On Sunday Matt and I went for a look at the Chevalier Couloir on the Petite Aiguille Verte, and found a massive bergschrund (eventually crossed 100m to the left, which made for a pretty long traverse back right!), and some firm snow. The top half of the run is pretty out of condition and so we skied the bottom 150 metres or so before abbing back over the schrund. What we did ski was firm and pretty character building, but I'm keen to go back when conditions pick up.
Matt crossing the schrund and about to start the long traverse
Me and Matt bootpacking
Abbing back over the schrund
That afternoon I swapped Matt for Tristan and we went for a look at the Glacier Ronde on the Midi. I dropped in but found some very very icy conditions and so we bailed and opted for the Petit Envers on the VB to get us home.
Then it snowed....
Over the last 2 days Tom and I have done 6 laps of the Plan de L'Aiguille, plus the Cosmiques couloir. Conditions in the Cosmiques were pretty bad (loose powder on top of bullet hard snow for all but the last 1/3 of the route) but everything off the Plan was just incredible. We also did a service for all of Cham's skiers by putting in a track from the Bossons Glacier across to the old Midi mid station, which then allows access to the superb slopes under the Midi N face. I would say that everyone who uses the track owes us a beer but to be honest it was more than worth the effort for the ski it yielded.
Sometimes babbling is useless and you just need photos, so here are some shots from the last 2 days. I think they say it pretty well -
So, plenty of snow to be had, but it doesn't seem to have stuck to the steeper slopes, so I'd stick to things around 30 degrees for the best conditions. The best part is that there's even more snow forecast!