If ski touring can be better than this - Then show me what it looks like...

Mighty Grand Combin seen from Tour Bavon.

 

It snowed the day before John Young and I were due to meet for our six days ski touring together.  But there after the weather forecast for the next 4 days was perfect.

So on our first day together it was nescessary to let the newly fallen snow settle down and for the avalanche risk to go down before we headed off on any steep terrain.  We therefore opted to head to Combloux and climb the Petit Croisse Baulet.

John on the summit with Mt Blanc peaking through the cloud

Once on the summit we had to decide which way to ski down inorder to find the best snow and most interesting descent.  We choose to head in the direction of Geittaz.  This proved to be a good choice as we found great untracked snow and we had the place to ourselves.  Yet there was a price to pay because the snow did run out leaving us with a 20 minute walk through some very gooey mud.

It was good while it lasted

20 miunutes walk

Followed by a tricky river crossing which I should have in hindsight walked across sans ski and only just made it without a comedy moment.

This could end badly

John having watched, on much bemused, elected to walk ...

The drop into the stream is further than it looks!

On the Tuesday we headed to Liddes.  This is about an hours drive from Chamonix in the village just before the Gd St Bernard tunnel.  The ski tour was absoultly sensational .  We had fresh snow and once we left the "lift System" [Liddes has one chair and two drags], we saw no one - yet had perfect blue skies.

We arrived on the summit of the Tour Bavon where we had a picnic before skiing down the vast comb before rejoining the track which eventually lead us back to the car.

 

The day wouldn't have been complete without stopping at the Fondue Vending machine which is conviently situated on the main road in Liddes. [Best Fondue cheeses I have ever eaten]

 On the Wednesday we skied off the back of Le Brevent, despite it being a 100% busier than the two previous days we still found some untracked cold snow which was excellent. 

 This was a sort of reverse ski tour, because we did most of the skiing first and then skinned back upto Lac Cornu then upto the Col de la Gliere, before skiing down the Combe de la Gliere into the Flegere lift system.  

traversing Lac Cornu

On the Thursday we headed for Les Contamines, where, because we had had 3 days of solid sunshine, combined with cold clear nights - we hoped to find some good spring snow.  We were not dissapointed and were rewarded with some huge long descents on perfect spring snow.

Me on spring snow with Mt Blanc in the background.

By Friday the weather was begining to turn- with the dreaded Foehn threatening to appear.  We decided to stay local and ski off the back of Le Tour.  This proved to be very good, with the added bonus that we had the place to ourselves.

John skiing off the summit of the Tete de Balme with the Foehn weather obscuring Mt Blanc.

Saturday the forecast was for poor weather , so again we decided to stay local and find some tree skiing which was relatively high.  We headed to Les Grands Montets.  Not for the first time this month the weatther forecast was completely wrong -in our favour.  The skiing off -piste was poor so we contented our selves by skiing on piste and then heading for lunch at the always excellent Cremerie d'Argentire - probably my favourite place to eat while skiing at Les Grands Montets.

The many many people heading off on the Haute Route

Hotel Weisshorn- Wonderful.

Simon Sherwood makes his way up under the Touma.

By a set of coincidnces I returned to the Weisshorn Hotel twice in a week.   The second time was with the "Sherwood clan" whom consisted of Charles - [my long time "partner in crime"] plus his brother Simon and  Rachel and their daughter Saskia- who was compelety new to ski touring.

This trip had been in the diary for a long time, and as the date got nearer the weather forecast got worse. I started to have one of those "oh dear" what are we going to do thoughts because the forecast for the first day was good, then , thereafter it was poor...

We drove around to St Luc, then wrestled with the car parking app because this is the only way to pay. But there is only sketchy mobile coverage making it difficult and highly annoying.  Fourtunatly Rachel was far more adept at this than me.

The snow was good, but the visibility kept coming and going which made off piste skiing a challange.  Plus the ski tour to the hotel meant breaking trail through some deep untracked snow.  I was tired when we arrived and the two beers were most welcome : One for the thirst and one for the pleasure...

