Tuesday 4 March 2014

Plan de L'Aiguille powder

After a powder filled weekend, it was forecast to snow virtually all day on Monday so following a morning of work I was looking for somewhere to ski in the afternoon which had trees (to lend some visibility) and something north facing so that coverage would still be good all the way back to town. 

As is so often the case, there's only really one good choice for days like this and seeing as I knew about 30 of the people waiting at the bottom of the Midi when I arrived, it seemed that everyone was thinking the same thing. Predictably enough, the Plan de L'Aiguille delivered. I really do love it up there.


After an uneventful first lap, Peter clean snapped off one of the pins on his bindings on the second lap. After some attempts to strap his foot to the ski we gave up and he had to walk/slide. He was pretty stoic about it and made pretty quick time but I don't envy the guy who he's off to see at the binding factory!


Tall tales from Tristan between laps. Tom looks unconvinced.


Tristan on the final lap.


Moody light over Les Houches and the Aravis. One of the best things about this run is the scenery and the ambience of dropping so steeply into the Valley. Love it. 


One the worst things about it is that the desire to explore the trees often overwhelms logic and reason. Things got even tighter than this before we eventually finished with a small skis-off-downclimb of a grassy cliff and a river crossing. One of my better Plan de L'Aiguille epics.