09 April 1999

Pointe du Haut Fleury, France

Last day in the area, as Chris had a plane to catch, and we needed to deliver him back to the airport in the evening.

A flick through the "white guide" for the area, showed there was an easy route on the back roads to Geneva, in a small area called Haut Fleury. We had not really read much about this are before, so it was a goo opportunity to explore at the same time.

Pointe de Haut Fleury
We drove around to a town called Le Praz de Lys, and were really surprised to find a small ski resort (which has since been closed down it seems). and parked in the car-park, before heading out towards the ridge behind the peak, so we could traverse it.

The lac du Roy was iced over but the shape was still identifiable especially once we were above it.

From here we worked up the to lowest point on the ridge behind the peak, before turning and following the ridge back.

There were a number of piste trails around and this ridge line, which looked sharper from below,had one for this section, which spoilt the solitude a little.

However once on the top we were again away from the crowds, and could take in the views, much as the other peaks this trip, but a different perspective.

After a brief break it was time to ski down, we initially avoided the piste by dropping directly from the summit,  however lower down we took the easy option and were soon back at the car.

One last look back, before delivering Chris to the plane, and then off to a F1 room at Annemasse.







08 April 1999

Col de Coux & La Berte, France

Another excellent day is forecast... and after looking at the map again, there was a peak on the border with Switzerland, just north of Samoens, and close to the peak from the other day - Pointe de Ressachoux.

Driving down the road to find the road head, we paused opposite a house to check the map, it took about 5 mins to work out what we needed to do, but in this time we were approached by a Germanic person from the house and asked to turn the engine off to prevent pollution! With it being frosty outside we needed the heater on otherwise we would loose the appetite to get out!

At the road head we left the car and set off through the woods following a forest track, that contoured around slowly gaining height.

After the track left the forest we headed up a vague ridge to the skyline on the border, towards the obvious peak.






As we gained height we could see a number of parties heading for the col .. it was a very popular simple route used by a lot of the locals.

At the top we could see that it was not often climbed, with most people stopping at the col lower down. We chose to drop down to the col, and make a circuit of the route, as well as see what was so popular.

Dropping down to the col reacquainted us with our friend - the breakable crust - however we could find some more stable surfaces by following the wind blown sections.

Down at the col our decisions were vindicated as we found out why the route was so popular...  the gentle valley contained some fantastic spring snow, and we had an excellent ski out ... a veritable descent to remember.

07 April 1999

Flaine, France

The sun was out, but there was a fairly fierce wind blowing around. we chose to spend the day Skiing at Flaine ...  a place we had never visited properly, just seen over the mountains, or on the back slopes (as in the day earlier this trip).

We drove around and up the approach road, all the way into the main town centre, very much a concrete jungle, not much of the original village is left, just a series of rectangular towers....  and parked in one of the multi-story car-parks, before heading for the obvious cable car lift... I wanted to make the most of the opportunity and explore the opportunities that we had for touring from here at some future date ..

There were some well documented tours from the high point of the lifts to Pointe d'Anterne - but we were not really prepared for it to-day, and would need to be earlier.. however it looked like a good route to begin a tip with.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the various trails and off-piste opportunities around the bowl that makes up Flaine. the one point of notice was the descent of a route called "Styx" which dropped down to the lac de Gers where we had been the days before - this was open, but the descent to Sixt was not - for obvious reasons.
At the begining of this route there was a large sign indicating the serious nature of the route , and only "experts" should entertain taking it - red rag to Bryon who was half way past the sign before reading it! the run was well used but not pisted, so made for an interesting descent with large mogul fields. However it was the poma lift back up that caused more concern, as it had a really vicious start.

After all this fun it was time to return to the gite an plan for the next day - hopefully into the mountains.

06 April 1999

Rest Day, France

The skies were grey and there was rain in the air... not a lot to do but go for an explore...

We drove out through Morzine towards Lake Geneva, and down towards Evian-les-bains,  A pause to take in the lake, with the clouds concealing the mountain tops all around, an also to see the river feeding the Evian bottling plant !!

Taking the lakes side road, we drove into Switzerland and cut back towards Martigney, as we drove down here there was an opportunity to drive back into the mountains heading towards Abondance, a name I had seen around, but never visited..  this would take us back to the Morzine road and thence back to the gite.

not much to be seen as a lot of the route was in cloud, but did give us an impression of hte size and extent of the Portes du Soleil on both sides of the border.

05 April 1999

Pointe de Ressachaux, France

the Blue skies were back again... we had been checking the map, and just outside Morzine was a peak without any lifts on it - almost unique in this area.. there were a couple of tracks up it, and although they looked very steep in the forest, the summit was above the trees.

We drove around to the nearest point to the northern departure ... and soon found a lay-by that was obviously used as the parking spot.

The route started in the early morning shadow on a well frozen surface. We headed off to the trees following the tracks from the prior days.

Soon we were working our way up the obvious track - steep and narrow - there was a thought at the back of our minds that we would have to come back down here!

Once we had climbed up through the trees the ground opened up and we could see the peak rising above the high pasture.

The summit was up a ridge rising in the direction we were approaching. Previous parties had cut a trail, which helped as the surface up here was quite crusty, as we would find on the descent.

We were a little early for the descent, and we should have waited for 30 mins or so more. The top section was breakable crust, and it stretched our technique and capability.

Chris found the simplest way first, but resorting to gentle snowplough turns he did not break the crust so much... Bryon and I took a few falls more to work out the secret.

By the time we got to the bowl, it had softened up and we were skiing easier. A thankful way to calm the nerves before the trees!

The trees were a series of tight turns and lots of side slip, but were not as challenging as the breakable crust up top.

The final sections were along gentler tracks, still narrow, but more of a ride.

Out the bottom the final section was across the fields to the car, and back to the gite for tea.

04 April 1999

La Bourgeoise, France

The weather was very much the same again, looking through the books did not turn up anything, but there was a faint reference to a show-shoe route up a nearby peak - La Bourgeoise.

The aim was to drive up to the col and then follow the ridge to the top. However the route was closed by a snowdrift before the col at a hairpin, that also happened to have a track leading off it.

So leaving the car there we set off up the track and into the woods .. we quickly lost all traces of the track and no one had been up there recently.

Struggling in the general direction we wanted to go, we were experiencing at first hand, why navigation and travel in the forests is some much hard work...  the snow drifts around the trunks and making tracks takes a lot of effort. Navigation is not straight forward as there are no direct lines.

Eventually we popped out the first woods onto a clearer space which would probably have been the vehicle track in the summer, but here was just a clearing.

After struggling up for a couple of hours and several times thinking we were much further along than we actually were (nowadays you would use a GPS to show exactly where you were, but then this was a difficult technology to carry). We took the decision to retreat back the way we had come.

Slowly skiing back down our tracks ..  controlled skiing in tight circumstances, really stretched our techniques.

The last stretch through the woods at the bottom was the most enjoyable as the trees thinned out.

Since then I have always been suspicious of the heavily wooded areas, and definitely made large time allowances for this.

03 April 1999

Sixt Fer a Cheval, France

Chris's first day, and the clouds descend, not ideal to be out in hills, but with Chris chomping at the bit, we picked a wet weather route ..
The nearby town of Sixt-fer-a-Cheval, has a lift and piste down from Flaine.

We would drive to the lift and then make our way up the piste and see how far we would get.

There was a sprinkling of snow from overnight, and with the piste being closed, it was quite pleasant skinning up.







We followed the track as it wound up the slope, following the side of the river. Finally it straightened up and the slope eased up, heading towards the lake. We ended up at the Chalet de Gers, a restaurant in the ski season, but now closed.






A bite to eat outside, and a quick look at the frozen lake, then we started back down the track, in the clouds, as we dropped the weather turned more to rain.








Down at the bottom the snow that had been there in the morning had vanished and the piste was a patchwork of icy drifts. the rain had washed away all the snow from overnight, and we were down to gravel in places.

A good workout, on a day that we would have otherwise spend staring out the windows of the gite.

02 April 1999

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.


01 April 1999

Moving Day, France

We had an appointment to meet with Chris tomorrow evening, so we needed to find a new location closer to Geneva to-day, as the timing would make it difficult tomorrow.

For some reason I cannot remember, I wanted to go and have a look at Samoens... apart form being the back side of Flaine, there was an opportunity to get into the Portes De Soleil.

The drive up there took most of the day, and we arrived late in the afternoon. After a quick trip to the Tourist information centre we were not much the wiser. So we settled in the Auberge de Montagne la Table de Fifine, we had a twin room for the same price we had paid at the last gite ...  another learning point.

Walking into town for dinner, we looked around for a place for the next few days when Chris arrived, and on the way passed the Gite des Moulins .... we would come back here once we had picked up Chris, and it would be our place for the next week.

We again had the place to ourselves, and shared a bunk room under the eaves,,  three mattresses on the floor. Everything was made up by the great common room with cooker and several comfortable sofas.