Snow arrives!
What a change from last week, and from the same time last year. First came the rain (lots of it!), then the temperature fell and snow reached as low as our village at 1000m. Our first attempt to get outside for a walk ended when the road up to the Sassière lakes was blocked by snow, forcing us to turn back, watched by bemused cows!
We decided to change tack, and went for our first ski – on the 28th October, earlier in the season than we have ever skied before. We had glorious sunshine after a good snowfall the night before, so drove up to La Rosière, put on our skins, and walked about halfway up the slopes towards the Fort. I won’t pretend conditions were perfect – it was a bit too warm and the snow was rapidly turning heavy, but we got out and made some tracks – our first ski for nearly two years!
We had a second attempt to go skiing the next day, but the snow had already transformed to a heavy and crusty mess. Nonetheless, the sunny weather had returned and over the next few days we have been out walking. The snow line has now risen to around 1800m, so we were able to drive up to Pierre Giret and walk from there to the Ruitor hut, albeit on a path with wet, slushy snow that soaked through our old walking boots. Just yesterday we went up to Ste Foy Station and walked to the old Monal village in the early afternoon.
Tonight and tomorrow rain is forecast before a return to sunshine next week. We will have to wait and see whether that means we can get some more skiing in, or whether we will be back to walking.
