Pointe de Chesery, France

Another good day to go into the hills... we needed something short(ish), so that we would be able to pull around to Geneva airport to pick up Chris once he landed  later in the afternoon.
Looking at the books, and the maps, it was hard to find anywhere that was not totally covered in ski trails and lifts at first glance. However we did find a peak on the border with Switzerland - Pointe de Chesery, that started off on a ski trail but finished away from them all.

 We parked the car in a gravel car-park just beyond the bottom lift, and took to a trail through the forest. This lead out to the descent route for the lift, and we wandered up the piste edge, narrowly avoiding being run down by the speed freaks barely in control racing to the bottom to ride back up again.





After an hour or so of this we had got high enough that we were leaving the forested section and into the open prairie above. where we could start to short-cut across the zigzags.

We also started to see the target peak rise up on the skyline, and we started to move directly towards it.

Once on the ridge we met up with other tracks, including those on foot (where people had walked from the piste to the top carrying their skis - the explosion of snow shoe enthusiasts had not yet started).

As we climbed up the summit dome, it was all peaceful.

A pause on the summit to  admire the view and also to look around to see the extents of the ski area, and identify any possible future routes for this trip.

Then it was time to go down again .. we had got the timing just about right - the early morning frost had melted and the snow surface had softened so that turning was made easier.

Bryon returning to the car - Pointe de Chesery in the background

After all the fun on the top section we then cruised down the piste back into the forest - not quite at the breakneck speed of the majority, but comfortable on the prepared surface.

Once back in the valley we found the turn-off to the track and walked back to the car. Plenty of time to get changed and go to meet Chris, who duly arrived on time. Then back to Samoens, and a brief conversation with the Gite owner before moving in.