Return Home

The return was uneventful, leaving at just before 7am and driving solidly to the ferry getting there around 3:45. A couple of faux pas on the way where I selected the petrol station road on the second pause and got stuck in the queues to fill up even though we did not want to.
the second one was in Reims whee I missed the initial turn off and picked up the alternative going back in. however the main road west to east through Reims was closed and there was a tailback to negotiate on the way to the fuel stop.
The ferry port was the usual mess at immigration taking over 45 mins to get through, but this was made up by the fact we could get straight on the 4:25 ferry...  up to the Brasserie and met Chris and M-J for a meal and chat on the crossing.
Home for just after 7pm.

L'Eperon/ Le Christomet, France

Last full day in this location for this holiday, and I had been looking at this route all week .. so whilst the others enjoyed a lie in Steph and I set off for Le Plan and the start of the ski resort to head off to the end of the valley. Everyone else would later go up to the col des Aravais and a walk in the sun.
Parking in the main car park (cars are not allowed any further up the track) we got ready in the cold (same as yesterday) temperatures and set off at pace along the track.
It was a kilometer later that the track became covered over with hard packed snow and ice, however it was obvious it was still used by vehicles.
Eventually we reached a pasture where the track divided, the higher one was a sheet of blue ice for 100m so we took the bottom one as the only practical route.
This route kept close to the river (which was where the map said we needed to be).

Crossing several streams (ice mainly) the tracks we were following went up to some barns and out the other side ..  we were on the right track as there were markings , but even so it involved another stream crossing, this time with only half a bridge,

This lead up to a track, fairly well used and, heading in the right direction.

The track ended up at a house by the river ...  the tracks went through the yard and out the other side ...  unfortunately this was a dead end as it was the owners tracks and they lead to a bee hive!
The owner having come to see what we were doing pointed us to the correct route (also telling us the higher route to the left was full of clear patches and not a good ski).
He said to cross the bridge (two planks) and go up the other side and it will be on the left. Otherwise we could keep going up and be on the piste.
Later on we would wonder how bad the upper route would have been after the trials in the wood!!
We followed his advice and went up the wide track on the other side of the stream and headed towards the noise of the piste. ...   At least we now knew that coming back we would not have to go down the road.

As promised ...  and just before the piste was a sign on a tree to the left ...  this must be the new trail advertised on the piste map, but where there was no indication ...  also we could have got here very easily by skinning up the side of the piste and not had the excitement of the road, then the icy track and several stream crossings.
The marked track lead off into the forest ...  hard packed and slightly covered in pine debris, but looked well used.

This was the second stage of today's adventure ...  following this track ... with occasional signs and always just above the stream.

it started off reasonably well, and cautious

There were a few patches where the track was bare, and there was a lot of up and down, barely gaining height (or that is what it felt like).

Just after we had passed two people skiing down ...  not something I was looking forward to at this stage and seriously contemplating walking it when the time came!
The path went down and base was a frozen rivulet to be negotiated.

Eventually things started to open out ...
there was even a path that cut back upwards (but no signs and I still wonder if this lead back to the piste).

After this turn off (that we did not take) the track got a little hard to follow as previous skiers had side slipped the track away, but eventually we found a track marker and knew we were headed in the right direction.. not before crossing yet another stream and going up the steep bank on the other side.
Just after this things really opened out and we crossed a pasture, before the track head back down to the stream.

A much more serious crossing this time and no bridge..  luckily the ice held out and we were able to gingerly step across ...  getting out the other side was a complex step-up as the bank was quite high.

With the forest section now over we were into the meadow section ...  and the major height gain part of the trip. the way was still signed but very obvious ...  straight up the meadow ...

At the top of the first meadow the clearing ran around to the left to a barn on the (initial) skyline. 

this took us to the point where we would have joined had we taken the upper path from the first diverging point. looking back at the track I was not sure how mare it actually was - probably similar to the Croix des butts route.
However it was an option for the return.

From this barn the slope angled up to the right. Initially quite seep and icy - maybe the crampons but I got away without. then through some shrubs to open out in the next big meadow (which also when up to another chalet) ..
This was steadier going but still much more ascent than we had done this trip so far.
Getting to the chalet only showed yet another slope above it leading to one more another chalet.

the slope up to the final chalet was cut by a track that zigzagged across the slope and made the last tiring push a little easier.
At the chalet we two men sat around a fire ..  i wondered how they had got there before they got up and after putting the chairs away in the chalet and dousing the fire walked up to the ridge line and hopped on a skidoo ...  we had returned to the mechanized world.

