We quickly got all the gear out of the car and were soon walking up to the cable car station.
We bought a half day ticket, the plan was to spend the morning getting loose and then in the afternoon drop down to Vallorcine and catch the train back to this side of the pass.
We spent the morning loosening up on the "usual" routes in an exercise routine we had worked up over the years. Then after a brief rest and snack, we caught the lift system up tot the top of the resort, just below the tête de Balme (we had been up there several times before).
This time we simply dropped over the edge from the top drag lift.This was a very similar route to the one that I did with Dave and Alan all those years before.
The top of the route was very open, the snow was quite firm under the skis and, as long as you avoided the ruts, was fairly simple skiing.
The open slopes gradually turned into wooded slopes, and before long we were down at the old telephrique station (we had just skied what would become one of the new routes in the 2000's).
Form here we picked up a track going in the right direction (again this would become the valley return descent route in the years to come).
Close to the bottom the snow was very sparse, and we had to work hard to get a run all the way.Before long we were sitting in the sun outside the pub waiting for the train to get back. The train went to Montroc, and from here I volunteered to trek back up to the car, whilst Nick and Bryon looked after the kit.
Then back to the camp-site for dinner.