Tuesday and the clouds were higher so there was more visibility, however that
meant there had been a frost overnight and that it would take longer to get warm
this morning. I had cheated and put the van heater on before the bread run this
morning, so the van had warmed up, but this would not have any impact on the
chair lift ride!
The plan was for Steph and I to take Toby up the Areches rando routes, catching
the lift up to the middle station then head out on the red rando (repeating the
second half of yesterday's route), and depending on how Toby was getting on we
could either bail out anytime early onto the piste or even continue onto the
blue rando as an extension.
Waiting for the initial ride up was bitter and I was glad for the additional
layers (I had everything on from my pack - the only regret was that no one has
invented easy lightweight zip over trouser layers)
The initial lift was a cold as expected, however there was very little wind. We
could even see our route from yesterday where it followed under the chair. Once
at the start of the rando route we stripped off a number of layers and
transitioned the skis for the ascent (including Toby and his split board) - this
was the only issue of starting after a chair lift ride - the transition has to
be done after the start.
We pointed out the route which climbed through the trees to the right of the
blue piste, and set off along the initial track (shared with Snowshoers and
walkers)
The start of the route is fairly level as it crosses under the gondola from Le
Planay and begins a gentle climb into the trees. This was ideal to introduce
Toby into the concept of sliding the planks rather than lifting his feet while
walking.
By the time the route started to climb in the trees he had grasped that concept
so time to introduce the next challenge - that of the uphill turn! Once more the
gentle and unexposed nature of the trail allowed him plenty of time to practice
before it came out on the side of the piste
A pause to remove yet more layers and we continued to the back of the corner and
ascended into the trees again. The slope got a little steeper and Steph took
over the lead so I could move into the backseat and provide commentary! as well
as the next lesson/ hints on how to control the slipping skis
We climbed up the path into the off-piste "play area", and across towards the
chair lift.
In the "play Area" bowl we crossed under the chair lift and continued climbing
up to the col where the chair crosses into the bowl above.
Climbing up to our high point from yesterday under the pylon on the col, we
could look up to the top of the chair and our next objective.
However first the next lesson into downhill skinning as we dropped over the col
and into the bowl beyond. From here the route takes a wander along the ridge
line gaining and loosing height until it makes the final ascent up the slope to
top of the chair lift.
We traversed around the back of the bumps in the bottom of the bowl (the
opposite side to the piste) through some sparse trees to reach the bottom of the
slope up to the top station.
The slope up was fairly steep and did require some precise uphill turns, as well
as a vicious last turn onto the flat of the chair lift receiving area.
A refreshment pause on the flat area looking down into the valley below and some
inverted cloud (but still no sun, although it was warmer.)
Everyone was keen to continue up the Blue rando, so we left up the steep(ish)
slope behind the top station to gain the flatter area around the bowl above.
Once more the trail went to the opposite side of the bumps to the piste. Ahead
was the big lump of Grand Mont in the distance.
The route follows the ridge line (above the Perdrix piste) in a number of steps
with climbs and flats.
Up the last slope and we could see up to the top if the furthest tow lift
(Forclaz)
From here we traversed around the bump on the ridge - keeping to the piste side
with a rising line heading for the side of the top tow.
Rather than go to the top tow we continued on the track up to the Col de la
Forclaz
The top of the two routes, with views on two sides (the other two were
dominated by the ridge and summit of Grand Mont). More refreshment before the
trials of transition - especially for the split board.
We set off down, following the a line between the piste and the ascent route,
until we had to drop onto the blue piste to follow it to the top chair lift
station (we had only this point to cross if we did not want to have to climb
back up somewhere - either at the middle station or from one of the pomas in
this bowl)
As we passed the chair lift station I thought I recognised the party in front -
It was Bryon, KT and Jenny. We stopped for a brief chat before continuing
together.
We left the others as we dropped into the off-piste "Play Area" cutting the
corner off the blue run and then sped down to the middle station.
From the middle station we took the red run down to Le Planay - burning the
thighs on a non stop approach
At the village we dropped into the telemark bar for coffee/ coke and chips - but just one plate between the three of us given the huge portions. Given the recent snow we bargained on the liaison route back to the car park being passable and were discussing trying it when the others came down from Le Planay and got on the bus - the race was on!
The Liaison route was complete and we got all the way down without incident (although it was extremely icy in places - mainly due to the number of pedestrians using it rather than skiers).
We lost the race as the others were loading into the car as we walked through the car park.
On the way back to the apartment we stopped at the rental shop to extend the use of the split board for the rest of the week - This confirmed how much Toby had enjoyed the outing.
