Since my last post about skiing I have had 3 more weeks in the valley. Conditions for skiing have been mixed. There is undoubtedly a need for more snow
Photo taken from platform at Argentiere station taken on 12th January
but I have had some excellent skiing especially at Brevent/Flegere. The pistes have often been smooth and/or icy but the higher slopes have maintained loose snow on the off piste and have yet to be tracked out. There was a significant dump of snow about 10 days ago which was a great help.
On one trip to Grands Montets I was taking a coffee at Lognan and a pair of youngish Brits walked past and one said to the other something like “well we just shredded the gnar…”. What? I think I was skiing in the same area as them and I do not think I saw any gnar that needed shredding but I may be wrong. The same day I got talking to a group of Irish skiers in a telecabin. We exchanged information about snow conditions in different areas and had a good chat. But I was last out of the cabin, at the top, and one of them passed wind just as the telecabin arrived. I nearly choked as I walked through the fetid air on my way out. Like answering your phone in a packed cable car and shouting, or lighting up a fag on a chair lift, farting in a telecabin is definitely out of bounds.
The last few nights have been very cold, and we have had atmospheric inversions which have led to some quite dramatic views. These two photos were taken at le Tour
This one was taken yesterday at the World Tour Freeride championship at Brevent.
During my days off from skiing I have been searching out places in the Valley that I am less familiar with. During one of these walks I came across this very impressive and historic-looking house in Chamonix in the area called Les Pecles. It is number 700, which suggests to me that it might originally have been number 7 Route des Pecles.
