All of a sudden, it's spring in the mountains. Who knows how long it will last? But for the moment it's time to make hay while the sun shines, and make turns on the steeps while the snow is grippy hardpack.

I was out in the Aiguilles Rouges today with Dave, Steve and Drew, all accomplished skiers from the States. The brief was to give the guys a taste of European style big mountain skiing, and we certainly managed that. The conditions for skinning and cramponning were pretty good on the south and east facing slopes, and the north facing slopes at moderate altitudes are perfect, being almost like a piste but with enough give to make every turn a delight. South facing slopes and lower altitude finishing tracks are going springy in the afternoon heat. Let's make the most of it while we can!

Chamonix tends to get overrated. Some people never ski anywhere else but off the Grands Montets and the Aiguille du Midi. I like to ski lots of different places, mountains and countries. But just occasionally Chamonix lives up to the hype as one of the premier big mountain ski areas in the world. Today was one of those days.

The plan had been to ski a couloir off the Grands Montets which both Richard Mansfield and I have been eying up. Unfortunately it rained to above 2000m yesterday (on the 28th Feb - that's climate change for you). An inspection from the road with binoculars revealed avalanche death cookies all over the slope, so after a quick coffee in the Eden, we headed for the Midi lift.

At the lift, we met up with Matt Helliker and Jon Bracey, and along with Isabel (Richard's better half) we headed up to see the state of the VB. This season has been quieter than normal, hence 4 guides on a day off in early March. But also that means less skiers, and more fresh. The Petits Envers was untracked when we got up there after 10, so in we went. Stunning turns down to the first crevassed area, then careful route choice down through the slots. More stunning skiing down right of the Petit Rognon, with some of the best turnss just before hitting the main VB track.

Across to the Requin hut, no stops, but down a couloir which gave some of the most testing skiing of the day, jump turns on a hard icy base at 35 degrees. Amazingly, the rain has affected the snow as high as 2100m, with a hard rain crust formed above the junction with the Leschaux glacier. So it's quite surprising that the path below the buvette is still in good nick, allowing us to reach Chamonix just before 12.30.

Back up the lift at 1, and then into the Vraie VB, also untracked. After careful investigations and a couple of false starts, we skied roped up in the entry for a 100m or so, then it opened up to give some amazing skiing in a wild remote setting. The sort of stuff that Chamonix is renowned for but so rarely happens. Knee deep fluffiness with stark glacial scenery all around.

The VB is taking its toll now. We came across a team waiting for a chopper in the icefall with a twisted knee. Our legs feeling quite worked with the rattly rain crust second time round. And there was a boarder at the buvette being choppered out.We bumped into Seb Montaz on a photo shoot for Mammut at the buvette, but doubtless he has been getting some good footage for his next snow report today.

We got down to Cham for the second time before 4 pm, after 5000m of vertical, 2 fabulous runs and countless turns in the lightest of light snow. When Chamonix is good, it's up there with the best.

For the full photo gallery, click here.