Monday and we awoke to a light dusting of snow over everything outside the
apartment, even down at Beaufort, meaning it would be thicker higher up. Katie
was having a break to rest her shoulder and accompany Sue on a local walk
around Beaufort, so Steph and I hitched a lift with Bryon to the Areches car
park. We all just fitted into Bryon's car with the gear in the roof box, and
his car was probably better suited to the slightly skiddy road than the heavy
van. Our idea was to start skinning up the black (Grand Mont) piste - which
was still closed to Piste skiers, however there was plenty of traces to show
people had been down (and up) it recently - then follow the rando routes and
see how far we would get. Bryon, Jenny and Toby had bought a 4 hour pass again
and so we worked that we should turn around near 1pm giving time to get back
down for a lift back to Beaufort.
The cloud/ mist was hovering just above the bottom station and so we anticipated
being shrouded in the fog for much of the ascent, although we hoped to break
through the top of it at some point (never happened).
We were soon in the mist, blocking any idea of context or position other than
what our instruments showed. Luckily someone had already been up the slope
today, so we could follow their trail without the effort of making a new one in
the fresh snow. I set off at my usual pace without thinking about adjusting for
altitude, and soon had to moderate it down to a more respectable speed once the
puffing routine settled in.
We stormed over the initial bump under the lift and crossed the pasture above
past a couple of chalets. We were moving away from the lift and soon the sound
of it creaking over the pylons was lost.
We climbed the first steep slope between two plantations of woods working our
way up in large zigzags.
After the first steep section there was a respite as we moved back to the chair
lift. the trees pulled back and we passed another chalet.
Then we ascended the final steep slope near the chair lift and up to the middle
station. Note there is a false summit with two more pylons to go on the lift,
but this is at an easier slope angle than before.
We stopped at the penultimate Pylon for a refreshment break, then continued on
the piste basher track passing under the middle station.
We crossed over to the start of "trace Rouge" - the lower section of prepared
rando tracks on this mountain. The visibility was still poor but our route had
poles showing its track.
After the initial start under the Debutant lift, we moved into the woods and a
bit more definition to the vision.
Beyond the first woods we crossed the red route down to Le Planay - Perches, and
back into the trees.
Climbing in the trees parallel to the final slope on the blue piste (Bonnets
Rouge)
Coming out at the top of the steep section looking down on the middle station.
The trace followed the side of the piste into the corner passing the snowshoe
crossing point.
At the corner we climbed into the off-piste play area curving around above the
piste
Across the off-piste "play area" and under the upper section of the chair
lift
Following the chair lift as it climbed to the col just below the tete de Cuvy -
this was the old entrance to the "play area", but now dedicated to the rando
route with the entrance slightly lower.
We stopped on the col (with hindsight and better visibility we could have
continued around the corner and up tot eh top of the tete about 20m further
on!). We had lunch and transitioned the skis for the descent as we were close to
our cut-off time.
After the break we set off across the top of the "play area" - in the flat
light and limited visibility this was hard work - especially trying to judge
slope - often the only way was slow and by feel.
Dropping down through the "play area" to the piste, where the definition was
better and we could travel faster
From the middle station we repeated our descent of yesterday and dropped down
the red run to Le Planay. Near the bottom, following a thigh busting descent of
the steep section, we met the others (purely by chance) making their way down
after playing in the bowl above the top chair where just the very top was above
the clouds.
Down at the village we diverted into a bar (Le Telemark) for chips and Coffee/
Coke, whilst the others went up the Le Planay chair for a final run.
We met up as we paid and they came through the chalets and caught the next bus
back down to Areches and the car park.
Back at Areches we stopped off at the Skiset rental shop for a split board for Toby (our favourite one did not rent out such boards, and we had a run around to find an alternative!). Toby wanted to try touring but did not want to use skis. We then drove back to Beaufort with the board in Jenny's lap in front, and Toby spent the evening working it out and setting it up - tomorrow he would come with Steph and I for some serious exercise!
