On flight now headed home. Last day was a soaker. Pouring down rain, most of the lifts and runs closed because of rain, makes the snow heavy which increases risk of avalanch. Ski instructors were prepared, long rain coats that dropped below their knees and rubber gloves. My gloves were soaked, I never skied in rain like that. My gortex duck hunting gloves would have worked great. I took my gloves off, I could not get them back on they were so wet. I skied a few hours and called it quits.
Never skied Vallee Blanche, just means I need to come back, which I plan to do. I did have a concern I was not skilled enough for it and I told the guide office that. They recommenced a private lesson first so ski instructor could assess if I'm ready, which I did. First run instructor said I’m more than ready, he made it sound like there was nothing for me to worry about, other than that first hike down the ridge.
First tip I would give is learn the bus system, which I never completely figured out. Someone should do a YouTube on that, I could not find one. Know your bus stations closest to your hotel, this will come in handy when you are trying to get back and not sure which bus to take and bus driver says “what bus station?” My station was “Chamonix Centre”
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This is Strava 3D, from my hotel “Park Hotel Suisse” to my bus station, Ski14 to Plan Praz gondola…
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Pics from under Cornu lift, a couple nice shoots under that lift thru the cliffs
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Strava below, skied with my daughter Brevent in the morning (Ski14), she had enough, so I took Ski15 to La Tour from my station (Chamonix Centre) and Ski2 back. Ski2 I could take back to my station, but going Ski15 is the only option, so the routes are not symmetrical.
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Below ski map of La Tour with a few pics…
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Pic below top of Les Autannes lift looking down Chamonix Valley
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Same spot looking at a L’Aiguillette lift..this whole area is open.
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This area below, looks like where they learn to paraglide…
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Looks like fun…
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Looked like someone getting a lesson here, instructor following…
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Pic below to of L’Aiguilletteis looking into the La Tour bowl…
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Same spot looking at Grands Montets..red circle is top of old cable car
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This is looking at Grands Montets from Flegera, red circle is top of old cable car.
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Zooming in on top of old cable car (top) and TS Retour Pendant lift (bottom left)…
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Zoom in on top of old cable car…
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And that big rock bottom left, pretty sure the center of it is the glacier cave I skied down from I talked about earlier in the thread with the pics from 40 years ago (pic below).
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When I skied Grands Montets this trip, it was white out at the top, visibility bad. So it was nice to get a look at it from La Tour and Flegera.