The top was just around the corner and just the inconsequential bump on the ridge that was expected, but the views across to Mont Blanc were excellent.
We stopped to have a bite and regain some energy for the descent, which was now going ot be from the top station of the ski area at Le Christomet ..  the signs lead there and I did not want to go down the forest track if there was a better way.

the Aravais ridge

the next section of the ascent ... back to the ski area.
There was a wide track from here heading to the top station at Le Christomet, after a few meters it started to drop down ...  knowing it could not go down far before having to go up again, we chose to leave the skins on the skis and walk down...  this was a good move as the track was bare for half the height of the descent.
then it was back on the skis to start the ascent.

the final climb started off slowly then steepened as it rose up to the top station.
the last few meters were on the side of the blue descent to Megeve.

The top station, and the end of 700Hm climb ... time to get layered up for the descent ...  from our previous days we knew that the descent (blue) track was cold, very cold.

Good views of the top sections of the route. This is definitely a good way up and it is useful to see the ski areas marking routes like these. hopefully this will be properly documented in the coming years.

La Clusaz, France

After a couple of days messing around away from the piste it was time to go back ...  just KT, Steph and I as the others were all having a quiet day...  we chose to go over to La Clusaz (the other side of the col des Aravais) to check it out. we had quickly looked as we drove through on the arrivals day, but with the opportunities for ski touring int he region it was good to investigate what there was.
we parked at the bottom of the combe des Juments lift on the road in to the town - so an easy option to get to, although at this time of day (as we were early - 9:30) we could have driven through to the big car park at the Massif de Balme end of the resort.
The temperature overnight had been the lowest so far and it was still very cold as we got ready .... three layers on the bottom half and five on the top and still the cold got through.
We went up the lift to the mid station and then as it was all in the shade and exceedingly cold, debated what to do  ...  as the sun would take awhile to get up w opted to traverse over to the other end, involving dropping down towards the top of the crete du Merle lift facing the town centre. Only the blue run was open and even this was treacherous with the snow makers still blasting away. My glasses soon steamed up inside and iced up outside. Then we headed off down the long windy track to the Balme cable car. Much of the same all the way down, trying to avoid the snow makers spray and keep all gaps covered to keep the warmth in. This brought back memories of a place called La Norma many years previously.
We got to the cable car as the morning rush was just starting, and rode up to the main mountain station. here a couple of lifts went up, one to the col and one to access the next door bowl. We took the col lift in the hope of getting to the sun which was peeping over the top.
At the top the sun was shining but a breeze was rattling everything.  there was a great view from the col, unfortunately my camera battery suffered from the cold at this point and closed down.
We took the red and the black down from here ... very fast hard packed but with lots of sluff patches to aid the turns and control the skid. Also the conditions reined in the speed merchants so prevalent on the blues as the needed control. Up the second lift from the main station to have a look around and back down the blue (not nice track and racers) and red (better crowd but still ordinary).

After a warm up in the cafe ..  it was -6 in the foyer without any wind chill...  we came out to try the bowl to the right looking up.
up the shorter chair  then down the other side to a  Poma... and a lot of signs about "expert skiers only!". The Poma ended up in a bowl below the ridge.

All the long runs from the top were closed  .. I assumed for lack of snow lower down as they all went to the valley, so plan a out of action and we had to resort to the red to the bottom of the Poma.
I should have checked the status of the runs below this when we first go there but failed so we ended up going back up to get back to the cable car station. Although this did mean I got to go again on the black - which was probably my favorite for the day (not saying a lot really).
Back at the cable car we chose to ride it down rather than follow the blue track and the snow cannons, as we looked down on it, we could see it was a wise decision.
Back at the bottom the crowds were really in full swing, and we had to queue for the first time to ride the bubble lift up to cote 2000 (back on the massif d'Aiguille side where we had started. In addition this stopped as we joined the queue and then again as we were just about to leave the bottom station.

from the bubble cart station we dropped down to just below where we started this morning and picked up the chair rising to L'aiguille  ...  this did reach the ridge, but there was one behind it and it was an obvious point where people set off on an off-piste route around and back to join again lower down.

The top of the chair was in the sun and with only a slight breeze it was the warmest we had been all day and definitely a good thing to skip this morning.
Taking the motorway down was a case of finding a line following sluff patches and away from the popular bits.
As we dropped down below the bubnble lift we kept right to pick up the top of our first lift of the day - with the lower routes closed and only the ones to the town centre open we had to ride the chair back down.
To ride the chair we had to take the skis off and hand to an assistant to put in the rack .. the reason for his only became apparent at the bottom as the chair was way off the ground and needed a jump down.
On the other side as we walked back to the car we could seen the snow making still going on in the Mangold area..
Back to the apartment and some warmth, but a good reconnoiter. There was plenty of "side of the piste" activity  available here (as opposed to the Megeve runs) if the snow had been better suited for it.