In the morning I was "shocked" to wake up to blue skies and perfect conditions.  This was the absolute opposite of what was forecast.  After a breakfast of boiled eggs. [ soft runny  eggs require 8 minutes at 2335 meters ] we headed out and ascended all the way to the Col de La Forcletta.

The ski back down was wonderful. The snow was great the views all around were spectacular and the beer on the terrace after of return was sublime.

The view from the dinning room at dinner - is hard to beat anywhere in the world.

On the Sunday morning the weather was very cloudy.  Infact  you couldn't see yor hand in front of your face type weather.  It was impossible to tell if you were going up hill or down hill.  It was at times difficult to tell if you were actaully moving or not.  Still the team were keen to venture out and find out what skiing blind was actually like.  Well being out in front navigating was  hard work.  After about two hours the novelty had worn off and we gingerly made our way back to the piste and skied back into St Luc from where we drove back to Chamonix.  Three varied intersting days.

Back to St Luc again.

Hotel Weisshorn.

 The brief was :  We want to explore the skiing and go somewhere that is completly different that we would never think of going on our own. 

So I put my thinking hat on and came up with a plan and suggestion.  

So on this basis Reuben Fiona and I headed to St Luc in the Val d'annvers.  This is a two hour drive from Chamonix.  We parked the car in St Luc.  Our plan was to spend the first night in the iconic Weisshorn Hotel.  

The logistics of doing this are not self evident - but ultimatly achievable.  Firstly we needed to dump our overnight bags at the Funicular, then go skiing for the day.  We did this and also stopped for a very good lunch at the Cabanne Bella Tolla.  

We then skied on and off -piste ultmately arriving at the Chalet Blanc which is the "road side pick" up for the Piste Tractor which would transport us to the hotel Weisshorn at 16.00hrs. 

Waiting for the Hotel "Shuttle Bus"

 We kept our side of the bargain but the Tractor was very un-swiss and arrived 20 minutes late.  This caused me some undue stress because I had no idea if it was coming or not.  Anyway all was good in the end. We enjoyed a wonderful night with wholesome food, good wine and all was good.

The next day we left after a leisurely breakfast. Our bags were shuttled back to the Funicular .  The three of us skied back down into St Luc and collected our bags.  We then skied within the resort for the day, plus enjoying lunch again in the excellent Bella Tolla Cabanne.

Then after skiing we checked into the truely wonderful Bella Tola Hotel. https://www.bellatola.ch/fr/ Part of the Swiss historic hotel group. It is even older than the Weisshorn Hotel built in 1853 versus 1882 for the Weisshorn hotel.  [This is remebering that Whymper hadn't even climbed the Matterorn until 1865.]  It is exquisite.  Plus the dinner was exceptional.

The next morning we drove for about 20 minutes before skiing in Zinal for the day.  The weather wasn't perfect - with lots of clouds swirling around, but still we had a good ski, before stopping for a late lunch in town afterwhich we drove back to Chamonix.

Fiona & Reuben with the Matterhorn behind them

Klosters in March: Sensational!

Fred Me Mark Dax having made it to the Austrian Border

 It had not snowed for at least two weeks in the eastern part of Switzerland this meant there was an avalanche risk of one. It would be easy to conclude that the snow was not going to be good for Off piste skiing. This conclusion was entirely wrong because the weather had remained cold, and on the north facing slopes, the snow was magnificent.

On our first day we skied the classic "Direttissima" off the top of Weissfluh. Sure enough even after 2 snowless weeks we found untracked cold snow.

We were all equiped with skins, so we then climbed out of the bowl and then skied the beautiful Untersaas meadows all the way down to Conterser-Schwendi where we got fried alive by the blistering sun while eating lunch.

On the Tuesday we skied to Austria 

We left from the to of the Madrisa lift system and then skinned up to the col in about an hour.

