Hurrah! We have finally returned to France, and a very belated winter (now spring) season.
As the pandemic second wave (or was it third wave?) receded in the UK, so our services back in Cornwall were no longer needed and we have been able to come back to our winter home. It has been a delight and a relief to be back in our apartment, after a cold winter trying to manage in the cramped, damp environment of a boat better suited to sunny, warm weather. The weather out here has been beautiful for the last few days, and we have been able to get our touring skis on and head up the mountains for some fresh air and a chance to exercise our very unprepared skiing muscles.
The resorts are closed, but the mountains are open. In practice this means that, with no ski lifts operating, our only recourse is to climb the hills on skins. We have started gently, choosing familiar routes in the resorts and hills close to our apartment. The picture opposite shows Cate in the car park at Ste Foy, ahead of our first day, when we took around 2 hours to climb just over 500 vertical metres to enjoy a ski downhill of perhaps just 10 minutes!
I have been especially wary. Although my ankle, with the achilles tendon rupture last March, has now healed, I’m still aware that I am not back to 100% fitness or strength in my left leg and foot, and obviously do not want a repeat of that injury. In that respect, ski touring is ideal, allowing me to exercise and build up fitness, with minimal risk (I hope) of another accident.
Another day saw us tackling the Dôme de Vaugelaz, one of our favourite routes from last winter. It is a small and gentle hill just north of Bourg St Maurice, and an excellent place for an introduction to touring. Best skied between January and February, we still found enough snow (just!) in late March, although had to walk the odd section where the snow had melted. Higher up there were excellent spring snow conditions, and our first opportunity to create fresh tracks.
Yesterday the conditions were tremendous, and we became a little more adventurous, skinning up the hills from Tignes to tackle the Vallon de la Saché. The ascent was just under 700 metres, with about a kilometre of descent in lovely, and often untracked, powder on the predominantly north-facing slopes.
Sadly, bars and restaurants remain closed. However, this has not prevented some resourceful restauranteurs arranging takeaway services, as we discovered to our great surprise and delight after a hard morning skinning!
We are now waiting, with fingers crossed, to see how events play out over the next few months. Hopefully, with the vaccine being distributed throughout Europe, cases will fall and life will return to normal. We are, after all, keen to resume our original retirement plans. If that happens, and further restrictions are not imposed, we will continue to update our blog with more adventures…