The view when I woke up this morning was this:
It seems like I can never escape the pull of Chamonix. When I looked above my bed, what I saw was this poster:
And outside, I found the mountains emerging through the mist, as the last few flurries of snow were falling:
In the village, the snow had got a slight crust, but at the base of the ski hill this was less noticable, and it disappeared as I climbed higher. It turned out to be a great day of deep fresh snow.
This is really getting me stoked, and fueling the fire of the winter warm up! |
The car park at the ski hill looked like this:
The forest looked like this: And the line to ski looked steep like this:
I started the day skiing laps in the forest to the side of the ski hill. There was still some untouched snow, which was great, and it got deeper as I got higher. It was a little heavy, but with these skis it felt creamy, knee deep in places, and I could feel it fluffing up to my thighs as I plowed through. I have certainly found what I was hunting for!
The Chamois skis performed really well. They are really light, and fast on this slightly heavy snow. It was like floating on a cloud. I tried them on a groomer too, and they were nice and solid, though by that point my thighs were burning at the end of the day.
Idris Chamois skis in action |
We got a little clearing mid morning across the valley |
Looking down one of the runs to the resort base |
My track |
After lunch I went to check out the upper part of the mountain, and came up over a ridge into a clearing sky. The mist was still in and out, but there were some windows of good visibility, useful above treeline. I was able to see my way to some mellow alpine terrain, which turned out to be pretty stable.
The snow was great up there, a little more compacted, but really top quality where the wind hadn't got it. It was nice to get some more open turns in, a little easier than dodging stumps in the forest.
The sun is supposed to shine for a couple of days, or at least tomorrow, so hopefully I can find someone to ski some bigger terrain with. This is a potential zone for tomorrow:
The lift into the alpine |
Clearing sky in the evening |
Meanwhile, back in Chamonix, the weather is looking great up in the the mountains (low pressure), something that didn't happen this time last year. Heres a webcam...
Many thanks to Frode, who is putting me up for the night in Hemsedal. He is a fellow night receptionist in a hotel, and lives in this beautiful area year round. Norway is a land of good food, especially cheese, and once again I am in cheese heaven, as has been the case since I returned to Europe from Canada.
You'd think that I should head for this place near the bottom of the photo...
Is that where it all started? I actually went past the town of Ski on the bus from the airport to Oslo, but its flat. Well, I guess skiing started as what we now know as Nordic skiing.
Awesome times just beginning, by the looks of things! Watch out for rocks in that shallow snow!
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