The weather is about to change so we headed up the Aig du Midi to check out the conditions before the snow hits at the weekend. The ridge is partially equipped at the moment so there are metal stakes in place awaiting hand ropes. Crampons are a must in our opinion. The descent of the ridge was actually very hassle free as there were so few people about. In fact we probably only saw about a dozen other folk skiing down.
We skied down the normal route to the low point between the Aig and Helbronner on firm snow, then skinned up to the top of the Skyway for a coffee and a sandwich. There was a great old style advert for Rose wine which I had to take a snap of.
The ski down was interesting. Partly due to the Sastrugi, or wind sculpted wavy snow, and partly down to the volume of open crevasses. We descended to the bottom of La Vierge with a view to do the Vallee Noire but decided to traverse the glacier to La Bediere and rejoin the normal route down through Salle a Manger. All in all a great day out with a mighty fine coffee stop.
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- Vallee Blanche
