We stayed in Murren. On top of the Schilthorn is a revolving restaurant called Piz Gloria where they filmed a James Bond movie in 1968, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The 360 degree panorama from Piz Gloria was out of this world.
The Eiger across the valley
Sarah getting some fresh powder on our first day.
Sarah coming out of the couloir on the Schilthorn
Sarah skiing back into town
The Funicular, a cross between a cog train and a tram.
To get to Kleine Scheidig from Murren we took a train, to a tram, to a cog train. All had about a 3 minute layover. These Swiss know how to be on time! The cog train left out of Lauterbrunnen and went through Wengen, a mirror town on a cliff under huge peaks like Murren, on the other side of the valley.
If we wanted to stay on the train and pay another $130 Swiss Francs, we would go through a tunnel in the Eiger and come out at this train station called the Jungfraujoch, "The Top of Europe".
Two climbers starting out on the famous North Face of the Eiger
The Wetterhorn and the town Grindelwald in the distance
Kleine Scheidig from higher up with the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau.
The Jungfrau, the tallest mountain in the Bernese Oberland, towers 11,000 vertical feet above the valley floor, very sheer too. Incredible
We had a long lunch under the towering Eiger, trying to track climbers.
Murren with the Schilthorn behind
Skiing down to Wengen to take the cog train back to Lauterbrunnen, then a bus to Stechelberg, then a tram to Gimmelwald, then another tram to Murren. The travelling was the best part.
Chamonix with the Aiguille du Midi upper left and Mont Blanc in the center. Taken from La Brevent, a beautiful ski area on the sunny side of the valley.
The Grandes Jorasses from the Aiguille du Midi
A hut near the summit of Mount Blanc
The top of La Brevent where the Tram dock is.
The West Face of the Dru, an unforgettable site.
The top of the Aiguille du Midi with a tram on its way up
On our way to check out a couloir, Nate hits the brakes to avoid getting squashed by two base jumpers in wingsuits. This is the beginning of our very first run in Cham, and bang, two guys huck off a cliff right in front of us. Pretty wild.
Nate Gardner dropping into a chute on La Brevent
On the other side of the valley is Grand Montet ski area.
A good view of the exit from the Vallee Blanche, with the ski track below the Montenvers train (where the glacier used to end).
Closer up view of the exit off the Mer de Glace/Vallee Blanche
Grand Montets with the Aiguille Verte and the Dru above, and Argentiere to the left.
Corri Runes
Nate Gardner
Flegere, connected to La Brevent, is another beautiful open bowls and couloirs ski area.
Nate and Corri ducking ropes with the Grand Jorasses beyond
The painfully slow walking route down from the Aiguille du Midi.
So one of our main concerns was whether or not to hire a guide for the ski down the Vallee Blanche. Although I had not been down before I had been wanting to ski this run for 10 years and felt like I had a 3D map of the range in my head due to obsession. So our consensus was based on the conditions of the mountain. If there was fresh snow, yes. We wouldn't do it on a cloudy day either way. But we ended up with perfect spring conditions: high pressure for days before, days ahead, stable snow, lots of ski tracks that showed the obvious routes. Nate had a friend that was in town who lent us gear so we had crampons, axes, rope, beacons, shovels, etc. Corri and Nate had climbing harnesses, I fashioned one out of belts made by Patagucci and made leg loops connected to my pack waistbelt. Frowned upon I'm sure but better than nothing.
And quite steep! That's 9,000 feet to town below.
Nate Gardner and Corri Runes starting off down the Vallee Blanche. Only 8,500 feet and 24 kilometers left to go.
Under Mont Blanc du Tacul and the Gervascutti Couloir
The routes did end up being very obvious in these conditions. We took the classic, wide route down which is what I'd recommend for first timers like us. It's incredible being under the Mont Blanc du Tacul. Next time I'd like to take the highest, steepest route on the Vallee Blanche, and on the Couloir de Cosmiques side.
Although it's a long, long, long way down. I wonder if I paced myself, if I could ski it non-stop and have time to do another lap. It took us probably 4 hours of skiing, with no prolonged breaks.
A hut half-way down the route
And another hut further down
On the Mer de Glace with the wind on our backs
Flegere across the Valley
Going up to the Aiguille again
People rapelling into the Couloir de Cosmique
La Brevent and Flegere above town, big mountains that manage to look small from so high up
The Matterhorn
The Walker Spur on the Grand Jorasses, and the Dent du Geant (Giant's Tooth) far right
Punta Helbronner, where the Italian tram comes up and you can ski down the Vallee Blanche from Italy into France, or take the gondolas over and up to the Aiguille du Midi
