Staying at the hospis put us in prime position to complete another route we had retreated from in earlier years ... Mont Fourchon was down the Italian side of the pass and up to a ridge, all in clear sight of the hospis.
Staying at the hospis allowed us to be ahead of those coming up from the valley, then going down the other side.
Down the road dropping around 100 m height, and included the tunnel - last time we were able to ski all through it, but this time there was ice at the end.
At the bend in the road where we had turned around last time, we started to put the skins on.
The next section involved going up a small runnel on the right f the valley, aiming for the flatter part above.
Emerging onto the flatter section we started to see the target on the ridge above.
There were many bumps and troughs in between.
Still climbing and negotiating the bumps
The summit cone now in sight showed the route curving around to the left and reaching a col before cutting back to the top
The last section was slightly complicated by the mixture of soft powder and hard packed sheets.. crampons helped and we also made a ski depot just below the summit.. along with some of the crowds.
A few steps to the top ... a small flat area.
Huge views all around from Mont Blanc to the grand combin, but also a number of Italian peaks.
Mont Blanc Panorama
Grand Combin Panorama
Two lads we had dinner with last night passed us a took off along a treacherous traverse to descend the Italian face.
We dropped back to the skis and readied for the descent back the way we had climbed.
As we dropped the snow improved .. initially hard pack, which then softened on the top, to give good transformed snow in spring conditions.
Enjoyable - first of the trip so far.
The next section started with some crusty drops, and needed some careful turns, before it softened further and eased up.
Some careful height management allowed us to stay higher than on the way out and we skipped around the corner pulling onto the road higher up.
A snack and skins back on, and we set off back up the road.
Back at the tunnel we took the outside route ... skipping around the first half then upto the roof
Along the roof ... not a traverse we would have looked forward to this morning.
Back on the road, with the occasional shortcut across a corner, again whereas in the morning we would have stuck to the road.
Over the lake ... because it was different, and back to the hospis ... some more free tea.
Then it was back on the skis, and down to the van. The hard packed snow of the day before had softened, and started soft, and finished slushy. The track no longer returned to the road-head and there was a section where you had to walk. A microcosm to watch for the rest of the week.
We stopped off at the
Bivouac Napoleon for the night ... turned into several. . a known location from our last visit, but we chose to avoid the colder motel cabins.
