The sky was clear and the sun would be shining once it made it over the mountains around about. With the good weather we chose to go an do a peak that had been calling out to Bryon, and was easily visible from the apartment.
Setting off as soon as we were ready we traversed the village and started up the road to Bartholomaberg. Near the top there was a long run with ice/ snow patches, and three quarters of the way up we ceased all forward momentum ... we quickly put the remaining chain from yesterday on one wheel and tried to move on ... this got a bit further before it dropped off .... it had broken one of the links (this is what had probably happened to its partner yesterday). It was a good thing we had bought some new ones yesterday .. fitting these and we easily moved up to the car park next to the church which had been nicely ploughed.
There was an even covering of snow over the fields in the village that had been green yesterday .. an easier walk in.
Carrying the skis we set off up the roads on the slope above, before we cut a trail heading over the pasture. there was one person ahead of us, but the trail had several skis and at least a couple of snowshoers.
By now the sun was heating things up .. I am not sure I have started a tour with just a tee-shirt this early in the year before.
At the top of every pasture was the next zigzag of the road and we carefully padded across - down hill would be more tricky.
As the houses thinned out and became more farmsteads we followed the trail ... it would be a nightmare to find the route without this.
Another farm to negotiate ... never sure if it is private or open access, but head down and follow the trail! avoiding the goats first.
finally approaching the treeline (for the first time, as the route goes up a number of glades in the tree belt.)
looking over at the other side of the valley gave a good view of the ski areas around and some other touring peaks
Now we changed from going straight up the slope to a rising traverse to the left up a clearing in the trees
Through another narrow section in the trees and we broke out into a clearing, up to another narrow break ... Here we met a party of 5 tourers coming the other way ... they were either extremely fast or else were up well before dawn.
From now on we would have the skin track as well as several descending trails to follow.
Another narrow gateway and then up another ascending traverse.
One more narrow gateway and we come out to a shallower slope heading towards the final summit ridge ...
The trees thinned out and also got smaller .. the route rose in a series of steps as we headed to the summit ridge.
As we got to the ridge, we were passed by two showshoers and a dog going down.
the summit ridge was more a wide back than a ridge, and worked its way up to the top ... a wide round lump ... we arrived as a solo skier started his descent.
There was a bit of wind as we looked around and took it the view before removing the skins and readying for the descent.
this would be the first time I had used a helmet on a tour... my gloves were useless at doing the strap up ... they were not very effective at keeping off the wind. Hands were frozen.
The descent began badly for me as I headed off without moving my boots out of walk mode, and promptly fell over in a heap at the first break, where the powder grabbed my skis and held them.
This hit my confidence and it was not until the slope got a bit steeper that I relaxed and things got easier.
As we dropped down through the clearings in the trees the snow was gettign a little heavier.
However it still made for good fun while there was some slope.
The farmsteads brought some additional issues where the roads were now cleared and we had to dismount a few times, then the snow in the fields became so thin each turn was exposing grass.
Finally it was time to start walking and carrying the skies.
The final few zigzags back to the car .. humping the skis.
a great day out in the sun and powder .. so back to the apartment and dinner ... this time we walked into the village and found another Italian restaurant (Il Bel Paese), with excellent home made pasta.
The weather forecast was not good for tomorrow, but we would wake up and see.
There was an even covering of snow over the fields in the village that had been green yesterday .. an easier walk in.
By now the sun was heating things up .. I am not sure I have started a tour with just a tee-shirt this early in the year before.
As the houses thinned out and became more farmsteads we followed the trail ... it would be a nightmare to find the route without this.
finally approaching the treeline (for the first time, as the route goes up a number of glades in the tree belt.)
looking over at the other side of the valley gave a good view of the ski areas around and some other touring peaks
From now on we would have the skin track as well as several descending trails to follow.
As we got to the ridge, we were passed by two showshoers and a dog going down.
this would be the first time I had used a helmet on a tour... my gloves were useless at doing the strap up ... they were not very effective at keeping off the wind. Hands were frozen.
This hit my confidence and it was not until the slope got a bit steeper that I relaxed and things got easier.
However it still made for good fun while there was some slope.
Finally it was time to start walking and carrying the skies.
a great day out in the sun and powder .. so back to the apartment and dinner ... this time we walked into the village and found another Italian restaurant (Il Bel Paese), with excellent home made pasta.
The weather forecast was not good for tomorrow, but we would wake up and see.
