J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Ranchero_1979

This one gives you best idea of amount of offpiste in Chamonix. Plenty of off piste to go at.

www.fatmap.com/

'Why never to ski in Chamonix' in the search box at top and all will be revealed.

Firstly above video is from a ski school (good one at that), hence they cannot take a clients on glaciated terrain and similarly any significant ski tour would be outside their remit.

Am not sure there is a typical offpiste experience in Chamonix.
1) Montets ~3300m and Midi 3800m are lifts that place you on glaciated terrain which in places is heavily crevassed and non-pisted. Routes down can be from mild 25 deg to >50 deg as you wish.
2) Brevant you have the 4 couloirs and the hotel face where steep skiing originated 35deg (steep)– 45 deg (V steep)
3) Flegere and the Index has all the classic tours to Le Buet
4) Balme, classic run is to Trient in Switzerland but also some back bowls and some steep couloirs both down to Vallorcine and down to Le Tour
5) All the normal side of the piste stuff as elsewhere in the world

I did a poste on here a while ago Why never to ski in Chamonix, you can get an idea of what is on offer. Am almost feeling inspired to update.

Whether you need a guide or not really comes down to a few simple questions.
1) Do I know the snow pack (as a visitor answer is no) and hence you should not really be heading onto steeper terrain i.e. avalanche
2) If I am going on glaciated terrain, can I read the terrain to have an Idea where crevasse are and could I handle a rescue if required
3) Given the physical size of the terrain do I feel comfortable navigating etc

Nearly everyone will get a massive amount from taking a guide, allowing them to access areas of the mountain that they would never dream to go alone, which often means the best snow. Is not about the steepness of a slope, a guide only takes you where you both feel comfortable. Many affordable ways of using Chamonix guides, from courses to private and always worth your while.

Am glad you enjoyed Chamonix.

Did you ski all of the valley, as you only mention Brevant and Felgere. These are both South facing, meaning great spring skiing in the morning as snow transform but quite often you are better heading elsewhere in the afternoon.

Heading out in just over 2 1/2 weeks.

Have to same somewhat agree with LOTA. If you are using your gear a lot I would not look past Arc'teryx, Patagonia or Marmot. Much better design, cut and durability. Things like the hoods fitting properly over helmets, enough space around neck to enable you to zip up even with several layers on and enough space in arms that jacket doesn't ride up if your have your arms above you (major pain if wearing harness) all make a big functional difference if you want technical gear. One item I would compromise on is a duvet/down, if you ever have one of these as a sort of emergency/belay layer in your bag then realistically you want to be able to put it over the top of everything. They are not really designed for that and hence get wrecked. Nice to have a proper micro one for under your shell though. Of course if you are doing a bit here and there then almost anything will work and companies like Quechua often have great items. No idea about TNF, never really thought about buying something from there as they sit in a middle ground which is not very useful for myself.

Have to say amazing conditions in Chamonix today, managed to tick of some of the classic steeps. Grippy spring snow and avalanche risk at 1 letting you enjoying pushing yourself.

Brevant:
2 runs on the Hotel Face
1 Le couloir Bellin 1500m descent into town.

Le Tour
2 x Vormaine couloirs
1 x Posettes couloir to Vallorcine

Resort just never stops delivering. For anyone wanting late season skiing I would not read too much into the snow report saying 20cm at 1000m, 90% of the skiing is above 1800m so some epic conditions to be had. Pistes are in brilliant condition and snow on the way.

What I actually believe your instructor was wanting you to do was to finish your turns properly in order to control your speed / enable you to ski faster on steeper terrain. Try this in your living room as it may help you mentally imagine what a good position might look like.

Carving
Stand feet shoulder width apart and have someone pull your arm, perpendicular to direction facing. Here you are in an incredibly stable position and hence when doing wider turns there is absolutely no problem in attaining this position. Great for powerful carving turns, you can't use skis properly from a weak position. Biggest risk here is that you let uphill ski come forward too much (imagine body rotating to face downhill), repeat exercise above one foot in front of other with someone pulling perpendicular to direction you are facing. Not so strong and hence a bit of an outdated way of thinking about skiing if you are planning to carve.

Separation is however a necessity if you want to skid your turns as is allows you to pivot/skid skis underneath your body. Hence moguls, steep hard snow etc. Here you are not trying to fully exploit the skis edge or design to carve.

My rule of thumb is as follows.
1) Never let downhill arm cross your zip line, regardless of carving or pivoting / skidding
2) If I am skiing moguls or something where I want no element of carve in my turn then I will try and focus on a something downhill e.g. a piste pole. This helps to improve my leg body separation.
3) At least one pitch a day practice skiing to a piste pole with poles in hands, T tray style, keeping body facing downhill (again to work on above)

Of course the real challenge is that most of the time, we are neither pure carving or purely pivoting our skis beneath is, hence my zip line rule.

All guides cost around £350 a day. My suggestion is you put down the money and ask them to leave open to additional clients, as they are effectively continually getting requests. The classic VB is typically what any guide would take you on anyway for first day (above link). It is their professional reputation, so they are not in the habit of letting clients evaluate their own skills; see before you believe

Find a good guide and use them summer and winter is my recommendation.

I actually have a guide booked 13-14th is anyone is about.