Grands Montets was spectacular today!

The visibility was poor but a ton of snow fell throughout the day (-21 at the top of Bochard) but the slopes were quiet and fresh tracks were there for the taking.

I fresh tracked several of the gullies in the Tabé / Plan Joran area today and the area left of Herse is in great shape too.

I should be keeping this to myself

Take Care, you may want to print off this handy off piste map

Little short video of skiing we talked about in this thread

http://www.vimeo.com/8413185

What was the Avalanche Risk on? what is the local forecast?  I am on my way on on Friday, where are the best conditions given that the Av risk has been very high?

Bearing in mind I was there at the start of the big dumps during the very cold (-26 at times!) weather last week the risk was only 2/5 on the day of these videos, however on my final day (21/12/2009) it jumped to 3/5 and there were skier initiated avalanches.

I believe the risk remains very high and local advice must be sought from the station pisteurs.

One of the local guides posts plenty of up to date information on his website and has started doing these brilliant video forecasts with lots of safety hints. This is the latest one but there should be one this Thursday before you go which you can check on his website:
http://www.chamonixguiding.com/index.php/eng/Videos/snow-report-Dec-24-th-09

Enjoy yourself but be extra careful, it’s been a bad start out there…

Here’s a little map showing the Tabé sector couloirs, short readily accessible off piste terrain to hone your skills in within easy reach of lift stations and pistes below by the Plan Joran restaurant.

Tabé chairlift labelled blue.

The couloirs are graded by difficulty (relative to each other)

The skier’s left hand one is by far the most difficult in that at it is very narrow at one point and still steep, it needs good snow cover otherwise it is very rocky. The exit route takes you through a small section of forest which can be tricky too.

The middle route is by far the most commonly accessed and easiest route, it is readily visible underneath Tabé and sometimes I wonder why it is not just a piste.

The right hand route is not to be underestimated, it is a vast area with some steep sections and serious boulders. It is also the most committed route as it is further from pistes and lifts than the others. It is a real powder stash too, but be careful as it is a remoter less accessible area than the other 2.

check on his website:
http://www.chamonixguiding.com/index.php/eng/Videos/snow-report-Dec-24-th-09

Thats a GREAT site - Thanks

I’ve updated the map and added it to the Grand Montets route page which Firechick recently updated here:-

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Haute-Savoie/Chamonix-Grand-Montets-Off-Piste

also le Tour here

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Haute-Savoie/Domaine-De-Balme-Le-Tour-Off-Piste

That’s great David, thanks. These maps are turning into quite a useful resource at least for Chamonix, would be good if we can cover some other areas. Although personally my knowledge isn’t that good on anywhere but the Mont Blanc area.

Do you think we should include brief descriptions, I find sometimes that identifying the starting points for these routes can be tricky.

I skied the Rectiligne couloir on Tuesday 12th. Enough snow at the top for the sideslip into the main body of it, half way down there is some exposed ice and rock, only about 2 feet high. The exit from Pas de Chevre is lacking snow - be careful on your route picking, there is only about 1 way out. I would post some pictures but I haven’t worked that one out yet…

Other routes skied on 11/12th:
Left (looking up) side of Grands Montets, the “secret garden” has a few rocks but still a great (and not well known) variant of that side of Grands Montets. Hint, on the topo map, it is the triangular moraine in the middle.
Envers du Plan - great all the way down
A few runs off Plan des Aiguilles (halfway up Aiguille du Midi telepherique) - top is great, on the lower paths through the forest be careful of rocks.

here all season so will post from time to time…

The Couloir de la Jeureuma is in good shape too; tried it this afternoon. There can’t have been more than 20 people down it since the last snowfall on Sunday. Still full of nice, dry semi-tracked powder, and a fantastic view of Argentiere on the way down.

Directions: Ski to the bottom of the Tabe chairlift, about 10m to the left you may see some tracks that go below the chairlift ticket machines. If not, go straight/slight left from down from there until you reach the south west rim of the couloir. Ski along and down the west rim until you see a clear entry (a traverse down and across from the rim into the middle of the couloir) - should be after about 150m of skiing. The exit is on your right as you ski down, the couloir narrows quite dramatically near the bottom and is full of brush. This exit takes you out to ski under the Plan Joran lift until the bottom is reached.

Easily found on the topo map as well.

Thanks for the info Ross, that couloir has an interesting name.