# Mont Blanc Snowboard Descent



## NWBoarder (Jan 10, 2010)

I'm not the best to answer this, especially since I have never done this, but my guess is Splitboard. It's the ultimate combo for the BC as best as I can tell. Pseudo ski's for the hike up, and a snowboard for the ride down. I don't think you can go wrong there. Again, I'm not an expert here, but I'm sure someone who is will chime in as well.


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

you want a splitboard with spark r&d bindings(< these might be hard to find) if you can get em.

snowshoes are too slow. lots of good splitboards out there...Prior, Never Summer, Venture...

the key will be boots.... snowboard boots that you can put crampons on....shit i think you're limited to hard boots (hard snowboard boots i know nothing about) which would negate the use of the r&d bindings....you might look for a good hardboot/binding setup for the split.


if you can somehow get away with wearing normal snowboard boots then buy the best boots FOR YOUR FOOT that feel the most comfortable, regardless of price. break them in by wearing them around/riding in them before the big trip. 

while on the trip you want to dry your liners as best as you can each night. if you're in huts then take em out of your boots and dry them by the stove/fire, or put the liners in the bottom of your sleeping bag every night.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Shredlife beats me to it yet again.

Are you talking actual ice or hard packed steep snow? 

If you are doing actual long stretches of ice climbing you are going to need hard boots. What type of crampons is your guide recommending? Are the front points horizontal in orientation or vertical in orientation? If they are horizontal then you are most definitely not doing sustained ice. In that case you can get soft boots and make sure you get crampons that strap onto that style. I'd recommend boots with Vibram soles. Burton makes a boot with this and there may be a couple of other companies. 

If you are getting true ice crampons, look at light weight AT boots. The less support the better. Three buckles on the boot max. If Scarpa still makes the F1 that would be a good one to look at. 

shred is dead on that you want a split. You may consider a three section split. My understanding is that skin tracks are often narrow in Europe. If your group will be touring on skinny skis, the three section split would be ideal.

So there are some questions here for you to answer to help lead you in the right direction.


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## nzboardlife (Mar 25, 2008)

Get a split and some splitboard crampons and as your guide advised some boot crampons, my voile splitboard crampons can make an icy/hardpack skin traverse alot easier. This year for the NZ season im investing in two ice axes and a pair of boot crampons  bring on the gnarly accent/decents!


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

For Mount Blanc you are still going to have to do some serious touring before you strap on the crampons to your boot. That much I know. I still don't know what the proposed route is like when you hit that point. The biggest question is if you need snow crampons or true ice crampons. The former, and you can do soft boots, the latter, you'll need hard boots. No way around it. 

Either way you'll need a split, maybe a three section split at that.


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## thetraveler (Feb 24, 2010)

Some very high quality advice from everyone. I appreciate it a great deal. It has helped fill in a lot of gaps.

The mountain guide and I have decided to do a day of testing on a couple of lower summits using snowshoes. I will be using my regular board and, as I will not be climbing sheer walls of ice on this trip or on the Mont Blanc trip, I will be using my regular softboots and regular crampons - Grivel Wide 10. 

There may also be the option to do a heli-drop 3 hours hiking below the summit. This would considerably reduce the benefit from climbing on a splitboard vs. snowshoes (because the advantage is smaller over much shorter distances).

I spoke with a local snowboarding nut and he says he tried a splitboard several years ago. His experience was that the splitboard was great to use on gentle inclines but not so good when you had to turn on steeper inclines and each split was too wide for the ski tracks made by other people (chimes with Kill comments about a triple split). 

Peace...


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

You can get the ski crampons for the regular split. Especially the Mr Chomps that are for use the Spark R&D binders. Then the skin track thing wouldn't be much of an issue. Of course you would always be breaking a wider track which sucks. Euro ski tourers are weird. Here in the US pretty much everyone is on fat skis that are close to if not bigger than splitboard ski widths. So it's a non issue.


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