Moving into Saint Gervais Mont Blanc

 Finally, the moment has come! This is a very highly anticipated development. Our home in France was, until now, in the French southwest, a gorgeous and historic part of the country, but that (critically, as it turned out) was devoid of mountains. This has been fixed as we have now moved from Dordogne to Haute-Savoie to live on the ledges of the actual Mont Blanc. Western Europe's highest peak at an elevation of 15,781 feet. It lives up to its name just fine, even through global warming, as you can see below, the summit is white no matter the season.

St Gervais comes with a few irreplaceable assets: 

- The cog train that takes you to the Mt Blanc "Royal" trail head.

- 110 lifts in the St Gervais ski resort, which includes Megeve, Les Contamines, and Combloux.

- Frances's highest county with Mt Blanc in the county at 15,781 feet.

Here are some pictures taken today from Mont Joux:

Mont Blanc15,781 feet and Aiguille de Bionassay.

Left arrow: Aiguille du Midi (tram), 12,605 ft.
Right arrow: Refuge (hut) du Gouter, 12,516 ft.
You will have to enlarge to distinguish any of this.

From Mt Joux, looking west (left in the valley) is Megeve.

From Mt Joux, looking east: first St Gervais on the ledge. On 
the valley floor is Sallanches (Rossignol world hq). The 
suspended road in the distance gets you to Chamonix. 

Is actual winter finally here?

 This was my 40th tour this season, and all prior ones have been anywhere from marginal to average at best. This is our worst season on record, with, at this time, a season total of just 97", a pretty hurtful statistic. Having said that, in the last 72 hours, we got 11", so this morning, I went to the northernmost couloir below Wheeler Peak. Actually, to be precise, it is between Wheeler Peak and Mount Walter. I went solo, and I was aiming for summitting Mount Walter. I got really close, but just about 400-500' below the summit, I hit a hollow slab, so I decided to skip the summit (there were no obvious ways to work around that slab without spending an inordinate amount of time post-holing). Instead, I decided to get the best ski out of the almost 3,000-foot drop I was looking down.  After all the false alerts from the prior storms, my expectations were low, and  I expected the skiing would be OK, i.e., a lot better than the last several outings. But as it turned out, this ski was meant to be the reward of the day and the season. This was, by a gazillion miles, the best ski of the season. I had a foot+ on a highly stable snowpack, and the skiing was absolute world-class! It didn't hurt that I got first tracks; I saw no one else on the entire mountain. Here are some pictures taken from that west face.

This is a panoramic view of, from left to right, Lake Fork
Peak, Kachina Peak, and in the distance, the Taos resort.

Here is a close-up of Lake Fork Peak. It is finally getting
filled up and should be a good ski now.

Here is a close-up of the "backside" of the Taos ski resort

This picture is to give you a sense of how much snow there
is on the Wheeler Pk - Mt Walter west face.

The Taos backcountry is slowly getting ready for some turns

 The last storm has considerably improved the conditions in the cirque around Williams Lake. Starting tomorrow and up until Monday we are getting some snow. Hopefully, it's a lot, in which case, many of the lines we can clearly see in these pictures could be in condition. Here are a couple of pictures taken from a couloir on Wheeler's West face yesterday:

The moon over Kachina Peak.

Another foot of snow and some of these couloirs
should be in condition,

What a difference a few inches can make...

This is my 20th outing of the 24/25 season, and the few inches of snow that fell between Christmas night and Friday completely transformed the Williams Lake trail. What was once rutted and rundown now feels like a magical winter wonderland. With five to six inches of fresh snow, everything around you is pure white and glistening!

Check out some pictures from yesterday. The first two? Let’s call them: “Find the avalanche path...”

Looking over Williams Lake to Lake Fork Peak, elev. 12,881'.

View of the southern ridge line.

Wind plume over Wheler Peak, elevation 13,161'

Lake Fork Peak through the trees.

The bog above and south of Williams Lake.

Frozen lakes and rivers, known as the "Highways of Winter," 

were used by Stone Age skiers. Thanks to these natural 

pathways, they could often travel farther and faster 

in winter than during the warmer seasons.

12 days of skiing so far this season, and I can't wait for the next storm!

Saying that backcountry snow conditions are "variable" right now is putting it mildly. That said, getting 11 ski days in by November is definitely a privilege, so there’s no room for complaints.

Here’s the breakdown of those 11 November days plus one in December: 10 backcountry days, 1 resort day, and 1 mixed day (backcountry in the early morning, resort in the later morning).

The first two pictures are from Thanksgiving Day at the resort, and the other three are from today in the Wheeler Wilderness.

View up the glacial moraines below Lake Fork Peak.

More moraines.

Picking a route through rocks and rock wells...

Kachina Basin in the Pre-Season

 Today it was off to Kachina Basin. This is the kind of tour that is more about uphill fitness and dialing in the equipment than chasing epic powder stashes. Having said that, I was surprised to get some chalky but high-quality powder.  In any case here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what Taos looks like today.

Kachina is not yet fully filled in but it won't take all that
much more to have a ball up here.

Cat tracks at the base of Kachina Basin.

The first of the Taos backcountry scene past Kachina Peak.

A tempting objective in the distance. I am new to the area so
could easily be wrong but looking at the map I am thinking
Gold Hill at 12,711' elevation.

First Ski of the 24/25 Season

 Today, after three days of snowfall, was the time to take out the skis. The first of the season is always a special occasion. Of course, there is the anticipation and trepidation. There is enhanced enjoyment in the evening before in preparing the gear and making sure the ski bases are okay, the skins are clean, and the backpack is ready. These things are pretty routine for most outings, but on the first tour of the season, it's all just a bit more festive feeling.

Given that we just emerged from a major storm system that dropped up to three feet of snow and stopped just a few hours before my tour started, avalanche terrain was out. In the Taos area that means you go to the Williams Lake Trail. You start at about 10,200' and go to 11,200'. It's a five-mile roundtrip and the whole trail is on the flat, removed from any steep slopes. It's not the most exciting destination and it is overpopulated, but today, it offered one to three feet of powder and a total glistering winter wonderland. 

Here are some pictures.

View of Taos backcountry 1/2

View of Taos backcountry 2/2  

Williams Lake at about 11,200'

First break and transition spot of the season.

Loki the Magnificent