Grand Montets

Top of Bochard nearing the end of the day

Since Dave and Kev have arrived, the weather has deteriorated. High winds have closed the top bin of the GM and the Midi and the avalanche warnings are consistent across the range at 4, so we're forced to seek our fix else where. The obvious choice being off the Bochard and Herse lift on the GM. So over the last couple of days, we've been skiing pretty much every bit of Off piste the GM has to offer.

Sunday was an easy day, albeit in bad vis and snow, so we used it as a 'skills' day by digging snow pits to assess the snow pack and practicing steep skiing and general skiing techniques so not to get 'lazy'.

Assessing the snow pack on the GM

Skiing down the Italian bowl in some shallow powder

We met 2 Brits staying at La Tapia, Ali and Will, and skied with them for a few days, showing them the wonders the GM has to offer. Ali was roughly familiar with the area and even showed us a new run down through the woods to Lavancher which was a great finish to the day.

Leaving the Lavancher bowl on far skiers left for a run through the forest to Lavancher

We had a mixture of everything during the week from hard moguls to tracked powder but it all helped to consolidate the skills acquired for off piste. Overall, even though the wind has suspended play in the high mountains, it hasn't stopped it down low and we have made the most of a bad situation.