Took an overnight trip to Italy on Wednesday to pick up some tile and wood samples and also some handmade ironwork – cupboard handles, hinges etc – for the chalets. About 15cm of snow fell overnight on Tuesday so I packed the skis and hooked up with an old friend to do some skiing on Mont Blanc.
We went up from Cormayeur to Punta Helbronner at about 3500m. There were only about a dozen people skiing on that side and we did four off-piste runs, two of which were down the Toula Glacier. Did La Vierge (The Virgin Glacier) on the final run, going all the way down to Chamonix. About 6000m of vertical descent in total.
We also skinned 40 minutes up to the Aiguille Marbrées and came down the face which is pretty steep at 45°. Packed a lot of skiing in and got some nice samples too – successful trip.
There was a lot of good powder in Sainte Foy on Saturday but Val d’Isere was a bit windblown on Sunday. This weekend my daughter is competing in the first regionale and the qualifiers for the French National Championships in Val. We’ll be cheering her on, even if our teeth are chattering a bit – it’s about -22° in Val at the moment.
Posted by Chris
