Circuit Roc d'Enfer

Today Natalie and i finally got a chance to ski the Roc d'Enfer Circuit.  The Circuit starts at about 1750m and finishes at around 900m.  It's only the last kilometer of the Circuit that really suffers from a lack of snow but today, with a week's worth of continuous low-lying snowfall and bright sunshine, we figured it was our best chance to try it.  Happily it was Ouvert and we completed the 20 stunning kilometers of tree-lined pistes that make up the Circuit in just under an hour, stopping many times for photos.

Natalie and le Roc d'Enfer.  The astute reader will recognise this mountain as the very same that appears in the stunning sunset photos we took of it from the other side from Avoriaz.

The route consists of two very long pistes (at least 8km each) connected by a long chairlift from the Bellevaux ski area and a very steep drag-lift.  The great thing about the run is that it's totally isolated: you take one chair and one drag, and the rest of the time you're in a secluded, heavily treed valley with no sounds of metal grinding on steel cables to disturb the peace.

Natalie and the start of the Circuit Roc d'Enfer.

We shared the pistes with a grand total of about 15 other skiers which just adds to the tranquility of the area.  i was quite surprised,  this year, to find that the Roc d'Enfer now has it's own ski pass which is outside the Portes du Soleil.  i don't understand the politics, but surely it would be better for the tourist and attract more skiers, and therefore cash, to the area if it was all under one pass.

 

Natalie and the aforementioned tranquil valley that forms part of the Circuit Roc d'Enfer.

Even with the recent heavy snowfall, the last hundred meters of the Circuit was unskiable and sections of the piste lower down were a smidgen gravelly (i checked and there is such a word).

Ian and la Grande Terche.  Here wearing sunglasses in a desperate attempt to rid himself of an embarrassing ski tan.  He is not convinced that this is working.

After skiing the Roc, we played around in the Grande Terche back area itself where we managed to find a bit of soft powder in amongst the heavy crust that has now formed.

Where'd Everybody Go?

It's taken us a full day to recover from our 11 consecutive full days of skiing and still my quads are aching.  This may partially be caused by, at one point in our adventures, having to walk back up the steepest part of a red run in Switzerland to add moral support to some our our flagging party members.

Of course, it didn't help that yesterday, when it was back to just the two of us again, we went out powder-skiing on Fornet.  i've not seen the resort so empty since December and there were no tracks on Fornet before we got there.  The powder was ridiculously deep and quite heavy and, again, we got stuck in a whiteout.

Natalie looking awesome as usual in Morzine.

The family-members who ignored the warning in the Into the Void entry will be presently surprised that i've really learned my lesson this time, and, although we had to practically walk down the last half-kilometer of the Fornet Snowcross in thigh-deep powder, i managed not to take us off any cliffs. 

i also learned a cool trick for determining what lies in front of you.  You take a handful of snow and throw it out ahead of you.  Then you wait until you can make out the slight contrast caused by the now slightly ruffled snow ahead and this tells you how steep the slope is,  if there is indeed a slope there in the first place, and not a huge cliff.

The apartment is recovering with a 66% drop in numbers and even the weather seems to have calmed down.  i did feel sorry for Andrew who had his first snow-driving experience in the worst storm of the Winter (although technically, it was Spring at the time).

The roads were so bad the ploughs couldn't clear them fast enough causing huge, ice-compacted ridges to form in the center of the lanes which our car would just bounce over, usually sideways.

It was absolutely fantastic skiing with The Phils and Siobhan again this year.  Phil himself is really coming along and i feel certain he'll be able to tackle Proclou by next season.  We named a new canyon we found in Plaine Dranse Phillie's Canyon, and Siobhan, myself, and Natalie have decided that The Phils deserve their own mountain named after them.

i think two of the Dents du Midi would be suitable and i'll pick two out for them next time the Dents come out of the clouds.  We also named the tree runs housing The Stash (man) and Les Tannes as Forêt du Natalie.

Siobhan also created The Order of The Phils to be awarded to skiers with extreme patience in teaching new skiers the Lore of the Mountains.  i nominate Siobhan and Natalie as the first new members of this Order.  i still can't believe how much time and effort The Phils have put into my and Natalie's ski career and how mind-numbingly bored they must have been on our first few weeks skiing.

Our newest skiing charges handled the week incredibly well.  Celeste and Leena went from being unable to stand up on day one to just about getting parallel by day eight with Celeste getting really good at the sliding stop and Leena zooting down a steep red as though it wasn't there.  She even went off piste on it, although that may not have been entirely intentional.  By the last run of the day Leena was comparing air-time with Andrew on the bumps above Avoriaz.

Jonathan ripping up the piste in Morzine.

And then there was Jonathan.  Can you say "Natural"?  Jonathan's second turn of his first day was parallel.  i'm not kidding.  He has great natural balance, wasn't afraid of getting up a bit of speed, and handled an 8km steep red on day three of his ski-career.  Best of all he nearly wiped-out a few muggles along the way for extra credit.  i'm so proud.

