Since the last post we have tried to keep going with the day tours, and had a fabulous day touring around Mont Roup adjacent to the classic Tour du Charvet in Val d’Isère. It hadn’t snowed for a few days, and strong winds had left some beautifully sculpted sastrugi as the picture above shows. We also got some good weather for a day’s skiing across to Italy, and enjoyed a fine lunch at the Pepita Cafe restaurant in La Thuile on Christmas Eve.
After eating too much on Christmas Eve, we decided we should try and get a bit of exercise on Christmas Day: it was another lovely sunny day, so we headed across to Villaroger with the intention of skinning our way up to Les Arcs. We had a beautiful walk up through the trees, but as we approached Les Arcs, the weather warmed up and the snow became wet, sticking to our skins in great clumps. After another hour of trying to drag ourselves through the heavy conditions, we decided we had had enough exercise, took off the skins, and skied back down to Villaroger and on home to a feast of Christmas turkey.
The next day, and (unsurprisingly!) still feeling the need for some exercise, we went to Les Arcs for a day’s piste skiing across to Peisey. Suddenly, we hit the full force of the holiday crowds, with big queues at the lifts and busy slopes. We managed to find some quieter sections, but it has made us look forward to calmer times after the holidays.
Following the pattern from the start of the season, the weather closed in after Christmas, and we have had many more days of cloud and snow. Typically, this has coincided with the arrival of our friends Ros and Godric, so a major part of their holiday has been spent enjoying the social side of skiing: an après-ski session with Mullit, watching the New Year firework display at Villaroger from our balcony, through a haze of snowfall, and plenty of boozy lunches. We struggled each day to find the best conditions – skiing in Ste Foy, La Rosière, Tignes and Val d’Isère. On a couple of occasions the sun broke through and gave us fantastic conditions. In Ste Foy we were lucky to get to the top of the Aiguille lift in perfect sunshine to see the off-piste route to the Monal village stretching ahead of us and completely untouched. It felt special to ski this route, making the only set of tracks on the mountain and navigating our way on skis and skins.
Even better was the day we joined forces with Alpine Experience for a guided morning in Val d’Isère. The four of us set off early from home in the dark, with rain and snow, and low expectations for the day ahead. We were guided by Chris with his wife Suzanne, and we headed up the mountain in the gloom. Amazingly, as we got to the top, the clouds cleared, leaving blue skies and fresh powder. Chris took us on a route around the Tour du Charvet, a classic route, and in pristine, untracked conditions. It was so good, we did it twice! Both Ros and Godric thought it was the best off-piste skiing day they had ever had. Many thanks to Chris and Suzanne for such a memorable day.
Inevitably, after such a good day, the weather closed in and we have spent the past couple of days at home, looking out through the windows at the fog, rain and snow. Ros and Godric finished their holiday with us today, and are flying home via a short stop in Lyon. The forecast is looking promising, and we hope to get some good skiing in over the next few days. There is certainly plenty of snow!