Facebook is a wonderful tool. Every day I get a ton of messages from fellow skiers reporting their action all the way from Japan to Europe and US. Bad thing is that sometimes it’s so annoying to read their reports while I’m stuck in my office, but most of the time it just feels nice to see guys living their lives to the fullest. Keep on skiing guys!

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From these Facebook messages I got an idea to write about skiing the classic backcountry runs because many of our readers would like to ski the backcountry, but they are lacking information. So this is a kick start to a whole new article series called “Riding Classic Backcountry Runs”.

And now comes the disclaimer. Please notice that these articles are just for your information. These articles help you to spot new runs to ski, but in order to survive you need much more than just a pair of skis and these articles printed in your pocket. Skiing the backcountry is dangerous, and skiing mountain face like the north face of L’Aiguille du Midi can kill you. It is serious, so take it seriously, but have fun. Never go alone in to the mountains. Make sure you have a guide or someone who is clearly experienced.

Riding Glacier Rond of Chamonix

It was back in 1997 when I landed in Chamonix my very first time. I didn’t know anyone there, so I was a real newbie. I knew I had to find skibums who were willing to take me to the mountains with them because alone I would probably end up dying.

Soon I met other Finns, so it was pretty easy to join them after couple of wild after ski parties. These guys were helluva good skiers. They had very ambitious goals to ski pretty scary places, but they were not sure about my skills, so it took me about 2-3 weeks to convince my new friends. After that I was introduced to the Gods of powder snow and steep couloirs.

During my first season in Chamonix I met Jarkko Henttonen, one of the pioneers of the sport in Finland. We all knew him from magazines and stories (check Trey Cook’s article in which Jarkko and Ode Siivonen are part of the story), but meeting him in person was really cool. Anyhow, even “cooler” was to ski with Jarkko who back in the day was already one of the best freeriders in the world. It was a privilege to learn from an experienced mountain man.

In this article I am going to present you Glacier Rond which is one of the best known backcountry runs of Chamonix. Even though I have skied it many times, I wanted ask way more experienced Jarkko Henttonen few questions of riding Glacier Rond.

Jarkko, how would you describe Glacier Rond, one of the classic backcountry runs of Chamonix?

I wouldn’t describe it as a backcountry run actually, as it is more in the frontside of things. I mean, it´s visible from the valley and has lift access. Anyways, first of all, it’s pretty big. The top of the run is at about 3600 meters and the bottom is like 700-800 meters lower and it is fairly steep, too. Rond is quite a straightforward and rather clean line, and I think it is a quite beauty.

It’s divided into two sections: the top section is a face, basically a hanging glacier and the lower section is a big nice couloir. The face is quite airy, has a bit intimidating entry into it and it is also somewhat exposed, too, so it has a cool ambiance. The face is about 200-300 m high and it ends up in a pretty massive drop on the bottom of it. Fun place to be for sure, but also bit scary. The couloir is straight and eases out towards the bottom, so it´s bit more fun riding.

A great run, no doubt, true classic for sure.

How difficult and exposed is Glacier Rond?

I don’t know if it has any kind of sort of more official difficulty rating, but I’d say it would drop into somewhere like grade D, dificile, or difficult. Lou Dawson, the American guy who runs the Wildsnow blog, has this rating system called D-system and I feel Rond would be somewhere around D 10 or something like that.

The difficulty of the Rond has a lot to do with conditions as you can see in my photo. On this day on the face there was about 10cm of super dry sugar on top of blue ice – terrifying. Down in the couloir and below it was more of the cold dry sugar without the ice beneath – wonderful. As you know, sharp edges are always a good call for the Rond. Trey Cook from ChamonixInsider.

Photo by Trey Cook of ChamonixInsider. Skier James Morland

It has some exposure. As I said, the top part of the route is a hanging glacier that ends up in a big cliff, and if you’d go over that for some reason, for example an avalanche, chances for survival would be as close to zero as they can get.

It’s quite a popular route, and when it’s good quite a few people do it. On best, or worst depending on the point of view, there is heaps of people going there. Probably dozens, sometimes.

When did YOU discover Glacier Rond first time and what made you interested in it?

I first did it in 1993. I think I heard about it or saw it the previous year. Looking at it from across the valley from Le Brevant it looks really cool. Of course you only see the top face, as the couloir is hidden behind the rocks, but it sure looks pretty sweet. It also looks kinda crazy.

Photo by randomnificstuph

Back then not that many people did it, it wasn’t ridden frequently, and it was sort of a thing to do. It was a bit of test piece, and sort of a small adventure to go there. Kinda one step further.

Things are bit different nowadays, standards have progressed, or at least changed, and it’s not that big of a deal to do it anymore.

How challenging or risky riding is Glacier Rond?

It of course depends on how good a skier or a snowboarder you are. If you are a solid rider, can handle steeps and ride in all kinds of snow conditions, including hard snow, and have some understanding about risks and risk management in the mountains et cetera, it’s not that big of a challenge.

But sure it is a risky undertaking. Hard core guys and girls have been in big troubles there. if you screw up there, you can be toast. So, it really is not a place to fool around. For example making a fall could be fatal in some conditions. I’ve seen people fall there, and nothing happened, but I’m not gonna recommend that for anybody.

What other challenges skiers might be faced with up there?

Avalanche risk has to be considered. Getting caught in an bigger avy on the top face.. Well, I don’t even want to think about that too much. The couloir is big and long as well, it would be a pretty cool descent in itself, and if that goes things are for sure going to be bad.

The run ends up in the Glacier du Bossons, and some crevasses may have to be navigated or crossed, so some glacier skills are necessary as well.

The way back either to mid station of Midi lift is not complicated, but it’s still pretty wild mountain environment, and the ride down to the tunnel can also be hectic at times, as some guys have found out.  There are some deep holes in that glacier and it would be bad to fall in to one of those. So pay attention to the crevasses.

Big parts of the traverse back to the lift most definitely is avalanche terrain, so that has to be taken into account. Then there is one more glacier to be crossed, an some glacial moraines has to be crossed, too, and those can have some loose rocks. More less from the minute you leave the safety of the top of Aiguille du Midi till the moment you get away from the mountain you are exposed to some kind of risks, and those should never be underestimated.

Basically it has all the dangers big mountains tend to have.

How would you instruct those skiing or riding Glacier Rond first time?

Be cautious, play it safe, don’t push it too hard and have a good time!

A good day there, though, is just splendid, very good fun, and if you have the skills to go, go for it!