This will seem a bit ingenuous, but what is there to do in Chamonix besides ski in February? I'm going to be there for a month Feb 2001 working ortho ski trauma in the hospital but I would also like to check out the area (hiking, climbing, etc.) since it will be my 1st time there. Will it be too miserably cold/snowy to just hike around? I have only very minor mountaineering experience (Tetons/Sierra Nevada in summer, high altitude puking in Peru - no real glacier experience) but lots of nice, warm rock climbing experience. Should I get myself up to the Adirondacks in Jan to learn how to ice climb beforehand? Or should I just shut up and ski like the hundreds who would love to be there in the winter with a month of free lodging? Will I need plastic boots and a down suit? And had I better figure out how to use an avalanche transceiver since I hear it's no wussy groomed trail kind of place?

Thanks for any info/insight.

-- Cathy (cshin@aecom.yu.edu), August 28, 2000

Answers

platic: yes downsuit: no

well, in feb, the snowbrigdes are usually not really set, so the "hiking" should preferably be undertaken on skies, however if you are interested in alpine climbing (ice, snow) the possibilites are numerous, given the weather. I spent one week in chamo last week of jan. this year (skiing though) and the climbing conditions were very good with a lot of ice on the faces.

-- Paal Longva (pa.longva@econ.uio.no), August 30, 2000.