Hiking down to Vallee Blanche after the cable car ride up Photo by Lisa Auer

Around the 1880's one such character, Dr Michel Payot, was accustomed to strapping wooden planks to his feet to explore neighbouring hamlets, and no doubt to check on ailing patients. He organised the first winter tourist excursions on the slopes around Chamonix and thereby introduced and promoted, for the first time in France, the sport of skiing already practised for centuries in Nordic countries.

There are many infamous modern day stories about the Vallée Blanche, especially tales of people falling in crevasses, which is why it is best to hire a guide. The enduring joke is to send the Swedes down early in the winter to fill up all the slots. I'm not sure why the Swedes bear the brunt of this joke, not out of any real French - Swedish enmity - perhaps just because they are so plentiful in Chamonix and so keen.

Initially, you are skiing towards Italy. An hour or two detour of gentle ski touring requiring peau de foc (skins) and fixations de randonée (touring bindings) will take you to the arête frontière (frontier ridge). Don't forget your passport! Drop into Italy via La Toule glacier above the town of Courmayeur and if you time it right the spring corn snow and Machiattos are unsurpassable.

However, the Vallée Blanche takes a sweeping left hand turn around the Gros Rognan (a great kidney shaped rock) and down the Glacier de Géant. And indeed it is a giant glacier which features at its tumultuous crescendo the Géant icefall - a tortured soul of ice. Regularly exhorting a bass rumble, the icefall feeds a colossal serac junkyard strewn with blue and white chequered ice debris. This section is easily by-passed on skis.

I recommend a picnic on the glacier rather than the more popular choice of lunching at the Requin hut. Obviously, you need to be selective about where you throw your rug. Snow is, after all, cold to sit on. Snowboarders are at a distinct advantage since, upside down in the snow, snowboards make perfect bench seats for two. A good site can be found on the plateau known as the Salle à Manger (dining room) under the Géant Glacier.

"The Mer de Glace is the largest glacier in France and one of the most popular curiosities in the world..."

As far as what to bring on your picnic I would recommend the following:

A good Bordeaux (warm it up before you leave then insulate it in a spare beanie in your pack). A more than decent quality red can be found on about the third shelf up at the Super U (local supermarket in Chamonix). Just remember that you'll be consuming it at over 2000 metres so go for quality rather than quantity. Bring plenty of water and don't forget a corkscrew.

Wine should be accompanied by a selection of cheese: Tomme de Savoie, Reblochon, un peu de fromage de Chevre (goat cheese) and un petit tranche de Compte...just to name a few of the finest smelly French cheeses.

Throw in a couple baguettes and a pain complet (whole wheat bread). A bunch of radishes add zest. Some olives à la Provençal for spice. Pineapple is refreshing to finish things off. Not to mention some Lindt chocolate (Swiss), pain au raisin (a delicious pastry) and a steaming thermos of coffee.

Laguiole and Opinel (both French) make great knives and perfect gifts for the hunter in us all - or simply for cutting cheese.

If you prefer the luxury of wooden bench seating and some protection from the elements - the Refuge de Requin is perched high on a sunny south facing ridge and has ski-in access. They offer, among other local specialties, a piping hot Savoyarde croûte and a tarte du jour with wine and coffee.

Soon after lunch, beyond the confluence of the Géant and Leschaux glaciers, begins the home stretch of the Vallée Blanche also known as La Mer de Glace (the sea of ice). At this point numerous challenging variations to the Vallée Blanche converge.

Riding the Mer de Glace is not dissimilar to standing on one of those airport conveyor belt walkways since it is tilted at such an angle so as to just sustain forward motion. The main difference is perhaps the view - a view so distracting as to render it hazardous. If you are on a snowboard you'd best bring an extendable ski pole. The Mer de Glace is the largest glacier in France and one of the most popular curiosities in the world. It is approached either by skiing the Vallée Blanche or trudging over the ice and climbing its steep congealed waves with sharp tools.

In a good snow year, a short hike from the glacial tongue of the Mer de Glace leads to a buvet (kiosk) and the 'James Bond' trail, as it is known, which wheedles and traverses through forest all the way to Chamonix, ending on the beginner slopes of Les Planards. On the way down you can catch a view in snippets through pine and larch to Chamonix, hundreds of metres below.

When the snow is a little thin and your skis are brand new (or your legs are feeling wobbly and it is time for a beer) a short télécabine (gondola) ride takes you up to the Montenvers train station perched above the glacier. It's a 20 minute ride back to Chamonix along the chemin de Fer du Montenvers, a mountain railway that has been running since 1908, originally operating as a steam locomotive.

Most people reward themselves at the end of the day with a beer or a café au lait at Des Deux Gares Café by the Montenvers train station in Chamonix. With a touch more sophistication and a little less alcohol (though the men may scoff) try a Panaché Monaco (a fancy name for a shandy with a dash of Grenadine or raspberry!). Though drink too many of those and you'll wind up in the bars till 2am with your ski boots still on.

GLOSSARY

Aiguille du Midi: needle of the south

à la Provençal: from the Provence region of France

arête frontière: frontier ridge

buvet: kiosk

chamois: native mountain antelope / goat

chemin de Fer: railway

Des Deux Gares Café: the two station café

fixations de randonée: ski touring bindings

gendarmes: literally - policemen, figuratively - rock towers

Gros Rognan: large kidney (shaped rock)

ibex: a native sure-footed goat with large recurved horns

Laguiole: French brand known for its pocket knives

La Mer de Glace: the sea of ice, the largest glacier in France

Marmot: native mountain 'mouse'

Opinel: French brand known for its pocket knives

Pain complet: whole wheat bread

Panaché Monaco: a shandy with grenadine or raspberry!

Peau de foc: skins attached to the base of skis to grip the snow when travelling ('skinning') up hill

Piton Nord: north tower (of rock)

Plan d'Aiguille: the flat (mid station) of the needle

Reblochon: a smelly soft French cheese

Refuge de Requin: mountain hut of the shark!

Salle à manger: dining room

Savoyarde croûte: traditional baked dish with lots of grilled cheese and bread, from the Savoy region of France

Télécabine: gondola

Téléphérique: cable car

Tomme: another smelly French cheese

Un petit tranche de Compte: a small slice of a hard French cheese

Un peu de fromage de Chevre: a little goats cheese

Vallée Blanche: the white valley

— By Alex West