Best Months:  April - June

The highest peak in Western Europe simply abounds in superlatives - it is extremely visible, accessible, dramatic in setting and immediately beguiling as one enters the Chamonix Valley. It is an icon of mountain sports, the birthplace of modern mountaineering and one of the most impressive sights in the world of ski touring. The climbing history is long and voluminous, the first ascent was in 1786, but it wasn't until 1936 that the first winter descent was made. The building of the Aiguille du Midi cable in 1955 changed Mont Blanc and ski mountaineering like nothing before or since. Suddenly, skiers were placed 1000m below the summit atop a wild, alpine spire. Anyone with enough inclination could ascend through the tumbling glaciers and calving serac fields to the tallest summit for thousands of miles.

The numbers of dedicated ski tourers who tackle Mont Blanc each year are impressive, however, only a small percentage descend from the actual summit. Most abandon skis for crampons and ice-axes for the final summit ridge where precipitous drop offs dominate. Very few also attempt to ski during mid winter when snow and/or weather conditions can make it too hazardous. The most common ski ascent/descent route follows the Grands Mulets, a 2 day tour with an overnight stay in the Grand Mulets Refuge(3051m). This is still a dangerous route, with obvious crevasse and serac danger below the hut, but the crux is certainly the summit ridgeline, the Bosses Arete, which is usually icy and always steep.

Mont Blanc towers 3800m over the Chamonix Valley to the north, and with clear skies it is easy to see why this area is a mecca for skiing and climbing. Ski touring takes on its own unique personality here, where hiking and skiing are inseparable. Crowds of skiers with harnesses and ropes can be found throughout the valley as well as in most lift lines. Of course, the planets most famous ski traverse, the 'Haute Route' begins in the shadow of Mont Blanc and it comes as no surprise to learn of the plethora of incredible tours emanating in most directions.

The Grand Mulets Route typically begins with a cable car ride to the Aiguille Du Mide mid-station at 2233m. From there, one traverses across several smaller glaciers to gain the tumbling Jonction icefall and the steeper slopes below the G.Mulets Refuge. With warmer temperatures over the past decade(s), this route is becoming more treacherous, with less solid crevasse bridging and more difficult and exposed glacial travel. From the G.M Refuge, tourers depart during the night (1-2am) for the long ascent and descent ahead. The route climbs via the Grand Montees up to the Grand Plateau and the Col du Dome. Once on the broad col, the Vallot refuge is a short climb to the left where most leave a ski depot. The last remaining climb follows the steep and narrow Bosses Arete and Crest to the summit which is usually well defined by foot traffic.

The standard descent route for most ski tourers follows the ascent route from summit, to the Vallot Hut, grab skis and descend down past the G.M. Hut, across the Plan Glacier to the Aiguille mid station. This is a fine descent, covering almost 1600m of vertical with a skin track to follow. Other choices such as 'The Corridor' or the regular North Face allow turns from the summit and require greater ability or soft conditions. Some even ski to the valley floor, an awesome run of almost 3800m vertical, equal to the great Himalayan descents.

Welcome to alpinetouring.com, a site dedicated to touring  the world's greatest mountain ranges.

It is also the best place to purchase the Kullu Valley ski tourer's guidebook.

The world's first and only skiing guidebook to the Himalaya, targets the Kullu Valley in northern India, in the mountains around Manali. It arrived at the end of 2003 after six years behind the keyboard and contains indispensable route information on a variety of brief day tours to complex multi-day expeditions on some of the most spectacular terrain imaginable.

To passionate ski tourers, there is very little to compare with the undertaking of a mighty expedition. They can engulf your life entirely, requiring months, even years of planning, training and saving. They can be undertaken on lofty peaks as close as those seen from the top of a ski lift, or to points and lines on a map from a foreign land. There are so many incredible things to experience and discover on a long expedition to high mountains, most particularly about yourself - everyone returns home irrevocably changed, it can fuel a fire than can last decades and provides a lifetime worth of obsession.

