We finally found some ice!
Although the weather has been really cold in Chamonix, the lack of snow (and thus any water), seems to have resulted in very poor ice build up. However, after a bit of searching (and a fair bit of driving around) we found the shady (and even colder) valley near Trient, just over the Swiss border… Not a great deal to go at there – still needs some more build up – but we did grab our first proper ice route of the season. Ye Ha!