My first time skiing in Chamonix was back in 1997. I will never forget that day, because it was a kind of dream come true for me. It was so staggering to finally be there after years of dreaming. I had pretty high expectations and I was never disappointed. It truly was a fantasy come true.
I was a newbie in the Alps and I wanted to join the “club” of backcountry skiers. I was so keen on getting to the mountains but I was a bit afraid. I had a problem. I did not know skiers in Chamonix and I was smart enough to understand that I could not go to the mountains alone. Additionally I had no idea where the mountain faces were that were suitable for my skills. I was pretty good at skiing but certainly I was not ready to go directly to 55-degree faces. I needed two things: friends and information on the off-piste routes. I needed to network and I needed books and maps.
My first days as a backcountry skier in Chamonix
The first problem one was pretty easy to overcome. I knew a couple of guys down there. I had met them in Helsinki a couple of months earlier. I went drinking beer with the guys. Yes, that’s the way we Finns get along 
. The dudes introduced me to a couple more guys who again introduced me to some other people. Pretty quickly I knew some 15 good skiers who had more experience in the Alps than I had. Next I went skiing with these dudes. We started with lift-skiing, because the guys clearly wanted to see if I could survive in the mountains. That made sense.
Pretty soon I was on my way to my first off-piste route in Chamonix, which was Couloir des Cosmiques, a 900 meters couloir behind L’Aguille du Midi at 3700 meters altitude. It was a fantastic start. You know.. I just can’t describe how big an adventure it was for me. Words do not suffice. It was my first time in the mountains, which I had been dreaming about since I was a teenager skiing super-G at my home hill. It was a great day for sure.
I started thinking that this is not safe enough. We are all Finns and we are not very experienced in the mountains. We had no money to hire a guide so we needed to survive on our own. We needed to find more experienced skiers. And we did. We started skiing with guys who had been there for several seasons and who knew experienced local skiers. Anyhow, I wanted something more, a book. I am a “reader”, that’s how I develop my understanding of something. One of the experienced guys recommended “Ski de randonnée : Haute-Savoie – Mont-Blanc” written by François Labande. I walked to a book shop and quickly found it. It was exactly what I needed. A definitive guide for skiing the backcountries in Chamonix. It included probably every single off-piste around the massive Mont Blanc with detailed descriptions of numerous off-pistes, estimation of the difficulty, approaching instructions, pictures and a small maps. It was exactly what I needed. That book was a great help for me and my buddies. I carried that book in the mountains and we used to read it in the afternoons while developing a plan for the next day. We never went to any off-piste before reading what is said about it in the book.
Ski de randonnée : Haute-Savoie – Mont-Blanc: The most important book for Chamonix backcountry skiers
My book is from 1997 and I have it here on my table right now. It is already old but I save it because I made a lot of notes on my skiing on those days. I probably need to buy the latest version before my next skiing trip to Chamonix. Notice that this book is written in French! It is the only downside I would say. I don’t speak French but I understand it just a little. I used to read this book with a dictionary but I was never able to understand it 100%. Anyhow, I understood enough to feel safe discovering new off-piste routes.
If you ever plan to ski the backcountries in Chamonix, I strongly recommend you buy this book, even though it is written in French. It is the best book I have found for backcountry skiing in Chamonix. Check it out and order it if you find it helpful for your skiing trip to Chamonix.
7 Responses
You might also want to consider buying Anselme Bauds book, which also comes in english! Many of the more advanced routes are in this book.
Thanks Fredrik! I’ll check it out and will post an update. It is great that there is a book in English now.
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We have the Anselm Baud book at the chalet and it makes pretty terrifying reading! I’d like to get a French one too, will look into this one, thanks
I haven’t read Bauds book yet, and I would like to get it as well, so I cannot say much about it. Anyhow, I found this French book very useful back in 1997-2001 even though my French skills are hardly enough to buy a beer
It was really useful in the backcountries and mountains.
I’m glad you liked this article! I hope you’ll find the book and will like it. If you live in Chamonix, you probably can find it in the book stores in the center of the village.
Im in cinda same situation as u were when u started as a ski bum. Im planning my first season in chamonix next season and dont really know any guys except my dads old ski bum buddies (50+) and i would really appreciate if i could get some hints of where to find other finns and so on.