ChrisC
Well-known member
I repeated several European ski resorts on this trip to the Alps, including Engelberg, Courmayeur, and Andermatt. However, these areas have such large off-piste zones with almost infinite lines/variants.
Also, while I have been to Courmayeur previously 3 times, I never skied the Skyway Monte Bianco cable car. This is one of the most ski epic descents in the Alps, given the scenery, setting, vertical rise, and unrelenting fall line. The only issue is that it faces mainly South, so making a mid-winter descent is optimal.
Courmayeur Piste Map.
Skyway Monte Bianco is shown on the right side. The vertical rise of this lift (Entreves 1300m to Pointe Helbronner 3466m) is 2166m / 7,100ft.
Background on the Skyway Monte Bianco
Skyway Monte Bianco is a cable car in the Italian Alps, linking the town of Courmayeur with Pointe Helbronner on the southern side of the Mont Blanc massif. Taking over three years to construct, it opened in 2015 at a cost of 110 million euros, and is considered to be the world's most expensive cable car installation. A corresponding, but much older cable car on the northern side of the Mont Blanc massif, which ascends from Chamonix to the Aiguille du Midi, attracts around 500,000 people per annum, with an annual turnover of 16 million euros. Previously the older Funivia Monte Bianco attracted 100,000 visitors per annum.
From the cablecar base station at Entrèves (at an altitude of 1,300 meters above sea level), the Skyway Monte Bianco rises to a mid-way station at Pavillon Du Mont-Frety at an altitude of 2,173 meters. It takes six minutes to reach this point, during which time the 80-person cabin makes one complete rotation, giving visitors all-round views into the Aosta valley and along both Val Veny and Val Ferret, as well as improved access to the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif and a link via the Vallée Blanche Aerial Tramway to the Aiguille du Midi, from where a separate cable car descends to the town of Chamonix in France.
The half-way station of the Pavillon contains a restaurant and conference centre, plus one of the highest botanical gardens in the region, containing some 900 alpine plant species, as well as access to a network of trails. Visitors can continue upwards via a second cable car which also slowly revolves, and takes ten minutes to reach Pointe Helbronner (known as the Eagles Nest) at an altitude of 3,466 meters. Tourist facilities and scenic viewpoints provide close views of Mont Blanc, Aiguille d'Entrèves and the Vallée Blanche, but also views further out towards the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso.[3][2] A tunnel and lift system provide access from the cable car terminus to the Torino Hut, a high-altitude mountain refuge offering accommodation both to tourists and to climbers intending to access the mountaineering routes of the range
Background on Point Helbronner:
Pointe Helbronner is served on the Italian side by the Skyway Monte Bianco, a cable car from La Palud, a village 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north of the town of Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley. Pointe Helbronner is also served by the Vallee Blanche Aerial Tramway, which crosses from the peak to the nearby peak of Aiguille du Midi in France—a peak-to-peak distance of 5 km (3.1 mi). This, in turn, gives access to the French Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi, the cable car connecting Aiguille du Midi to the French village of Chamonix, Courmayeur's sister "city".
Skyway Monte Bianco 3D Map:
Courmayeur to Pt Helbronner. Monte Bianco to the left.
Skyway Monte Bianco 2D Map:
Routes off Pr Helbronner: Yellow - Glacier Toula. (I skied 2x). Orange - Marbree Couloir. (No go - Became unsafe due to SE exposure).
The Backside/North of Pt. Helbronner --> Chamonix.
Yellow - Vallee Noire (Helbronner to Chamonix/Monternvers).
Next, we took the new Gondola from the Mer de Glace to the Monternvers Train Station, then the Monternvers Train to Chamonix, and finally a bus from Chamonix to Courmayeur via Mont Blanc Tunnel.
I have done other runs from the Aiguille du Midi, such as Grand Envers, Petit Envers, and Vraie Vallee Blanche (to the skier's left of Vallee Blanche Classique/Gros Rognon).
Note: This is a Heat Map that shows both skiing and climbing routes.
Deck at Pointe Helbronner (3,462 m / 11,358 ft)
Looking West to Mont Blanc (4,808 metres / 15,774 ft)
Pavillon Mid-Station on the Skyway Monte Bianco
More Pointe Helbronner Photos:
Torino Hut just below Pt. Helbronner with Courmayeur further down below in the valley. Note the couloirs on the looker's/skier's right. I did one (Cesso Couloir) with the guide to ski the Toula Glacier.
Cesso Couloir onto the Toula Glacier.
This route was finally skiable after 1.5 meters of new snow the preceding week with a 4 (out of 5) avalanche risk. Today was a 3 (out of 5) risk, and it is still not skied out.
Looking back up to another couloir: Paserella Couloir (not Cesso). Did not ski.
Toula Glacier
Tracks from the Skyway Cable Car heading to the Pavillon Mid-Station. The valley goes into Courmayeur / Entreves. We skied the woods into town on one run - much safer than the death trap shown below.
