On the way up you fit "skins" to the undersides of your skis which look like animal skins. In fact they are made out of oodles of plastic fibres which all point the same way therefore you can glide forwards but not slide backwards.
We drove up to Col de l'Encrenaz which is about 10 minutes from our house, parked, kitted up (which is much harder with rando skis since they don't clip together) and then started our 2.5km hike comprising an elevation gain of 250m. Ok so it's not quite Mont Blanc but it was a good start for us!
Scarlett loved it too. It's slightly worrying when other skiers come down and she's in their way but we're training her to get out of the path. In the weekends to come there will be fewer people about so that'll make it easier too.
So how was it? It was absolutely awesome. It's briliant being the only people on the mountain (most of the time) and fantastic to find untracked powder that is only accessible by randonee. It's also fabulous that we live next to an excellent rando beginners area where there's very little avalanche risk and also a nice easy slope to practice on. Did I mention that I love France yet?
The only tricky part was actually the skiing. Rando boots are a lot more upright than downhill boots. The skis are also a lot straighter which means that my weight was all wrong and that I couldn't turn the skis. My solution to this was to simply fall over in the ample powder. However i'm definitely going to have to learn how to ski properly before we try anything more adventurous!
As a result of this excellent tour we've decided to buy our own gear which will arrive this weekend. This works out perfectly with Nicola's arrival because we need to practice on easy slopes on our new gear before heading out into the Proper back country.
1 comment:
I'm glad that dog training includes explaining to Scarlett to get out of the way of other skiers - is this conducted in French - or is her understanding limited to buying the odd coke, very odd haircut and motorway toll passes...
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