Trip Report: Pow and Peril on Italy's Skyway Monte Bianco

Old, hard snow with exposed rocks made the early Alps days feel uninviting and disappointing. The first days in Chamonix focused on groomers at ski resorts like typical European tourists. A major storm then arrived, with clouds moving in and dumping light powder across the western Alps. The trip included a friend and a hardcore ski group that tracked the storm’s timing and quality. The group debated where the storm would hit and when to leave. After driving through the Tunnel du Mont-Blanc, they reached Skyway Monte Bianco and found fresh snowfall, ending the debate and signaling they had arrived at the right time and place.

"When I got to the Alps, the snow was old and hard. Rocks poked through patchworks of white, rounded and reduced by the sun. The snow had a gleam and texture to it that was not inviting to someone who spent years staring at snow, trying to discern its character. This was not how an epic ski trip to Europe was supposed to start. This was not the dream I quit my comfortable, well paying job for."

"I spent my first days in Chamonix skiing groomers at ski resorts like most European tourists. If I was on a ski trip, I was going to ski. I'm not sure what I did right in a past life, but the ski gods favored me, as they seemed to most of this season. It began to snow, but this was not a small refresh to fill in the low tide. Clouds blew in and poured snow on the picturesque peaks until the western Alps were blanked white with light powder."

"I was with my friend Martin and the hardcore group of skiers he befriended the previous year. The group had been tracking this storm since its inception, a wave of color washing across a map on their screens. That was when the debate started. Where would the storm hit? Would the snow be good? When was the right time? Would we score? It was the only topic of discussion for these snow deprived fanatics."

"We exited the tunnel on the Italian side and were greeted with manna from Heaven. It fluttered down from the sky in the form of white flakes. When my small rental car finished struggling through the parking lot and came to a stop outside the Skyway Monte Bianco, the debate was over. We came to the right spot. We were here at the right time. We were going to score."

Read at snowbrains.com