Areches again ... M-J, Chris, Katie and I, with powder in mind.
Disappointingly there was not a deeper deposit at height ... I think the wind had something to do with this.
Straight to the top ... after the second chair, we went around into the top bowl and suddenly felt under dressed .. the wind was bitter, strong and the temperature was heading towards -10 deg despite the sun breaking through and out of the wind.
A quick chat and time to go to the refuge and discuss options ... we set out across the bowls to where the refuge used to be, and found nothing but a square of concrete and a sign indicating it would be back next year! So plan B ... down to the bottom drag, followed by a quick trip to the top onthe top drag followed by the normal descent back to the lower section.
The cold on the drags was intense.. so glad that I was able to move the fingers out of the ends of my big gloves and ball in the palms for more warmth, then hid both out of the wind, relying on experience to stay on the drag without holding onto cold metal.
The cloud also dropped as we went up the top drag - we had to go to the top just to see - with it being like a white out .. the piste was really good .. powder over the hard base, but the wind drove us to get around the shoulder to a little shelter.
Having set the precedence we avoided the top bowls and stuck with the lower playgrounds taking different lines ... until mid afternoon when too many others were copying us and it was time to call it a day.
The extra snow had not lasted long and the forecast was for a deep freeze tonight. we chose to cut our losses and make for home, on the morrow .. so packing up and getting ready took the rest of the day.
The journey back was uneventful, with the exception for the excess charges to P&O for changing the day (£60 was very steep) .. very glad to be home, thought so we payed up.
