Leaving the hut at 0500, head torches and sparks flying as the skis contact on rocks in the dark, we climbed to col Durand above Zinal, made a ski depot and switched to ice-axes and crampons to climb Mont Durand at 3714m. From there a ski down the glacier on col Durand under the Pointe de Zinal and Dent Blanche in glorious powder.
A pretty full on day, about 10 hours on the mountain with about 1500m of climbing.
This was one of the easier days, but it was pretty special, climbing Mont Durand was excellent and the ski off was superb. We're still two days from the objective at this point though