Europe 26/27

[Sbooker]

Sorry to be out of the blocks early but I’ve got many moving parts for our trip next year as the two kids and their partners will be meeting us for a week. (The two partners haven’t seen snow yet so I’ll have to pick somewhere for that week that will be suitable for beginners doing lessons).
The main question though is relating to the end of our trip. We will go to Cham for the specific purpose of me doing the Vallee Blanche with Kylie. There’s no way I’ll get her to agree to descend that ridge in anything but nice fine weather. I can’t allow a full week in Cham because we will have been in other destations prior. Given normal weather patterns would three days/four nights be enough to score a clear day given normal weather patterns at the end of March? I won’t be able to leave the previous destination early as I’ll commit to a half days guided week with Snoworks while the kids are in ski school.

The priority for the trip is spending some time skiing with my kids for the first time since January 2025 and getting the partners past the pizza/french fry stage.

 

[ChrisC]

Given normal weather patterns would three days/four nights be enough to score a clear day given normal weather patterns at the end of March?

This seems like a reasonable expectation. @jimk spent a similar amount of time in Chamonix with good results: https://www.skitalk.com/ams/skiing-the-vallee-blanche-in-chamonix-france.374/

Again, the issue is that the popularity of the Vallee Blanche increases as one gets into Spring, since all the crevasses are filled in, and it offers some of the best and highest-elevation skiing in the Chamonix Valley. In January/February, you can game/bet on the weather and book maybe a week out or less (less so on the weekends). However, by March, many guiding outfits will book up weeks in advance, and you will not really get to choose a fair-weather window. Maybe some last-minute availability? The guides will not take you up there in truly inclement weather (high winds close the cable car, snow can prevent guided groups from going out). In short, the weather will be decent. IDK Kylie's comfort zone, but I hope @jimk conditions would suffice. I am not sure how accommodating guides are to only skiing/showing up for "Goldilocks'/excellent/perfect ski conditions.

Frankly, I would schedule Day 1 for the Vallee Blanche in Chamonix and work with any guide company to reschedule the date if the weather does not cooperate. Not sure. Again, one starts competing with non-skiing tourists for Cable Car reservation times in Spring.

Alternatively, you could forget/miss Chamonix's Aiguille du Midi arete and use Courmayeur's Skyway to Point Helbronner to access the Vallee Blanche (no ropes, no crampons, no heights). I did this after a morning on the frontside Youla Glacier via Skyway and skied the Vallee Noir variant (steeper, less-skied) with a guide. However, you then have to figure out a guide (Courmayeur-based? Chamonix-based? likely not part of a group) and a bus ride (cab $$?) from Chamonix to Courmayeur.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Frankly, I would schedule Day 1 for the Vallee Blanche in Chamonix and work with any guide company to reschedule the date if the weather does not cooperate.

This seems like the correct advice. Late March should be more filled in and less sketchy than what Jimk reported, surely within Kylie's comfort zone from a skiing perspective more like Liz and I had in 2018.

In short, weather will be decent.

I agree. Guides surely won't commit to a 5-6 hour day with significant odds of bad visibility as there are crevasses and no bright colored piste markers. Make the reservation well in advance; worst case you will be refunded if weather is bad.

 

[Sbooker]

Thanks for the above comments. I'll be sure to book ahead for the VB. I didn't think that would be needed to be honest.

Because I am shelling out for 6 airfares I want to book early for the best price so I'm trying to work this out now. The first week will be just me and Kylie so we can leave that until last minute. Because there are six of us for the second week I'll want to book lodging in advance in a ski area that is very suitable to the two that have never seen snow and is also suitable to my kids who haven't skied in a while but are relatively proficient. I'll need that area to marry up with somewhere that I might be able to join a guided group for a few half days. I'm thinking Tignes but have reservations for the beginners who will be in ski school if there is a couple of days of snow. A lack of visibility could make learning that bit more difficult. Maybe Les Arcs might be better because there is a lot more tree cover?

We'll be driving but the kids will meet us and will be using public transport.