UKH

Hi,

Just spent 2w in Mont Blanc. Very little ice forming. So, is ice in autumn in alps a thing of the past. It's all a gamble but when is the most reliable time of year for mixed and ice in Mont Blanc these days? April May a better time? Or November? Or is it basically done for?

Weather has been hot and summer like.

All opinions or abuse welcome

I started a thread about this recently but it didn’t really take off.

I’ve tended to go in March/April for the simple reason that if there is no climbing to be done at least you can go skiing. Plus you can go for the ski in / ski out approach.

A friend of mine did the Dent Blanche NF about a week ago and reported decent conditions there. Sometimes you just have to go and have a look as it’s hard to get conditions info at this time of year, particularly outside Cham. 

The quality of the autumn depends on how wet the summer was. A wet summer puts water into the system to make ice. A dry summer does the opposite.

I wonder if wet summers may be a rare occurrence these days. From what I've heard, autumn used to be more reliable for ice than it is now. 

More likely to get some mixed route done in the lakes this time of year! 3 star classic rock routes etc????.