Haute Route
Long time, no blog. Must be Haute Route season!
The first try started well with fresh tracks in the Vallée Blanche as a warm-up day. The rest of the week was a story of early starts to beat the heat, some great spring snow skiing, and afternoons relaxing and watching avalanches in the sun. Sadly, after a week of heat and blue sky the weather turned on Friday, leaving us skiing out to Arolla and taxiing back to Chamonix in heavy rain - a pity to not make Zermatt but still a great week and with plenty of adventure.
Spring is Sprung
yes, spring is here with very warm temperatures. It's been warm the last couple of days but forecast even warmer this weekend. Still, there's some good snow around if you're up early (or high) enough.
Start of another day in the office...deserted Arolla ski slopes, with a nice overnight snowfall on a firm base. By midday it had all turned to mush but the morning was good!
Arolla Ski Touring
It's spring but for the first 3 days of the week you wouldn't have known from the weather. We skied at Evolene on Sunday - last day of the season and still skiing right to the car park. Monday was a cloudy bleak day at Thyon, but at least it was snowing. Tuesday we managed a quick and untracked descent from Arolla to Satarma before the clouds rolled in, then an entertaining afternoon of great snow and poor light - challenging conditions but fun in the clear spells.
"Every good descent has a river crossing"
Today the sun came out! Phew. Breaking trail up to the Cassorte was hard going against the clock as the temperature rose, but we were rewarded by a great ski down the vallon des Ignes. 1400m untracked in April.
Roping down a rocky Cassorte
Grimentz and Zinal Off Piste
Another week in the Val d'Anniviers...more blue skies and powder skiing (Well, except for yesterday, but 4 days out of 5 isn't bad) Snow cover is still exceptional. We skied down to St Jean twice, only having to walk the last 100m, but beware - there's now some crust in them thar hills. All a bit of a shock after a winter of powder.
Another "average" day in the Vallon de Rechy!
Big turns in Orzival
