More Ski Tour trips
I’ve just finished a great week guiding for Alpine Guides ( http://www.alpine-guides.com/), looking after the Peters family. With a pretty shaky forecast we opted for a flexible itinerary to learn the ins and outs of touring. Our little team of 7 started in Chamonix learning the basic skills of getting ourselves up the ascent bits of a tour as well as coping with any of the hazards along the way (avalanche, glacial terrain etc) and tweaking their already superb downhill technique to deal with the tricky snow that sneaks up on you around the mountain.
Locally we skied up to the Col des Dards above Lac blanc in the Aig Rouge in a blowy snowy day. We skied the classic tour from Grands Montets to Le Tour via the Col du Passon in perfect weather and had a wild, windy day skiing around the Le Tour ski field.
We took a little trip to Arolla in the Swiss Valais making our way up to the Vignettes Hut in a total whiteout. In the morning we decided against Plan A for a descent of the Glacier La Piece in Uber Pow, then over to the Dix Hut via the ladders at the Pas de Chevre. In the afternoon we nipped up La Luette for another great ski back to the hut. Wild weather in the night cleared at dawn to allow us to climb the Pigne d’Arolla arriving above the cloud on the summit. Amazing powder took us all the way to the carpark in Arolla village….very lucky indeed.
Our final day took us to the Aravis range and a beautiful tour around a pretty little peak called the Petit Croisse Baulet. After skinning through the trees we skied a couple of its ridges as the sun swung around the sky transforming the snow to Spring. We skied back down to the pretty little village via beautiful wide turns through the shady woods of the Prise Nouvelle. Thanks to Tom, Fionna, Lissie, Rosie, Jack and James.
