UKH

I'm in Cham next week and have some questions...

1) Can I get away without snowshoes to cross the glacier from Midi station to the Cosmiques hut at the minute? I'm not in a rush (have all afternoon to get there) so a bit of postholing is probably manageable if it saves me a few euro...

2) I heard there were some changes to the Cosmiques Arete route since recent rockfall. I last did it in 2013 - anything I should know about?

3) What quick hits would you recommend for someone who is in the middle of town (so quick access to lifts) and has 5 hours spare in the middle of the day (can't ski as knee is farked)? Are the Grand Balcons (Nord or Sud) both doable in that time (doesn't look like there is too much snow cover on the webcams? Any scrambles in the Aiguille Rouges manageable in that sort of turnaround?

Cheers!

At the moment the glacier is rock solid and you don't need snow shoes, crampons are fine. But depending when next week, there is going to be (finally!) Some fresh snow and stormy weather, so ymmv

I'll be in Chamonix all week,  but only heading up to the Midi next Thursday today so thanks for the info - I'll keep an eye out!

When you did it in 2013 the first abseil was from a large platform and a high bolt on the south side. That platform is now several hundred feet below on the glacier. You now do a short abseil on the north side and then scramble up to a notch and back to the south side.  I havent got the most recent rock fax so dont know if they updated the description.  There are several up to date topos on the internet.  The last half of the route hasn't changed in recent years.

Its not a completely innocuous route in winter.  Alain Iglesis (famous for having climbed the Verte more than 100 times) was avalanched to his death from the gully in the middle, 2 years ago.

Fyi the Cosmiques hut is still shut for some reason, I believe they're gonna open in a week or two. The Simond bivy is open though 

Ah OK thats really good info. Id just assumed the Cosmiques was open this time of year. Can you just rock up at the Simond with a sleeping bag, it's derelict isn't it?

Derelict is maybe pushing it, it's not in great shape but there are mattresses and some blankets. Can sometimes be crowded if you arrive late on a Saturday but usually plenty of space