There is no doubt that we have a fondness for major ski adventures. To traverse mighty glaciers and icefields, to hike into foreign valleys choked with rhododendron, to set a skin track up  wild volcanic peaks in Bolivia or China is essentially, what this site is about. What is a trip without some suffering anyway? For 2007/08, we will bring you a selection of the best trips for the intrepid ski tourer from all points on this snowy planet.

Campbell Spooner at alpinetouring.com

The Dream List returns, again, 3 months too late but ready to dispense with more harmless dreaming. This season I've opted a more personal agenda - it is far simpler to devise my own wish list rather than to consider the touring community at large. The following is therefore my own choice of gear to buy  if money isn't a consideration. It's far from perfect, but neither is most product.

Ski: Goode BC 95 182cm 2400g., Voile Insane 172cm 3100g for deep days.

Binding: Dynafit TLT Comfort AT  740g.

Boot: Garmont Radium  3200g? (not available till Fall).

Skin: Climbing Skins Direct Simple Skins 540g (rat tail attachment)

Backpack (Day): Ortovox Tour 30+  860g.

Backpack (Overnight): BD Revelation 45L 1500g. or Arcteryx Khamski 43L  1400g.

Backpack (Expedition): Arc'teryx Bora 65L  3000g.

Goggle: Zeal Link PPX 175g. or Adidas Burna 130g. for traverses.

Sunglass: Panoptx Churada CV 90g.

Transciever: Mammut Pulse Barryvox 210g.

Shovel: Bd Deploy 3  565g.

Probe: Ortovox PFA Carbon  320cm 215g.

Pole: Komperdell Carbon Tour Pro 125cm  200g.

Helmet: Giro Omen 500g. (resort skiing or mountaineering).

Sleeping Bag: Mountain Hardware Phantom -17C  1190g. or Marmot Helium Reg -9C  822g. (for spring tours).

Sleeping Matt: Thermarest ProLite 4 Reg  680g. or Thermarest RidgeRest Reg  400g.

Stove: Coleman Denali 325g.

Cookset: MSR Titan 2L Pot  227g.

Tent: Mountain Hardware EV2  2440g. (standard 2 person) or BD Mega Lite  1270g. (for long traverses).

Bivy Bag: BD Winter Bivy 250g. or Bibler Hooped Bivy  695g. (for wetter conditions)

Headlamp: Petzl Tikka XP

Crampons:  Camp XLC Nanotech  480g. (steel alloy front points)

Multitool: Leatherman Juice S2  124g. (basecamp only).

Hard Shell Jkt: Arcteryx Fission SL Jkt 614g.

Hard Shell Pant: Arcteryx Beta AR Pants 470g.

Soft Shell Jkt: Patagonia Ready Mix Jkt 425g.

Soft Shell Pant: Arcteryx Seeker Pants 480g

Thermal Underwear: Patagonia Capilene 3, Crew 198g. or Zip-T 227g. & Bottom 198g.

Down Jacket: GoLite Cumulus Down Jkt  400g.

Fleece Jkt: Patagonia R2 Pullover 346g.

Glove: BD GTX System Shell  170g. although Marmot Exum Work, OD Stormtracker, OD ExtraVert and Patagonia Work Gloves are all superb.

Sock: Bridgedale Ski Ultralight  98g.

Hut Boot: MEC Expedition Booties 2  475g.

Readers of the previous months column may remember the disappointment I felt with the BCA Tracker Skins. Fortunately, Climbing Skins Direct (www.climbingskinsdirect.com) sent me a customized pair last week, just in time for more spring touring. I've already cut them to length, attached a tail loop and took them out for an ascent of Mt Kirkup and Hanna Peak, two local summits of the Rossland Range. True to their word, the CSD skins felt the same as the purple Ascensions skins from a few years back. Their grip on steep climbs was superb, the glide - straight out of the box, was excellent, no icing issues and the stickiness remained all day. Quite simply, these are the best skins available today and it brings a smile to my face everytime I pull them out of my pack.

alpine touring

ski touring India's Kullu Valley

alpine touring