This morning dawned clear and crisp, with an untouched feel of powder outside the window. Actually nothing special about the way the day dawned it’s been like this for a few days now. Today was different because I go out and play with it!
Over the weekend we had a fair dump of fresh snow. And here in Chamonix they opened up most of the lifts for the first time this winter. Most stuff would already be tracked and without a bombproof base over all the rocks the lower stuff would be out so time to go higher.
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The old Flegere cable car took us up to the shiny new Index high speed 6-person chair – quite a bit colder than the old covered 3 person lift it replaces. At the top we were greeted to a closed Floria drag lift – ah well wr have to walk a little further.
Skins on and off we go. I give up with the lift line, as it gets too steep, so off to the side and plough my own trail. Surprisingly it’s soft for at least the first foot, not nasty wind crusted snow that I’d expected.
At the top of the Floria we start the route proper. There is a track in front of us but it’s a few days old and almost completely filled in by the wind. Tomas takes the duty of braking trail and sets a pace we can barely follow.
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We get 95% of the way up before a combination of steepness and an existing bootpack track force us onto foot rather than ski. The last few meters has a slight sting in the tail with some rocks to scramble over.
Every time I climb the col du Chrochues it’s cold and windy at the top. No exception this time. Skins off and time for first turns. It isn’t very light, it isn’t super deep. But it is very very nice. A few gentle turns and a fair bit of traversing.
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Skins on again. I get more than halfway up the Col Berard before Tomas catches up and overtakes me. At the top we look over into the Berard valley.
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Powder awaits – no more climbing. Some deeper powder at the top. But some more windblown patches down low.
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Down along the valley floor the trail dips and dives in and out of the trees and across a few streams.
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Eventually bringing you out at Le Buet railway station.
Both Tomas and Bbirtle headed home here. I took the Cross country piste down to Vallorcine. And the new gondola up to le Tour. At the top I get a view looking down the length of the Chamonix valley.
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A gentle ski down to the le Tour parking lot and an end to a nice mellow day in the hills with a good few miles covered.