Old FatMap screenshots of the Toula Glacier
To be continued.
Also, while I have been to Courmayeur previously 3 times, I never skied the Skyway Monte Bianco cable car. This is one of the most ski epic descents in the Alps, given the scenery, setting, vertical rise, and unrelenting fall line. The only issue is that it faces mainly South, so making a mid-winter descent is optimal.
Courmayeur Piste Map.
Skyway Monte Bianco is shown on the right side. The vertical rise of this lift (Entreves 1300m to Pointe Helbronner 3466m) is 2166m / 7,100ft.
Background on the Skyway Monte Bianco
Skyway Monte Bianco is a cable car in the Italian Alps, linking the town of Courmayeur with Pointe Helbronner on the southern side of the Mont Blanc massif. Taking over three years to construct, it opened in 2015 at a cost of 110 million euros, and is considered to be the world's most expensive cable car installation. A corresponding, but much older cable car on the northern side of the Mont Blanc massif, which ascends from Chamonix to the Aiguille du Midi, attracts around 500,000 people per annum, with an annual turnover of 16 million euros. Previously the older Funivia Monte Bianco attracted 100,000 visitors per annum.
From the cablecar base station at Entrèves (at an altitude of 1,300 meters above sea level), the Skyway Monte Bianco rises to a mid-way station at Pavillon Du Mont-Frety at an altitude of 2,173 meters. It takes six minutes to reach this point, during which time the 80-person cabin makes one complete rotation, giving visitors all-round views into the Aosta valley and along both Val Veny and Val Ferret, as well as improved access to the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif and a link via the Vallée Blanche Aerial Tramway to the Aiguille du Midi, from where a separate cable car descends to the town of Chamonix in France.
The half-way station of the Pavillon contains a restaurant and conference centre, plus one of the highest botanical gardens in the region, containing some 900 alpine plant species, as well as access to a network of trails. Visitors can continue upwards via a second cable car which also slowly revolves, and takes ten minutes to reach Pointe Helbronner (known as the Eagles Nest) at an altitude of 3,466 meters. Tourist facilities and scenic viewpoints provide close views of Mont Blanc, Aiguille d'Entrèves and the Vallée Blanche, but also views further out towards the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso.[3][2] A tunnel and lift system provide access from the cable car terminus to the Torino Hut, a high-altitude mountain refuge offering accommodation both to tourists and to climbers intending to access the mountaineering routes of the range
Background on Point Helbronner:
Pointe Helbronner is served on the Italian side by the Skyway Monte Bianco, a cable car from La Palud, a village 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north of the town of Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley. Pointe Helbronner is also served by the Vallee Blanche Aerial Tramway, which crosses from the peak to the nearby peak of Aiguille du Midi in France—a peak-to-peak distance of 5 km (3.1 mi). This, in turn, gives access to the French Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi, the cable car connecting Aiguille du Midi to the French village of Chamonix, Courmayeur's sister "city".
Skyway Monte Bianco 3D Map:
Courmayeur to Pt Helbronner. Monte Bianco to the left.
Skyway Monte Bianco 2D Map:
Routes off Pr Helbronner: Yellow - Glacier Toula. (I skied 2x). Orange - Marbree Couloir. (No go - Became unsafe due to SE exposure).
The Backside/North of Pt. Helbronner --> Chamonix.
Yellow - Vallee Noire (Helbronner to Chamonix/Monternvers).
Next, we took the new Gondola from the Mer de Glace to the Monternvers Train Station, then the Monternvers Train to Chamonix, and finally a bus from Chamonix to Courmayeur via Mont Blanc Tunnel.
I have done other runs from the Aiguille du Midi, such as Grand Envers, Petit Envers, and Vraie Vallee Blanche (to the skier's left of Vallee Blanche Classique/Gros Rognon).
Note: This is a Heat Map that shows both skiing and climbing routes.
Deck at Pointe Helbronner (3,462 m / 11,358 ft)
Looking West to Mont Blanc (4,808 metres / 15,774 ft)
Pavillon Mid-Station on the Skyway Monte Bianco
More Pointe Helbronner Photos:
Torino Hut just below Pt. Helbronner with Courmayeur further down below in the valley. Note the couloirs on the looker's/skier's right. I did one (Cesso Couloir) with the guide to ski the Toula Glacier.
Cesso Couloir onto the Toula Glacier.
This route was finally skiable after 1.5 meters of new snow the preceding week with a 4 (out of 5) avalanche risk. Today was a 3 (out of 5) risk, and it is still not skied out.
Looking back up to another couloir: Paserella Couloir (not Cesso). Did not ski.
Toula Glacier
Tracks from the Skyway Cable Car heading to the Pavillon Mid-Station. The valley goes into Courmayeur / Entreves. We skied the woods into town on one run - much safer than the death trap shown below.
Old FatMap screenshots of the Toula Glacier
To be continued.