Afterwhich we skied down the long valley before picking up the pistes which lead us to the lift station of Gargellan.  Then the most surprinsing thing happened- because we had bought Klosters ski passes, we got a free journey back up and through the Austrian system.  

The resort was completely rammed , but we still felt it was nescessary to have a drink and a bite to eat before tackling our second skin of the day.  

A 50 minute skin put us at the next col and re entry into Switzerland.

The ski down was spectacular - we found lots of good snow, but we also took a fairly radical ine in places passing above some big cliffs.

It was then a ski down into St Antonien - but not before passing through a farm yard which had giant revolving brush rather like a car wash.  This was a cow massaging contraption which they clearly adored.

The farm with the cow massaging brush

It was then just a question of waiting for the Poste bus to take us down the valley to the train station and then the train back to Klosters.

St Antonien

On the Wednesday we skied the classic descent of the Gmeinboda.  This starts with a 10 minute walk with the skis carried on the rucksack.

Skis on the back packs

Followed by another classic descent:

The descent is in the background.

Sadly on the Thursday Fred was ill and he couldnt join us for the next adventure.  The ski descent known as the Giraffe.  This goes from the top of the Pischahorn. It starts by following a track along the crest of the mountain.  We skinned along this.  it is about 3km long.  At the end their is a convient bench which we used for our picnic lunch.

Bench with a view of Davos

The descent had a mixture of everything: Good snow /bad snow/ bush wacking/ mud/ river crossings/ walking/dead animals/ entanglement with electric fences- but ultimately full of stories.

Where next?

On the Friday, our last day we headed to Madrisa again- this time to ski the front face which had transformed into spring snow.  We then skied all the way down the Schlappin valley, but not before stopping for a delicious late lunch at "Ericas." 

We didnt see a cloud all week!

Early season ski touring.

Our Base Camp.

 Bill and Greg arrived for their annual weeks ski touring with me. Ski touring requires at least decent settled weather. Yet the forecast was anything but. All my plans in preparation for  interesting tours had  been up ended. Nevertheless we still accomplished a lot of exciting skiing:

Actually on the Monday, the weather was slightly better than forecast although there was high cloud which gave a sort of luminosity to the day.

However  I felt we could probably do something more interesting than we had thought possible the night before. So literally the moment I picked up Bill and  Greg we headed off to Liddes, [my new favourite ski resort] which is about an hours drive in the direction of the Gd St Bernard pass.  We parked the car and then bought three one-way passes at the bargain price of CHF 15. each. We travelled through the lift- system using 2/3 of it which consisted of a 1960s chair and a equally old T-bar.  We then headed up and climbed the Bec Ronde.

Bill on some scetchy ground just before the summit of Bec Ronde

We eat lunch on the summit and then ski down the magnificent wild and remote Valley the only thing was that the snow was to say the least challenging.  but this was more than made up for by the scenery and the setting. We returned via a track to the lift station.

The only other person we sawall day eating his sandwiche on the summit

The day was completed by a visit to the roadside fondue  vending machine.  A unique experience for anyone or anyone who loves melted cheese.

On the Tuesday we awoke up to the foehn wind.  Chamonix was horrible and a grey and a warm wind was just stripping all the snow. Show we took a trip through the "magic snow tunnel" to Courmayeur.  As we came out of the tunnel it was snowing hard. We enjoyed a brilliant day skiing Off piste in un tracked powder before returning back to the Foehn in Chamonix.

On the Wednesday we came up with a radical different plan and headed to St Luc in the Val d'Annvers.

We skied Off-piste from the list list them in really very cold conditions before heading up on skins to the hotel Weisshorn which we intend to use as a base for the next two nights. It was built in 1882 and has remained largely the same since. It is an exceptional place to visit.

Hotel Weisshorn

Thursday we awoke to indifferent weather but still decided to head out and see if the weather improved. It did improve enough to give his encouragement to continue but then, after we done some rather tricky kick turns the weather socked in leaving is it leaving us in a white out on the summit of the Toûno. 

