Still finding powder

It's been 2 weeks since it last snowed, but the cold temps have kept the north facing slopes in good condition. You now have to skin to find some fresh tracks but if you know where to go it's still there to be skied. It also gave us the perfect opportunity to try out our new ski touring kit. Eric has some Dalbello Virus and I've got some Scarpa Gea touring boots. Both of them are light weight but aimed at tourers who want to go down as well as up and they ski really well.

Blue sky

Another beautiful blue sky day, so we decided to skin up towards the Petit Mountet hut. A lovely walk across the plats and on up towards the Himalayan like views of the imperial crown. Groups were ice climbing on the frozen waterfalls, which are in excellent condition at the moment due to the super cold temps.
However, it was warm enough to sit and have a picnic before skiing back down to Zinal.

Happy Boxing Day

 Powder snow, freezing temps, sunshine and no one around...

Early winter skills: how to escape snow-bound UK

Heavy snow across the UK and Europe didn't stop our first Mountain Tracks group arriving for their Early Winter Skills course. Great snow and excellent guiding and instruction from Olly, Claire and Roddy gave everyone a taste for skiing the deep stuff including a run down to the dam and down the Chamois back to our chalet. A great start to the season... Thanks to Delia for the photos.

photo: Delia Cox

photo: Delia Cox

My first snow...

It was a beautiful day today so we took a walk through Zinal and found that the young calves had been let out to play and get their first taste of snow.

A wintery scene...

More snow has fallen this week and in between the storms we've had some beautiful blue sky days. Things are looking good... especially as more is forecast for next week.

It has begun...

Blue sky and beautiful snow - what a way to start the season. Zinal opened on Saturday with such good conditions it seemed rude not to make a few turns.

Not all the runs are open, of course, but there's skiing between 2900m and 2200m. Weekdays from mid-November to 18th December it's for race teams only. Thanks to the hard work of the director of the lift company, Pascal, major international teams flock in to train and compete. We've got the Bulgarians - Dobre doshal! - staying with us this week. It's a good chance for them to practice their English as well as their GS-turns...