Torgon

We took 208 photographs on our visit to Torgon with Sally and Simon yesterday.  You may gather from this that we rather enjoyed the day.  Trying to sift out the best ones was very hard, so go grab some popcorn and a box of smarties and settle in for a long ride.

i worked out on the GMaps Pedometer that we covered about 50 kilometers on the trip which started, as usual, in the Ardent car park. This shot was taken at the top of the Chaux Fleurie chairlift looking down towards Plaine Dranse, possibly our favourite area in these mountains.  i should clarify that, up 'til now, when i've been talking about Chatel, i've really been meaning Plaine Dranse, which is part of the Chatel ski domain.  i'm sure that's a load off your mind.

This is Rochassons, a red run that leads down to Plaine Dranse.  It's a pity that it's a tough-ish run because it limits people getting over to Plaine Dranse from Avoriaz - they don't know what they're missing.  Anyway, Natalie skillfully skids to a stop near the bottom.

You may have seen this shot before as we always seem to take a photo from this spot.  i don't know why, it could be that it's just so stupendously awesome there.  It's from the top of the Rosees chairlift.  Under the brownish haze in the background is Lake Geneva.  Pretty cool, huh?

And this, regulars, is Ian's Canyon.  Well, the bottom of it anyway.  There's still a mini-crater at the bottom of it in the shape of my head.  Anyway, this time we all got down unscathed.  Still, i don't think it helped to convince anyone to go down it when i reminded everyone that this was where i nearly killed myself.

This is Le Linga.  A red run in Linga.  You can go really fast on it.  So fast, you need to use italics.  This is Natalie going fast.

This is Natalie, having gone fast, now going faster still.

This is me going fast.  Very poor style too, hope you don't notice.

And this is Simon going fast.  It's contagious.

Not to be outdone, Sally also went fast.

And this is us going slow.  Stationary in fact.  This is the view from the top of Torgon.  The astute reader will notice that this shot gives you a unique perspective on the Alps where you can see both the Dents du Midi (those spiky big mountains on the left) and, in the far distance just above Simon's hat, it's Mont Blanc again.  Did i mention that i love the Alps.  i love the Alps.  And no, Andrew, i'm not just pointing at mountains and saying that i love them.  i really do.  For all the not-Andrews out there that don't get it, go and watch Anchorman immediately before carrying on reading this.

And then there was Barbossines.  My.  Favourite. Run.  Ever.  The bumps on Barbossines, in Torgon, are simply the best anywhere.  If you like moguls, and i do, then Barbossines should be included on your skiing pilgrimage to mogul enlightenment.

i like it a lot.  Just a pity it takes 3 hours to get to it from our start point.

That smidgen of blue in the distance is Lake Geneva.  Notice how much closer we are now?  That's how far you travel in the Portes du Soleil.

And this is for those who don't believe in avalanches.  Quite disturbing really because we had to ski into this valley.  Notice how this slab avalanche has pulled itself away from the mountain and creased?  This shot doesn't give a good feel for the scale, but that crack is a good 30m across.

And this is le Restaurant Panoramique at the top of Torgon.  It was sunny.

So named because you can see quite a lot from it, including Lake Geneva.  This isn't zoomed in, so now scroll up and look at the 3rd photo down.  In the far distance there are some mountains above the lake to the right.  We're now in those mountain.  See, the Portes du Soleil is big.  Very big.

In case you're wondering what the half-term crowds are like, they are totally crazy.  This is the Cornebois lift queue in Pre la Joux.

 

And, many hours later, having skied back down from Linga, we're heading home.

But before we headed home, we tackled Les Renards again.  A fantastic fun black mogul field.  Natalie expertly bounces her way down.

We finished up our perfect day in the friscolating dusklight on the Col du Bassachaux.  Ok, it's not quite dusk and i don't even know what "friscolating" means, but it sounds good.

In case you were wondering what we were looking at, this is it.  That's the frozen Lac de Montriond in the background.

It was Sally and Simon's last day, sadly, but it was an awesome day which required the customary chocolat chaud celebration at l'Escapade in Ardent.

J'adore faire du ski.