The Toûno

 Yet we were able to navigate off the top and find the entrance to the fantastic North Couloir which provided us with a stunning descent followed by a hours skin back to the hotel where the weather has improved enough for us to have a celebratory beer on the terrace.

Bill& Greg in the north couloir

On the Friday the day dawned clear and the weather was beautiful this was the first good stella day of the week.  No flat light, no wind just blue skies.  We zoomed up to just below the summit of Pointe de Tourtenage. [we did not go to the actual summit, because it had been blasted by the wind, and there was no snow.]

After a quick bite to eat we headed down the rather steep north face. 

looking towards the Touteneage.

Bill eating lunch

 This was somewhat thought-provoking not least because it had a load of wind slab at the top. We skied cautiously one at a time until the slope mellowed somewhat and we had excellent skiing all the way down to the piste.  From where we skied all the way down to the village.

Steep descent

Fabulous skiing

Another Mountain Professional in the Family: Diplôme National de Moniteur de Ski Alpin.

 

Florence in the Land Rover Defender.

Last week Florence successfully completed the final part of her Ski Instructors Qualification and now has another degree to add to her CV. Diplôme National de Moniteur de Ski Alpin, which is issued by the L’École Nationale des Sports de Montagne.  ENSM.  

 It takes many years of hard work even after you have put several years of skiing in since you were a small kid.  Like her elder sister Andrea, they started skiing when they could walk.  Flo skied the Vallee Blanche when she was seven years old non-stop in 40minutes.  She was the fastest 11 year old Super G Champion

So it helps considerably  if you are an exceptional skier just to get onto the programme , even before you are taught and assessed on how to teach.

The Eurosecurity is the final: the last test . Two full weeks  of off-piste and ski touring assessment. [On non glaciated terrain.]

The final day is another speed test - Yet this time its not on skis, but a search for two buried avalanche victims. [ Buried rucksacks not people.]

The  bags are buried one meter deep and 10 meters apart.  The aim is to find and recover the two bags in under eight minutes. Using an avalanche transceiver , shovel and probe. Florence's methodical  preperation and practice meant she found the bags in a few seconds over 4 minutes.

Flo returns home still in her assesment bib.

Now all that awaits is her badge which she will collect from the official ceremony in Paris in May.

The much coveted badge.

Poco Loco Staff Training.

 

Team Poco Loco.

Poco Loco is the iconic burger bar on the Rue du Dr Paccard in Chamonix. Squashed into an unfeasibly narrow gap in the main street it produces its famous burgers.  

The reason it is so successful is probably for many reasons, but one of the key factors is that people like working there.   Poco Loco is smart too, because it has a house where the staff  can stay for a modest rent.  

Thus Poco Loco, by providing dedicated accommodation has circumnaviagted the enternal problem of all alpine businesses based in ski resorts : That is the workers can't afford to live in the resorts, which in turn means the restaurents  bars etc can't find the staff.  

The staff are motivated young people, many, who are exploring the world and this being Chamonix are here to ski and to ski off-piste.  This is where I come into the picture because this year and last year I have run a days training for the staff roughly along the lines of "How to avoid getting avalanched while having a good time." 

The unintended consequence of days like these is that if they are not delivered carefully they can have the effect of " Giving people enough information to be dangerous..." 

A lot of avalanche courses concentrate very heavily on teaching avalanche rescue techniques with heavy  emphasis on extracting the casualty as quickly as possible.  While this is undeniably vitally important, my starting point puts the emphasis more on not getting avalanched in the first place.

So my group of highly motivated skiers and snowboarders, Olive Scarlett Merryn Quentin Gemma and Grace joined me at Le Tour. 

Everyone skied with a backpack, shovel and probe plus transceiver.  We started by looking at the signage provided by the resort.  The avalanche forecast for the day.  It was two, on a scale of five.  I explained that although it is possible to be caught in an avalanche at level two it is very unlikely. 

yellow flag risk level 2

 The issue with level three is that it is going to provide the best off-piste skiing but also at a hightened chance of being caught in an avalanche. 

