50' in. The fog cleared a bit and I realized the front of my skis were going over the edge of a cliff. So were the tracks I was following. That was a learning experience.
I got to ski on the Vallée Blanche more than ten years ago, may be close to fiveteen, it's crazy how the glacier changed. It had already receded a great deal at the time, you still had to walk for about half an hour at the end of it to reach the Chamonix ski pists, but there was no bridge or stairs to walk on like you did in the video And the hike down from the Aiguille du Midi was way sketchier, like only one rope rail, some stairs carved in the ice ... really felt like the most dangerous part of the day ahah
Great video. Jean is a very cool guide.
Seeing that guy taking those reckless jumps was something else man. Risking jumping into a crevasse all for a 3 foot hop you can do on any groomed piste lol