As it is our first day we decided to walk over to the pistes and work our way up and see how far we could get. There was no specific target other than to get a feeling for the place and also see what was around.
We walked down to the river and up the other side to the edge of the pistes. The early morning skiers were in short supply so we almost had the place to ourselves. We headed up the nursery slopes to the first band of trees.
As we got to the trees the slope increased as we moved off the green onto the red runs. The slope was freshly groomed and was made up of frozen corrugations ... skinning was Ok, but only where you could keep a good proportion of the skin in contact with the slope.
As we got higher and worked our way through the trees there were a couple of eventful moments with slipping skis, and the occasional debate over ski crampons.
As we got to to top of the tree belt the piste headed over to a chair lift and we continued straight up (and left a bit). The going got a bit tougher as we made our way through the relatively fresh powder (and last weeks ski trails).
It was getting towards lunch time (turnaround time), we continued for a little bit .. seeing some buildings on the slope up ahead, cutting directly to them through some sparse trees.
The buildings were the Chapelle St Agathe, all closed for the winter, standing out on the slope, with a bit of a sting of a steep section to get to them.
The buildings had a fantastic outlook on the valley, as well as some walls to sit and have lunch.
The descent was excellent ... nice powder at the top section, before flexing the muscles on the red run, and a gentle finish down the slush of the green.Back at civilisation we could have a cup of coffee and look back up the slopes to where we had come from.