Vallée Blanche, it’s magic and attractive power on top of Europe

Written By Jeroen Roosen

Chamonix Mont Blanc at Aiguille du Midi with view towards Arête Midi-Plan, Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8 at 32mm, 1/160 sec, F18, ISO100. To capture the finest detail 7 photos are stitched into one.

Q1, 2019

The twenty five kilometer long descend into the heart of the Mont Blanc range in France is one of the most spectacular off-piste freerides in the Alps. The starting point is almost in the centre of Chamonix, at Place de l’Aiguille du Midi. The Télépherique du Aiguille du Midi will bring you from Chamonix Mont Blanc at 1030 meter to 3842 meter altitude. 
A tunnel in the mountain Aiguille du Midi itself, brings me to the starting point. It time to click on the crampons, attach the skis to my backpack, check my harness and gear as well that of my partner. We are good to go and start the short hike into the dazzling bright light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel the memory of my cappuccino in a warm comfortable bar in Chamonix Mont Blanc disappears instantly as I am, all of the sudden, facing a steep drop, standing on top of a ridge in freezing windy conditions at high altitude grasping for oxygen. Adrenaline has taken over from cappuccino. Off we go, step by step, steep down an exposed ridge. It’s all about that first step, is what I keep telling myself. Each time one step, focussing on the footing. This tour is not for those who are not free from giddiness or fear of height. Once at a plateau there are choices to make. Either one can go in Eastern direction towards Refuge du Réquin, relatively safe and what most will do. Another option is going south, skinning towards Rifugio Torino. We decided to go in between, to head for the séracs, straight into the heart, the core, of Vallée Blanche. That’s where we went.

Bur first, we face an unprepared slope, 30 centimeters of fresh snow, with a track of one group ahead of us. After the first turns, when the legs are warming, we regain the right feeling and balance. The freeride party starts, turn after turn, spraying snowflakes, leaving a curvy trace behind. Until…we face the seracs. Instantly, I feel the adrenaline again. We are in pristine terrain, where the laws of nature and physics rule. Carefully, distancing, one by one on a rope we descent slowly and steer straight through the serac-zone. Huge towers of thousands of years of old deep-blue ice are surrounding us. Ages of compressed ice is surfacing. We stand still, take a moment to absorb what we see, this is impressive.
And then, after we have passed some crevasses, the terrain opens again. Once more we can dance and re-open this ball of deep traceless powder of the Vallée Blanche. Welcome at our office…

Locals have given every part of this descent a name, we pass Glacier du Vallée Blanche, Glacier du Géant, Séracs du Géant, La salle á Manger, Glacier du Tacul, Mer de Glace. Meanwhile passing through a landscape that is rough, huge, hostile, unapproachable, terrifying, confrontational. Yet we are in the middle of it. It goes on and on, until the end of the Mer de Glace, where we have to fix the skis once more on our backpacks. After a short hike of about one kilometer we can descend again to finish the descend through the woods nearly to Chamonix Mont Blanc. A bus brings us to the centre of the village, to the bar where we started the adventure this morning. It’s time to quench the thirst. Time for an alcohol free beer. Time to reflect this wonderful journey.

If you want to buy an image of the Vallée Blanche, check out our shop.

Almost at the end of the Mer de Glace, my climbing and skiing partner is passing through the frozen glacier

Jeroen Roosen https://www.momentsinmountains.com
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