Feb 11 27 |
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In the half way state between being asleep and being awake I registered an explosion. War? No. Earthquake? No. I realised it was a controlled avalanche detonation. My sleepy brain told me there’ll be no climbing today so I succumbed to further sleep.
We have come the Chamonix for a week of alpine routes. We flew from Manchester, and as we heard the last calls for the flight to Calgary we thought of Terry and Vikki and fond memories of adventures in Canada… and almost hitched a ride. Our flight was delayed. Strangely, it was delayed by so many hours that it seemed less annoying than if it was delayed by only 30 minutes. Anyway, it ended up being a late night, and hence the late morning.
So, an hour or so later it was still dark. Then I realised the shutters were still shut.
We knew climbing was going to be limited this week. The minute I booked the flights it seemed the lack of fresh snow the Alps had seen this season was coming to an end. The forecast is snow, snow and yet more snow. Oh well, looks like it might be a skiing adventure instead – life’s so hard!
We took our skis in to be serviced and I decided to hire some down hill skis and boots for an afternoon on the slopes – Pete didn’t fancy it because it was snowing hard and visibility would be rubbish.
But that didn’t deter me, and a few euros later I was up at Planpraz enjoying the powder.
Me, alone, with no one to cuddle up to, on the chair lift
Snow, snow, and more snow.
I decided to work on technique, but I had many things against me that made it difficult for me to find my ballance:
But after a few runs I started to get the hang of it.
The non pisted runs in thigh deep powder were great fun, tho’ I was worried I’d take a tumble and lose a ski – I’m used to having mine attached to me with leashes – but the slightly wider skis made for great fun.
You can't tell from this, but I had crashed in deep powder and I'm buried up to my waist.
It’s still snowing, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll get a little touring done, so long as we avoid the avalanches.
Article Series - Chamonix 2011
- Deep powder at Planpraz
- Off piste powder heaven at Le Tour
- Crochues-Berard traverse
- Frendo-Ravanel
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Show all locationsEntry for Sunday, 27th February 2011 by
Laetitia, filed under 
Skiing.
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6 Responses to “Deep powder at Planpraz”
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Good for you for getting out there!
Glad to know that there looks to be more powder for my trip next month.
(And one day I really must take a picture of myself too.)
Hey Tish, Had no idea you were at Manchester
Yes, my flight was delayed nearly 4 hours – plane suddenly needed an engine service 
Funny, that same flight needed engine service last year as well 
If I’d known you were there, I’d definitely have kidnapped you 
Then, you’ll never believe this – 2hrs on the runway at Calgary – ‘wrong kind of steps
I mean, it was only an Airbus 330A 
So missed the Drake and, more importantly, the ‘rope gun’ Trevor has fixed up for me to climb with 
Hey Tish.. I’m suprised you couldn’t find a Frenchman to cuddle up with
on the lift…. there would have been a lot of volunteers and ensured Pete ( 
) was out next time!! 
Powder looks great
PS Have a good time in Canada Terry!!!
I just love this self-portrait with the hands of the artist mirrored in the goggles!
And I miss the lot of snow (long, deep sigh)! Have fun!
Yes Tish, I see you’re wearing sensible goggles these days
Only sensible goggles where there’s a blizzard, but sensible glacier glasses with side clips all other times. I still have sensitive eyes in the wind.