 Poster: A snowHead
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OK, so the title was a little misleading, we did get fresh tracks and at times it was knee deep, however we didn't have skis with us 
We took the lift to the top of les Attela (2732m). There were quiet a few skiers out, not as many as the weekend before but there is less snow, even though I haven't skied for 7 months now it didn't really appeal. We had another plan, a short hike to get the old legs working, some more altitude acclimatisation and a little photography.
The route: From Attela we walked along the ridge to descend to Col du Creblet (2638m), in the right conditions this south facing off piste route can be superb on skis. It was fun on foot too:
We walked down to around 2500m and then headed west along the side of Mont Rognuex.
The snow was patchy, especially the South facing stuff, but on the ridges and gullies which were protected from sun and wind loaded the snow was excellent, really made me get excited about the coming season.
There's a good view of how to ski back to the chalet, over the golf course to the bottom of la Rouge, have a beer at Au Mignon and then 100m to the chalet! Should be ski-able in the next few weeks, fortunately it's all grass so we only need a a few inches...
We walked round to the Col des Mines (2319m). One of Verbiers many superb itineraries, you have a choice of heading back down to Verbier or heading down Vallon D'Arby (ski to Tzoumaz).
Here's a rubbish view of the first part of skiing down Vallon D'Arby.
Here's a marker, we'll come back to this spot later on in the season for another photo, I dream of being able to step over the sign post!
A gentle stroll round lead us to the bottom of another knob, Tête des Etablons (2416m), for conditioning I decided to charge up it, 200-250m vertical, steep as, one stop... It hurt at the time. Getting to the top was amazing!
Stopped for some photos.
There are quiet a few (currently redundant) avalanche barriers
And a pretty fence
A tricky descent for a couple of hundred meters before we began the exposed climb for the final peak Croix de Coeur (2176m).
Then we followed the track back down to Verbier.
4 hrs 20 mins, reasonable altitude, slept well last night! It got me very excited about the coming season, I woke up twice in the night to see if the light rain had turned into snow, it didn't at resort level, dusting up top. It did makes me want to get some touring boots, or maybe I should take up telemarking seriously, these climbs in hiking boots were fine, boot packing in alpine boots is a pain in the backside...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Looks like that was a great walk parlor. Hope you get some more snow soon 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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parlor, excellent pics. I dream I'll be able to step over that sign post on 23 January. Wishful thinking? Keep the pics coming 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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geri thanks.
RachelQ, I'll build a step just for you. Or maybe we can just build a kicker and jump over it 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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