Spring has sprung here in Chamonix and the mountains are getting climbed and skied again after what feels like a long wet spell in the alps.

The Aiguille du Midi lift has reopened (with the same Covid restrictions as last summer) and so the climbs and ski runs there have seen a lot of traffic including the steeper ski lines such as the Ronde, Cosmiques, Col du Plan, Gervassuti etc.

We had a good few days guiding up there on skis and on foot. So good to be back in the high mountains again. There is an impressive amount of snow up there this year, an advantage of a wet spring I suppose, and the glaciers are in great condition. All the popular routes have a good track to them now, but some peaks or routes would require snow shoes still especially if the snow hadn’t refrozen overnight.

Ski mountaineering has some days to run yet, with Mont Blanc getting well skied now as well as peaks around the Monta Rosa Massif in Italy and Switzerland for example.

Climbing wise Mont Blanc has been getting climbed from the Italian side as well as via the Trois Monts route from the Aiguille du Midi. It’s good to have the Trois Monts route in condition again as it was unusually difficult last year, although the slopes of Tacul are definitely threatened by serac still and although it looks like you can climb out from the worst area quite quickly it’s impossible to avoid the danger completely.

So it looks like we are setup for a good summer season with the fresh snow. Let’s hope we don’t get any heatwaves for a while and more importantly international travel can resume so our UK guests can get out here again.

In and out of the clouds on our way back to the Aiguille du Midi. We abandoned thoughts of skiing and opted for an ascent of Pointe Lachenel instead.

Skinning through the crevasses on the Vallee Blanche with the Tour Ronde north face on the left, Mont Blanc centre right.

Josh enjoying himself on the Italian side of the Vallee Blanche after we had toured across from the Aiguille du Midi. Some really good snow to ski although the long hot skin back up the lift was hard work.

Lou leading up some steep snow on the Cosmiques Arete. Many of the difficulties were buried, but we had fun on some nice variations that are too icy or inaccessible later in the season.

The well positioned final ridge on the Cosmiques Arete, with Mont Blanc in the background.