Sadly for us, it's two weeks to go until we leave the Alps for a short sprint around Europe and then South Africa.  It's official, no matter how much time we spend here, we never want to leave.  i love these Mountains.

More Posing

With four times as many cameras around this week there are so many photos to show.

This is Jonathan and i looking like skiers.   That cool scarf around my neck is my new Buff.  It's never too late in the season to buy new gear.

And this is Natalie and i looking very flexible.

We're skiing at La Grande Terche today and it looks like Jonathan's last day is going to be a good one.

Posing

Pictures, so i'm told, are supposed to tell a thousand words.  My eyes are tired from just being open so i'm afraid, for now, that pictures will have to do.

This is the aerial view of the Zore piste showing, from left to right, Celeste, Jonathan, Natalie, Andrew, Siobhan, and Leena.

 

This is the same view, about two seconds later, where it seems a certain member of the party has had a little tumble.

And this is us in the classic ski-group pose.  Leena, Celeste, Andrew, Jonathan, Natalie, and Ian.

 

This is Jonathan looking very Alpine.

Jonathan took this shot of us very sneakily and amazingly got a photo of me, for once, where i'm not posing.  i really like this photo of us, so thanks Jonathan.

More follows, keep reading.

Blizzard

Winter has returned, and She is angry.  So much for global warming.  We've had a meter of snow in the last week and it's not letting up any time soon.

This is, of course, absolutely fantastic for skiing.  The powder is light and fluffy, the pistes are soft and squeaky, and the bumps are, well, bumpy.

My intense social calendar has kept me away from my laptop for a while, so hopefully this will sate your appetite for this literary feast.

Two days ago there was rather an intense blizzard on the mountain.  i shot this video to try and give a sense of what it's like on the top of the mountain when the snow is being blown down so hard it stings your face and gets inside your windproof jacket via the double-Velcro-ed zip.  Occasionally the snow is so hard and thick that you can't see five meters in front of you.

And this video is of the group skiing the home run on the same day.  Note the perfect angulation, rotation, and progression being displayed by Natalie and Phillie.  Phil really does need to work on all these elements.  i hoping with my expert tutelage he'll improve.  Siobhan and then Andrew are chasing them down.

i'd describe this day as "character building".

A Lack Of Posts

It seems that Blogger changed something and Windows Live Writer was unable to talk to it anymore.  Once you've got used to Live Writer, you really don't want to use anything else, least of all the online "editor".

Couple that with an extremely tight social schedule and the time for blogging rapidly disappears.  Yesterday we had a very strong blizzard and so much snow we had to dig the car out with a shovel.  The roads were particularly exciting and i saw a truck that had dropped over the edge of one of the hairpin bends and wedged itself in some trees.  No one was hurt, fortunately.

Happily for Jonathan, who has just arrived, it's sunny this morning so he can actually see how stunning the Alps are when covered in snow.

Sadly, it was The Phils last day yesterday.  Personally, we're hoping their car is totally buried in snow so they're forced to stay out here a bit longer!  Yesterday, because of the blizzard, most of the resort was closed because of the extremely strong winds.  There's nothing like sitting on a chairlift in a snow storm while they stop the lift and let you swing in the wind and zero-visibility whiteout too many meters above the ground.  My face is now raw from being blasted by the snow all day.

Because of all the closures, we were stuck in the trees above Lindarets.  This is not, by any standard, a bad thing.  We had an awesome time and came down the same forested slope about five times, on five totally different routes.  This is us somewhere in those trees, still in the blizzard.  At times the wind was so strong that it shook all the snow out of the trees themselves, adding to the snow-storm.

These extreme conditions, i have to admit, are my favourite!

Ski Tan

The sun in Spring is a lot more powerful than the sun in the depths of Winter so i now look like a particularly ugly member of the band Kiss.  Everyone seems to find it necessary to keep reminding me of this too.

It's extremely late and we've just come back from collecting Jonathan from the airport and he's currently settling into bed for a lovely four hours sleep before we have to get up and head to the ski shop for his gear.

Anyway, that aside we had a super day today skiing with The Phils in Plaine Dranse and Linga while our guests took a relaxing half day break from the rigors of skiing every day.  Super big snow tomorrow and we just can't get enough!

From the left: Phillie, David, Phil, Sim, Cathy, Natalie, Perry, and Siobhan.  This was a steep red run and this stunt took considerable coordination.

 

And now an action shot of us all skiing Rhododendrons in Plaine Dranse.  From the left: Perry, Cathy, Phil, David, Natalie, Sim, and Phillie.

 

This is us beaming after coming down Phillie's Canyon - a gorgeous bit of off-piste down Plaine Dranse where you can really attack the bumps down the tight, rounded, canyon fall-line.

 

And now enjoying the trees in Plaine Dranse.  You know who everyone is by now don't you?

And finally, because i'm just not getting enough time to do this these days with my hectic social life, this is a photo from yesterday, now yesterday's yesterday because it's so late.  But this is us outside the Yeti bar in Avoriaz: Andrew, Leena, Natalie, and Celeste.

My comfy sofa-bed is now calling my name loudly.  More tomorrow.  Honest.