On a level four day I suggested it was best to not ski off-piste.  Level 5 you did not need to worry about because the resort will  be closed as will a lot of roads.

We talked about the signage at the pistes - Skiing either side of the poles was fine, while ducking under a rope meant there was potentially significantly more challenges and if there is netting, then you should probably not try and climb through it or over it.

Probably best to not climb through..

My aim was to accept that the team were there to ski off-piste- but to make sure they knew what they were getting into. After all there are so many people rescued who claim "They didn't' know."

Next there was an explanation of what causes an avalanche.  It's not snow.  But snow plus wind. With their new found knowledge the group could then see for themselves natures signage.  There are many clues.

We skied some good north facing snow, while also talking about how to organise the group, so that if by chance some one was caught in an avalanche, then the whole group wasn't caught in the same slide.  I.e ski from point of safety to point of safety one at a time..

We looked at how to calculate slope angles, quickly, - [Generally if you can stay away from slopes of more than 30 degrees in marginal conditions then you will be safer.]

On our next run we started by throwing the skis over the shoulder and hiking up to the top of the Tete du Balme.   We dug some snow profiles to see how wind slab is formed, plus how to identify the weak layers

Looking at snow profiles

After which we skied down some challanging remote off-piste, putting what we had learned into practise.

The second key part of the day was to look at what happens if all of the above does not stop you from getting avalanched,or if you come across another group who have been avalanched. 

Above :If avalanched here is a template of what to do first.

So we did full avalanche transceiver searches, plus how to probe, how to shovel, what to do if you are the person caught,

Above :If you are caught you could try this?

Plus loads of other small details like which are the best Apps to have on your phone all which could make the difference between a sucssesful rescue and one that is not.  Hopefully everyone went away wanting to learn more because it is like a lot of new subjects: The more you learn the more you realise what you dont know!  

Continuing the theme of small is beautiful :Arolla.

Mt Collin seen through the fabled Arolla Pines

Charlie Di and Mike have been skiing around Argentire longer than I have. So at the end of their anual trip they were keen to go somewhere different.  So I suggested Arolla which is about as different as it possibly could be.  Situated at 2000meters at the end of a long valley it is a popular summer mountaineering destination.  In the spring it attracts lots of ski tourers and is best known because the Patrouilles des Glaciers ski mountaineering race passes througth the village on its way to its finish in Verbier. [Having started in Zermatt.] Yet for people in the know it also has brilliant lift accessed off-piste skiing. Well by lift accessed this actaully means two very long poma lifts, the second of which drags you to nearly 3000meters.  From where there are plenty of off piste ski descents.

I collected Di Charlie and Mike from Argentire and we drove to Evolne where we stayed at the Hotel Eden.  Charming and clean but had had no real upgrade in about a hundred years.

Dinner was in a restaurent down the main street which was good.  However the evening will be remembered for the charachters who par took in the Evolene festival.

This was some ancient festival which the villagers were determined to keep going.  It consisted of some blokes wearing scary wooden masks, dressed in dead sheep [ legs still attached] ringing cow bells , who took great pleasure in disrupting the traffic.  

My attempt to learn more about the tradition failed to glean anymore despite reading the glossy magazine which ws meant to give the history.

Anyway.  It snowed over night and we awoke to a cold clear day.  We drove upto Arolla.  The women selling the tickets was the retired guardian of the Vignettes Hut who I hadnt seen for 20 years.  We briefly reminist about a particular night when we were both blocked in the Hut for 3 days during a mega storm.-But thats another story.

Needless to say the combination of fresh snow, blue skies and effectively our own private ski resort meant we had exceptional skiing.

 

In fact Charlie [ who has done a lot of skiing in his life] said that it was one of the best dyas skiing he had ever had. 

Unfortunately the next day was possibly one of the worst... The weather changed, the foehn kicked in , it was windy and eventually the visibility disappeared. Life is timing.