What a trip that turned out to be... we'd watched the forecast piling snow upon snow for mid-December, and waited as all the models swung into alignment four days out. It was time to drop everything and go.
Easyjet turned up some decently priced flights (thanks no doubt to the stupid "no snow ever again" headlines in certain trashy media) and the ever-reliable Gravite in La Clusaz had a few beds spare so out came the credit card.
Conveniently, the weather paused as we arrived and the only delay on the drive up was the Friday evening traffic in Geneva.
Saturday dawned with the distant sound of dynamite and we headed for La Balme. Avalanche risk kept the top closed for the day but with powder everywhere it really didn't matter. Some wonderful repeats of the lower section of the Lachat red - unpisted, knee deep and virtually un-tracked when we got there - were a great way to start our season. The highlight of the day was being among the first dozen skiers down the Choucas black when they opened the Bergerie chair around mid-day; thigh-deep in places on the piste and amazing just off it. Just brilliant.
Sunday we skied Le Grand Bornand, above Chinaillon, where the powder was a little patchier (although still abundant) and underlain by a disconcerting crust a couple of feet down. We think this was probably caused by the heavy rain that fell on the Friday, up to about 1,600 metres, that had subsequently frozen. For anyone heading off-piste in the area for the next few weeks - this is worth noting as a weak and unstable layer likely to remain for some time. Top find was finding the Stade area un-marked, un-pisted and still un-tracked mid-afternoon.
Gravite Dave and Admin Jnr. scoping the next pitch.
On Monday the weather was forecast to clear a little so we started at Beauregard, then moved across to l'Etale and later into the trees below Fernuy... the day was incredible; on almost every run the powder was over our knees. The un-pisted Tetras run on L'Etale was steep'n'deep, the off-piste was epic.
Gravite Dave getting airborne.
We're now home again and resting shredded legs, but the memories will last a decade... 8)
Definitely a Proud Dad moment - Admin Jnr. shredding powder.
Thanks to Gravite for their usual excellence, and to the top team at Sport Boutique in La Clusaz for the Salomon BBRs - which were every bit as good as we'd hoped; our new favourite skis!