Megeve, France

For the last day we chose to expand our horizons and visit one of the nearby resorts - Megeve, next to Les Contamines, where we had been the year before.

Getting to Megeve, involved going down to St Gervais and cutting up the second valley. Megeve itself is the only place in valley, but there are trails on all sides.

The snow level was very high, and the lower slopes were green, with a few small lines still complete.
We purchased half day tickets, and went off to be tourists for the day.. the opportunity for off-piste was limited. Dave and I got to the top of the lift on the Megeve side on Mont Jolie, just so we could say we had been there!.

The day sort of stuttered to a finish as the day past and the snow turned very slushy. Something I will always associate with Megeve.

Pas de Chevre, France

The forecast said this would be a great day ..they were not wrong on a number of fronts.

The skies were clear and the sun was warming things nicely, from the over night hard freeze. Dave and I had planned to do a route from our "hit list" that we had been meaning to do for a few trips, but just waiting for the right day.
The route went from the top station of Grands Montets, down onto the Mer de Glace and followed the Valley Blanche run back to Chamonix.

We started with a couple of runs on the normal face, to get warmed up, but also to allow the sun to take the hardness out of the surface and soften up the snow a little - we would need all the help we could get as this was technically the hardest descent we had attempted so far.
Leaving the others having a bite to eat we headed for the top station.

From the top station, we were quickly down the long line of metal stairs and onto the col. Once we had the skis on and slipped under the rope, past the danger warning sign, we slipped over the edge.


There was a relatively fierce wind blowing over the top here that had kept a crust on the surface, and we were lucky to ride it without breaking through.

Below the steep top edge the  slope eased up a little and we had some great powder skiing on wide slopes to the point where the three or so routes diverge.
We took the right hand (and supposedly easier) route. As we entered the narrow gulley it got steeper and steeper, and felt like the steepest we had been down... but probably not, just narrow.

The difficulty was over come with the "one turn at a time" method, until we got the hang of it and could string more than two or three together without panic setting in.

 Once through the narrow section the slope opened out again in to gentler slopes. This was about picking a line and just going for it, until you needed a breather.

Before we dropped too far down we needed to traverse south, (back into the mer de glace)
to meet up with the Vallee blanch route - not yet, but we had to ensure we did not drop down too far at this stage.

We knew we were in the right place as we crossed a noticeable ridge, and made the most to have a sit down and take inthe fantastic view .... skiing underneath the "Dru", with seemingly no one else around.

From here we traverses a bit further before we had to find a suitable place to drop down onto the glacier ..  this is a changeable point depending on snow conditions and also state of the glacier.

Finding a well used but exceedingly narrow little gully, we soon dropped onto the glacier by a bit of side slipping.

Down on the glacier, we picked a route through the crevasses, and picked up the well trodden route down from the Vallee Blanche.
Luckily the lower route (past the Montanvers station) was in condition and we could walk up to the buvette on the col. Here we caught up with several parties from the Vallee Blanche, and all of a sudden we were no longer alone on the mountain.

We followed the track down to Chamonix, and the Les Plannards ski slopes in the same way as we had when we came down with Brian Hall.
Very tired, exhausted but elated we waited for a bis to take us back to argentiere and the apartment. Another large step on the experience ladder, and a really great way to finish off the trip.

Grands Montets, france

Back up to the playground of Grands Montets, and making good use of the fresh snow from the days before.

We covered a lot of the usual ground exploring the fresh snow on a hard base which gave enjoyment to all. In the afternoon though we spent most of the time in the Combe Pendant dropping down from the Bochard lift to the bottom lift at l'Avancher.

This gave us more fresh snow not covered by the masses on the front face routes. however it is a long route and we only really had time for two runs before the daylight was running out.

Berard Valley, France

The night had been pretty grim, and we woke up to low cloud and grisly weather.

By lunchtime we were all getting a bit of cabin fever. As most of us had touring bindings on the skis, we (Dave, Chris, Bryon, M-J, Sean, myslef and maybe some others) chose to go and explore the bottom of the Berard valley.

Heading to Le Buet and parking in the car park, we put the skins on our skis and started up the path. this went past and across the small nursery slopes, with one drag lift (closed at this time) then up the valley.

After plodding up for around and hour, not really getting very far, but it was good exercise.

Pausing for a rest, Dave suggested we should dig a snow hole in one of the banks where there was a large snow drift.

The snow hole was a typical amount of effort and really raised a sweat on all of us as we took turns digging and clearing the spoil.


To finish it off we all piled in just to prove we could all get in.

To complete the day we took the skins off and skied back down the track ... not a pretty sight and more like a demolition derby as we charged headlong out of control down the tracks trying to turn where required, and manage the speed.

A good way to spend a valley day, and enjoyed by all on it.

Flegere, France

The next day we went up to the Flegere ski area..  the initial part of the day we spent working the inter piste off-piste and finding some interesting direct lines.

There was some fresh snow that had fallen over night, which caused Dave some anxious moments in his quest to put fresh tracks on every piece of unmarked snow he could get to!

After we had eaten a snack, to replenish energies, we went up to the top if the Index lift. From here traversing West and over a small col took us into the Combe Lachental. This is now a marked route (although unpisted). In those days it was a "secret" alternative.

Going down was another step on the challenge ladder we were ascending. The fresh snow made it interesting, and also introduced an element of danger that we would all succome to over the years. This year it was Bryon, who fell awkwardly trying to make a turn on a steep slope. This gave one of his knees a big tweak, and he was the first to add the knee protection to his armour.

The day improved, and was really stunning by the end of the afternoon, once the snow had got too soft we retreated to the comfort of the apartment.

Les Possettes, France

First day for this trip and once more we headed for Le Tour, for some "playing" around in the playground that it had become for us.

Dave and I had an idea to try another of the routes from the off-piste guide - down the les possettes slopes to Le Buet off the back of the possettes drag lift. the route description said something like traverse around from the top of the lift and drop over down the gulley leading straight down to the town.
It never occurred to us at the time, but this is a very avalanche prone couloir, and should only be attempted in stable conditions ..  luckily these were stable conditions with well formed snow.


Dropping over the shoulder we came around to the top of the main couloir. The snow was well tracked, but had refrozen several times, so we had to keep out of the ruts and ski on the "smoother" parts



From here the couloir drops straight down to the train station.  This was much like the gullies we had been playing in on the other side.

 The descent was not without incident .... we had a few "incidents" ... over turning, and a bit of nesting in the woods lower down.

 At the bottom we looked back up the route...  a very obvious line. It was a stretch for us, but yet another step on the journey of off piste skiing.

We checked the timetable to see if we could grab a beer before the next train, however the train was just coming around the bend.

We rode the train back into Argentiere and walked back to the apartment.

1994 Ski trip, France

Another year, and this is becoming a habit, and we are back in Argentiere. This time we are staying above a bar (The Office - it has changed names several time over the years and now no longer exists). Any concerns about staying over a bar soon evaporated once we realised that the sound did not travel upwards very well.

We (Dave, Bryon, Chris, M-J, Sian, Derek,... cant remember who else) had no real plans. Just see what the weather held for us.

I also used this trip to pick up a new set of skis .. my original purchased Rossignol piste skis were very battered and patched from all the run ins with stones and such. I had the Silvretta bindings transferred, as the only option at this point was other clones.

Trip Time Line

	|
	|	Arrive Argentiere
Les Possettes	|
	|	Flegere
Berard Valley	|
	|	Grands Montets
Pas de Chevre	|
	|	Megevre
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