Chamonix march2013

Hi. Looking for alpine/ice climbing and ski touring partners in chamonix this march. Plan to spend about a month there. Am familiar with the area and have quite a bit of experience. Would love to hit a few classic Nfaces.
I live and work in the Bay Area so if anyone wants to meet up this side of the pond before a trip we could hit up the high Sierra, yos, Tahoe or just a bar.
Cheers.

Nothing to add, other then its going to be a blizzard of aaahhs

youtube.com/watch?v=PiJknkR…

such a bad ass video... so how much does it cost to spend a month around Chamonix?

Depends on how much of a dirtbag you're willing to be. I spent 21 days in Cham 2 years ago. I did the entire trip on under $1400, including airfare, but I managed to fly NYC-Geneva round trip for $475.

SkiStation was the cheapest hostel around at 13EU/night. The nights you don't actually stay in the hostel you can store your stuff in the attic for no charge. We camped out on the glacier or stealth bivied in the Aiguille Du Midi station about 10 nights out of those 21 so we had no lodging costs for half the time we were there.

The big money sink are telecabine tickets. We bought a 5 roundtrip pass, but that was the wrong move. We were stuck up on Aiguille du Midi not wanting to descend because it would cost us one of our trips but the climbing was shit due to bad weather. We should have just spent a bit more and gotten a 3 week unlimited pass and not been penny-wise, pound-foolish so we didn't have to waste time.

Don't eat out. You'll save a considerable amount of money, but that's obvious. The further you walk out of town to buy groceries, the more you'll save. It's worth hopping the free shuttle down to Les Houches with a big backpack to buy groceries once a week. The best breakfasts are some fresh cheese each morning from the market and a baguette from the patisserie around the corner from Office de Haute Montagne.

The biggest lesson of all I came back with was don't waste your time trying to ski in fabric/leather climbing boots with Silvrettas. It's fucking miserable. The distances you have to cover across the glacier are substantial. The approach to Supercouloir should be 10 minutes of skiing off the midi and 25-30 minutes of skinning up to the bergschrund. It took us ~3 hours in mediocre snow conditions. Sell plasma or do whatever it takes, sell grandma on the street corner if you have to, but get a pair of Dynafit TLT5's (or other ultralight new AT boot) so you can ski and climb in the same boots. Seriously. Do it. It will make a world of difference in your trip.

I'm aiming to head back March of next year. Not gonna happen this year with work.

great beta Jon. I couldn't have said it better. I also experienced the Silveretta hell decent. Not much fun especially if you go down the valley blanche and back to town. Ouch. Not much of a fan of climbing mixed routes in ski boots though, so i usually carry my mountaineering boots to the base and then switch. Best of both worlds if you dont mind the weight.
Two years ago i was looking to take an ice climbing trip in March from the Bay. Was thinking Colorado or Canada. However i found a flight to Cham for 500bucks. Sold. You dont need to rent a car, everything is there 10min from the hostel and you have the most amazing climbs and skiing in the world.
Im psyched again.
The worst part of that trip and a few others i remember when i lived in europe, was not having a partner. Perfect conditions, perfect weather, good and fit with no partner! So lame.
The OHM office high mountain who provide information on routes and all things mountain related in town has a message board you can find people on. I did eventually find a few guys but alas i lost a lot of time dicking around.
With that in mind i probably wont go unless i find someone on this side. Any takers???

My company just laid off a couple people. If i get canned on the next round, you can count me in for Cham, but as of now, I'm not gonna make it till next year.

paddyrock wrote: Not much of a fan of climbing mixed routes in ski boots though, so i usually carry my mountaineering boots to the base and then switch. Best of both worlds if you dont mind the weight.

I am living in the Grenoble area and I am open to climbing in Chamonix this March. I cam climb most weekends and some weekdays depending on my work schedule.

I am pretty flexible on routes including the classic north faces.

I have been living in France for almost 3 years and can attest that it is a hassle to find partners. No problem with backcountry skiing or cycling partners, but when it comes to climbing it has been a different story.

Let me know what works.

Hope you get fired then Jon. lol. I could not pick a better place to spend unemployment.
So from what iv been reading online it seems like it is quite the snowy year in the alps. As much as i love skiing im more after the climbing this year. Any comments on conditions this Rui? If i do make it over there i will look you up for sure.
PR

PR,

snow conditions have been great in the local Belledonne range and good as well in the greater ranges such as the Ecrins and the Mont Blanc massif. I have been skiing since November 1 and the season continues with 50cm of new forecast between Friday and Sunday this weekend. At the beginning of the week we had a 3 meter pack above 2200m on the North side with snow coverage all the way down to 1000m.

I have not needed to ski elsewhere as I can be at various backcountry trailheads within 30 minutes from home and have an amazing choice of destinations and come home by early afternoon. Avalanche conditions are also safer than what I was used to in Colorado. The snow is closer to a maritime pack and the only avalanche fatality this season has been one lone snowboarder that triggered a slab at the top of a 50-degree couloir and was dragged for over 500 meters (two days after high summit winds and 30cm of new snow).

The Belledonne is quite popular with Chambery and Grenoble skiers, but not really known outside of France. The valley is at 240 meters and the upper summits approach 2800 meters, so each outing has a significant amount of climbing. Highly recommended for anyone that comes through the area.
Anyone interested in skiing conditions around France should check out the website skitour.fr for more details on all ranges, including the latest trip reports (even if you do not read french, pick the trip reports with the camera icon to see the photos)

I'm going to be in Cham between the 25th and 31st of March and definitely need a partner. I spent parts of two summers there. Would also like to tick a classic or two. I'll also be in San Fran next week for work. Let me know if you'd like to talk further.

John