Deserted La Grave 35cms fresh vs Serre Che Slackcountry & then stuff dreams are made of!

A snowHead

Well not rocket science to say that's been the best two consecutive days of the season so far, and how so very different.

I was invited to join a couple of Swedes by a Swedish mate who has moved here and who I first met on a boat in Lyngen way back in 2008.

And guiding was my old mate Per As who I first met in 1997 - so the conversation going up in the cabin was not so much about the snow but about the state of our knees, and Per was getting over a broken tibia.

I've never seen LG so deserted even though up top could not see too much, but it was like the old days and Per later sent me a text after I sent him a Thankyou text and his response was Yes, indeed a memorable day! I ski this mountain a few times every year but rarely in these conditions!!

Then yesterday was cloudless and together with the OH we went out to see what there was, as I had a few plans formulating, and what a day we had, and really I could not say which was best as they were so good in each of their unique ways.

I was later nagging with KenX about the day and he sent me this picture asking if these were our tracks, to which I said yes and if you look very carefully at the end of them in the shadow you can just about make us out Laughing

http://youtube.com/v/6BgrqJCrRA8?si=hhPEW2K-f_ndGMBz

More images and video-short of Patou almost being raced down by Rolf and Per here

https://stylealtitude.com/la-grave-serre-che-slack-country.html

As for today, just going to check the snow to see what happened overnight as again a couple of ideas, but both quite long!

Slight overnight crust on South facing but manageable if stay shy of S/SE hopefully, going for a new route that I've only been looking at for nigh on 15yrs just above Les Guibertes fire station.

A snowHead

That is both fantasy and nightmares of which I had both today in spades!

Up behind us, we have fantastic terrain where very few people venture in the winter as it's really hard to access and snow has to be in good condition.

I've been up there a handful of times and have had some very good skiing, though always lower down it turns into combat skiing, trying to find a route through the dense brush, saplings and rocks, so logic normally is you try and follow the skin track that you made going up!

However throwing logic aside, for many a year I've been looking at another route than via FatMap as well as physically looking at it that could be a good way to climb and then better skiing for the final descent.

So parked up just outside Monetier near the petrol station and started getting ready just as car beeped me, and it was my XC Instructor neighbour going to work.

We, that is Ullr and I set off and I knew it might be a tad frustrating with him chasing scents as I knew that there would be a lot of wildlife there, but I wasn't quite prepared for so much, I must have seen five or six individual deer, and Ullr was being a right bas***d, just as I was going into panic mode & getting the GPS tracker out after waiting 5 or so mins for him to come back, so he'd reappear!

The climb was way tougher than I expected and the only positive was that there was a recent skin track up there, and so many animal tracks and then higher up loads of signs of boar activity; on past sorties up there I've seen whole families of them up there.

Tried to get Ullr to go in front on the leash to pull me, but that was more frustrating as he'd keep trying to veer off after a scent.

Once up on the small plateau at around 1850m (400m of climbing) so the terrain opens out and it becomes a lot easier and you start to become incentivised at the prospect of the skiing as there are just so many options.

However, my legs were feeling it, not helped by being on my Blackcrow Atris, Tectons & full-length skins, a much heavier setup than normal as my lightweight skis were being serviced after one too many rocks, that some repairers might have just shrugged their shoulders at and say "non".

So I was more than happy to see a good skin track that I could follow and could just about make out two skiers a long way ahead of me. Their track looked quite daunting but I had checked the route using the avalanche overlay and was reasonably confident and as ever once you get climbing it's not as steep as it originally looked.

The snow on the up was fairly crusty in places and I was hoping that higher up would be colder and that or the sun that caused the crust in the first place would soften the snow up and I'd be skiing that lovely creamy porridge at worst.

I gave myself a cut-off of 1,100m climb and the two skiers were already on their descent and the snow looked superb, they also knew their stuff, taking a line that I'd been looking at with just enough aspect to not have had so much sun.

Ullr also started whining and getting excited when he saw the skiers too!

The ski was immense, maybe one of the best lines I've ever had in the Valley and that's saying something.

The snow was so forgiving you could open up the throttle, which was quite a good strategy as then I'd leave Ullr and the chances of him getting too close were not that high and as you can see in the video he was at full speed too!

After the best of the skiing, it was time to start find a route down over the terraces and through the trees, it was then he started going off not after me but the scents, so I ended up taking a slightly different line, and then it all started to go tits up.

The first problem was falling over and sliding over a rock going back bottom over tit and ending upside down with my skis caught in some saplings so the only way out was to unclip which was easier to think about than actually do, by this time Ullr had come back to see what was going on, and then bored of hanging around buggered off again.

Then as I unclipped my leg went into spasm as I thought I'd pulled my hamstring or something and for a few minutes I could hardly move and was actually thinking shite I might have to go into SOS mode.

After ten or so minutes I calmed down and body/leg settled down so was cramp, I then decided to walk out heading for the path I knew was below me, so put skis on the pack and commenced the descent which I knew was going to be hard work.

I then saw two boar just as he got the scent but didn't see them, and that was the start of 45 mins of a feckin night mare as I could hear him giving chase, though by then it might have been deer he was after.

The GPS tracker showed he was a good km away so I had no choice but to change direction and go after him, resulting in numerous slides/falling over in the snow over the rocks with yet another fall seeing me on my back over a rock pinned down by the feckin skis again, and this time I had no choice but to unclip the backpack to get out of it.

And so it was a very long tough walk out, eventually, the GPS showed that we were both getting near to each other and eventually I saw him, he was so knackered that he stayed where he was as I made my way to him.

Then it was more bushwhacking until I found the path that took me down through the village and to the main road and then 1.5km walk back along the road to where I'd left my van.

And then ironically just as I was nearing the van so my neighbour drove past coming back from her work, and she was one of the first to look at my Strave curious as to what the old eccentric Brit had been getting up to for the past six hours!

http://youtube.com/v/U9fKBa4yWcI

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

It probably shouldn't but that made me laugh.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@adithorp, you just reminded me, that I left the final coup de grâce out as out it were!

I get back absolutely shattered, trousers covered in dirt from all the slipping/sliding/falling over, arms of down jacket spilling out feathers from the tears and OH says "you need a hot bath", and I know better, but did say yes.

30mins later I'm screaming in agony as the inner thighs on both legs this time have again gone into spasm, and I can hear the OH and daughter styfling their giggles.

I was in a right state, and this morning they're painful to touch from where the spasm occurred deep in the muscle.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

If I were to hire a guide at La Grave is there enough relatively gentle terrain to keep a couple of 50 year old average skiers busy for a day? Or is it mostly ropes and crampons type stuff?

You'll need to Register first of course.

@sbooker, yes. There is terrain there that is of a red run pitch. You want to be with a guide or instructor unless you have experience route finding off piste and managing avalanche hazard.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@gorilla, yes. Would definitely seek out a guide.

After all it is free

Worth mentioning that it isn't necessarily steep, but there are elements which are a long way from piste skiing so an adventurous spirit and a sense of humour are also handy Little Angel

Suggest you need to work on Ullra recall. If your dog is off lead they should come to you when you want them to regardless of the scent. If they can’t do that you cannot let them off the lead.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Can you not guide yourself, it's always good to be self reliant in the hills...

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@nevis1003, I’m a relative novice from subtropical Australia. I’ll let the pros show me the ropes while I learn. Plenty of time for self guiding I guess.

snow reports

Soungds like a crowdfund for a Weathercam massage might be in order. I hope the body has recovered.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Help!!

Deserted La Grave 35cms fresh vs Serre Che Slackcountry & then stuff dreams are made of!

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