The next day was cold but sunny, and we were soon in the queue for the lift... one of the things to rememebr is at teh sun does not reach the valley very early so th base station is extremely cold to wait around in.
Before long we were loaded into one of the bubble cars ... there are 5 in a pod that travel together up the wire, and you all load from a stepped ramp into your car of choice.
There is an intermediate "running" station but the cars do not stop, and before long we were disgorged at the top station. right on the ridge line below the top glacier.
We did not go to the lifts on the glacier, but had a look over at what we may want to look at in more detail another trip ... the col over the Meige, the col to les Deux Alpes.
After finding our bearings and taking in the fantastic views, but not without some trepidation, we got ready for the first descent.
The snow was not too bad, crispy, with plenty of ruts left by the previous days skiers, but in general much like we had been used to on Les Grands Montets - just a very much longer route.
We first went down the obvious route down the main valley to the intermediate station, this involved cutting back over the ridge the lift follows and down a big bowl and we had views of some people descending a very demanding line from the Meige. - A photo opportunity but no desire to do it.
Then back up again, but this time stayed further left and continued all the way down the valley to where the snow ran out before cutting back across to the station. We later found out that if you keep too far right on this route you get into some real difficulties, but we followed the line of least resistance.
The last section was in the trees, and ended on a rough track that traversed back to meet the other route at the intermediate station.
This was a run done on the rutted tracks through the trees to the station, and was in the icy conditions "barely" in control.
By now we were very tired and had been at it well into the afternoon, so rather than spoil the memory we retreated to our cosy retreat in the village.
The place lived up to its reputation,and we had explored some new challenges, although there was also an indication of a refrain that would be more prevalent over the trip
Before long we were loaded into one of the bubble cars ... there are 5 in a pod that travel together up the wire, and you all load from a stepped ramp into your car of choice.
There is an intermediate "running" station but the cars do not stop, and before long we were disgorged at the top station. right on the ridge line below the top glacier.
 |
| Col towards Les Deux Alpes |
 |
| Col over the Meige |
After finding our bearings and taking in the fantastic views, but not without some trepidation, we got ready for the first descent.The snow was not too bad, crispy, with plenty of ruts left by the previous days skiers, but in general much like we had been used to on Les Grands Montets - just a very much longer route.
Then back up again, but this time stayed further left and continued all the way down the valley to where the snow ran out before cutting back across to the station. We later found out that if you keep too far right on this route you get into some real difficulties, but we followed the line of least resistance.
The last section was in the trees, and ended on a rough track that traversed back to meet the other route at the intermediate station.
This was a run done on the rutted tracks through the trees to the station, and was in the icy conditions "barely" in control.
By now we were very tired and had been at it well into the afternoon, so rather than spoil the memory we retreated to our cosy retreat in the village.
The place lived up to its reputation,and we had explored some new challenges, although there was also an indication of a refrain that would be more prevalent over the trip
"Derek .... Derek,This would later be more intense, but safe to say Derek was on a steep learning curve to improve his skiing especially in mixed snow conditions.
turn ..... turn ....
turn NOW!"