Many years ago, Chris, Bryon and I had stayed at Val Cenis and one of the tours we did was up the valley from Bonneval towards the Col d'Iseran. We were pushed back by some deep snow below the final hanging valley, and although we did not get all the way it was a pleasant excursion.
After 3 days we were probably ready for another excursion into the same valley .. we would not get near the col, but the valley was a beautiful remote location for a tour.
It would involve the steep climb out of the valley to a small hut on the shoulder of the left hand side, then a flat walk into the valley beyond and a gradual ascent to a turn around point.
We put the skis on just outside the lower village, next to the beginners slope, and headed up to the road, and then into the wooded area beyond the last house.
There were numerous tracks here from previous people, that combined and divided as we ascended the initial slopes.
Beyond the trees things became clearer and the steep slog began .. the overnight frost had added a hard layer to the top of the snow, but good adhesion for the skins.
As the route got to a bulge in the slope, the older trail tried to go around to the left, but Chris found this a little bare and ended up retreating, leaving Katie and I at the front, and making some new trails on the edge of the deep gully.
The advantage this had was that I could see a much better descent route down the gully base than fighting the changing snow on the ascent route ... we were now in full sun and it was heating up .. everyone had stripped down to base layers - the exact opposite of previous days,
The slope eased a bit as we came in sight of the hut .. unfortunately there was a bit more ascent to get to the curve in the summer road, with a big advert for the ski area opposite.
A brief rest point and some refreshments, before entering into the valley.
Heading into the valley here on the flatter trajectory ... but careful of the slope above ... this was stable but would not be for too many days longer, with the wind slab and warming.
As the valley opened out we came to the bridge, we had also rested here all those years before.
We set off up the climbing traverse into the back of the valley, knowing we would not get to the end, but find a suitable place to stop, have lunch and turn around ... some convenient bushes .
Before heading back down there was some time for a few shenanigans with the timed delay on the camera ... not as good as the ones from the previous day!
the initial descent followed the rising traverse we had come up, but before the bridge we kept the height and continued down the valley further.
The tracks showed most people had returned this way, bit as we approached the neck point there was a small lake and a dam to be negotiated.. this would be interesting!
Closer inspection showed that the lake could be circumvented to either the left (negotiating some avalanche debris, and probably some side stepping upward), or to the right (with a delicate traverse, and only a small step at the end) .
After much thought and self debate, I dropped in and headed right ... the traverse was good, and definitely solid for capable people (albeit over some freezing cold water).
At the end there was a few steps to get over the dam wall before sliding down again to the bottom of the gully.
taking it one by one everyone followed ... gently down the initial slope and then traversing above the water before crossing the dam wall at the end ... big smiles all around.
That left the gully to be negotiated .. there was mixed snow here .. mainly cut up by previous skiers, but also between shadow and sun ... definitely changing as we got lower .. the top was consistently good enough crust, then it got softer so had to use the shadier parts then it softened up enough to go back into the sun.
All legs were now feeling the strain and turns became harder, the slope became easier, but the combination made for a weary team.
The final element was back through the houses in the village, where the snow was still powdery and light.
A much simpler return to the chalet along the track for tea and cake. Definitely a trip to add to the tall tales list.
