[Photo: Gerry Wingenbach]
Mountain guide Armel Faron skis on the Vallée Blanche in the French Alps.

By GERRY WINGENBACH
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 10, 2002

Even the most jaded skier is likely to be impressed by a run down the 9,200-foot vertical drop of France's Vallée Blanche.

It is the highest cable car in Europe, and from its windows, passengers can see a panorama of France, Italy and Switzerland.

The tram rises from Chamonix, France's original ski resort and the site of the first Winter Olympic Games, in 1924, to the Aiguille du Midi. That peak stands next to white-domed Mont Blanc, which at 15,750 feet is the highest mountain in the Alps.

The tram covers the distance from town to mountaintop in two airy spans, one of them the longest for an aerial tram in the world.

And as if this world of superlatives wasn't enough, the Aiguille du Midi also is the departure point for the longest lift-serviced ski and snowboarding run in the world: the 13-mile-long Vallée Blanche.

Thus, just the tram ride makes for one of the most memorable day trips in the Alps.

Last winter, on a perfect blue-sky day, my friend and veteran Chamonix mountain guide Armel Faron and I boarded the tram. I had spent much of the winter in Europe, yo-yoing the main ski runs of the Alps and searching for bedbugs between the sheets of two-star hotels while researching a ski guidebook. Life, even the good life, had become just days on the assembly line, and I longed to get lost.

"A ski day on the Vallée Blanche is the snapshot of the Alps you will carry in your mind all summer," Armel promised.

Given the right conditions, any intermediate-level skier or snowboarder with a sense of adventure can cruise the Vallée Blanche's 9,200-foot vertical drop (the distance between the altitude at which the ski run starts and where it ends), with an experienced mountain guide leading the way. More than 2,000 skiers and snowboarders descend the glacier every winter. The size of the vertical drop compares with stacking Vail and Steamboat in Colorado and Stowe in Vermont on top of each other.

The standard route descends the jumbled Glacier du Tacul before merging with the Mer de Glace, which is the largest glacier in France. And for much of its length, the run really does resemble a sea suddenly frozen in storm: The route is littered with crevasses akin to the troughs between huge waves.

Other dangers include railroad-car-sized siracs, large masses of ice isolated by intersected crevasses, that can shift, tumble and crush a skier.

Skiing a glacier is an adventure that always requires skill to overcome risk and the unknown.

From the 12,600-foot elevation of the Aiguille du Midi, Armel pointed out the major climbing routes on Mont Blanc, where he spends the summers guiding clients on two-day trips to the summit. We also studied the glaciers on the west face of Mont Blanc, which can be skied all the way down to the glitzy Italian resort of Courmayeur, about eight miles away.

With skis cinched to our rucksacks, we began the roped descent of the steep, snow-plastered route that leads from the Aiguille du Midi to the head wall of the Glacier du Tacul. At a level, airy perch, we stepped into our skis and descended a snowfield.

Armel crafted swooping parabolas through fields of crevasses intersected with blue-ice siracs. I followed in his tracks, zigzagging and banking like a bobsledder, and often slowing to cross narrow snow bridges over seemingly bottomless crevasses.

[Photo: Gerry Wingenbach] Skiers pause before starting down the 13-mile ski run of Vallée Blanche, one of the longest runs in the world.

After countless turns picking our way down the glacier, we sat in the snow. Using our skis as a backrest and with the sun on our faces, we enjoyed the extraordinary landscape while feasting on fat baguettes and a bottle of local wine.

Surrounding us were some of Europe's most imposing summits, glass cut against an intensely blue sky. On the craggy granite faces of surrounding mountains, much of 20th century Alpine adventure had been played out by climbers such as the great Italian Walter Bonatti and Frenchman Gaston Ribuffat.

The final escape down into Chamonix is through the woods at the bottom of the glacier. We had covered 13 miles on skis.

And Armel was right: The Vallée Blanche was the snapshot of the Alps that I carried all summer.

-- Freelance writer Gerry Wingenbach lives in Washington, D.C., and is the author of 100 Best Ski Resorts of the World (Globe Pequot, $19.95).

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Geneva is the closet international airport; several carriers have service from London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Geneva is about 2-1/2 hours by train and 1-1/2 hours by bus from Chamonix.

CLIMBING THERE: The Chamonix Valley includes 12 ski areas with 49 lifts. Unless you are an experienced mountaineer with climbing equipment and know-how, a guide is essential when skiing the Vallée Blanche. Peak times are February and March. Monday is the least-crowded day.

Guides to the Vallée Blanche can be arranged by Compagnie des guides de Chamonix (The Guide Company of Chamonix), in its 81st year. It is next to the old church in the heart of the village. For more information or to contact the agency, go to www.cieguides-chamonix.com (there is an English version) or call, in France, 011-33-450-53-00-88. The cost for four people is $215 and includes the crevasse rescue equipment and avalanche transceivers that everyone must wear.

STAYING THERE: In Chamonix, hotels range from the elite Hotel Mont Blanc (doubles, about $222; call 011-33-450-53-05-64) to the comfortable, two-star Hotel du Louvre (doubles, $43; 011-33-450-53-00-51).

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the Office de Tourism de Chamonix, place du Triangle de l'Amitii -- BP 25, F-74401, Chamonix Mont-Blanc Cedex; the Web site is www.chamonix.com; call 011-33-450-53-00-24.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright