We had tried to spend the night in the fort at Aussois, however it was completely full and w ehad to find alternative accommodation... We settled for an auberge in Termingnon.
The weather was for heat, sun and more heat ... this is not exactly what we were looking for, and the big slide kept coming back to me, as the longer it went on the more unstable things would get.
We decided to go to Orelle - the Maurienne side of Val Torens and spend the day skiing before deciding what to do next.
Taking the bubble lift up to the mid station, which was the hub to continue up to the val Torens side as well as up the valley on this side.
With the sun on this side it made sense to stay here and take this side route. We were not alone in this decision and we followed a lot of people. At the top it was still very cold and we soon had additional layers on.
Just around the corner from the top station, the piste dropped very steeply, and there was a large group milling around at the top ... below the slope was littered with bodies and equipment. The general skier was struggling on a sheet of ice. Bryon and I pointed the tips straight down and went for it, before looking back up at several others following the same technique.
We took the ski lift up to the col
to have a look over at Val Torrens which was exceedingly bare, kept alive by snow making.
From here we dropped down a couple of runs to the town itself, but very quickly realised it was not for us.
We abandoned the mass of bodies for the higher mountains again working our way back up to the col via an area called "the glacier de Peclet".
From here the skiing went from ridiculous to sublime and back again. the initial part was as icy as the first run, and then we dropped into the main bowl and everything got better until it got too soft and slushy.
Going back down the Orelle side was soft and hard work, it was only just after noon and the day was over.
We headed down on the bubble lift and sat in a cafe while we discussed our options.
Looking at the weather, it was set fair for the next week and more, the day had proved we need to be complete before noon at the latest if not earlier, which limited the routes we could do. None of the ideas we started with would be options, and after this weekend the ski resorts would be closed, limiting that option too.
This was our last tour this year, and we headed back, the first time we had ever been defeated by something other than bad weather.
The weather was for heat, sun and more heat ... this is not exactly what we were looking for, and the big slide kept coming back to me, as the longer it went on the more unstable things would get.
We decided to go to Orelle - the Maurienne side of Val Torens and spend the day skiing before deciding what to do next.
Taking the bubble lift up to the mid station, which was the hub to continue up to the val Torens side as well as up the valley on this side.
With the sun on this side it made sense to stay here and take this side route. We were not alone in this decision and we followed a lot of people. At the top it was still very cold and we soon had additional layers on.
Just around the corner from the top station, the piste dropped very steeply, and there was a large group milling around at the top ... below the slope was littered with bodies and equipment. The general skier was struggling on a sheet of ice. Bryon and I pointed the tips straight down and went for it, before looking back up at several others following the same technique.
We took the ski lift up to the colto have a look over at Val Torrens which was exceedingly bare, kept alive by snow making.
From here we dropped down a couple of runs to the town itself, but very quickly realised it was not for us.
We abandoned the mass of bodies for the higher mountains again working our way back up to the col via an area called "the glacier de Peclet".From here the skiing went from ridiculous to sublime and back again. the initial part was as icy as the first run, and then we dropped into the main bowl and everything got better until it got too soft and slushy.
Going back down the Orelle side was soft and hard work, it was only just after noon and the day was over.We headed down on the bubble lift and sat in a cafe while we discussed our options.
Looking at the weather, it was set fair for the next week and more, the day had proved we need to be complete before noon at the latest if not earlier, which limited the routes we could do. None of the ideas we started with would be options, and after this weekend the ski resorts would be closed, limiting that option too.
This was our last tour this year, and we headed back, the first time we had ever been defeated by something other than bad weather.