Another amazing day on the Col Jeux de Plan. It’s a Col at 1,700 mt about 30 minutes drive from the village. February has been a very busy month on the slopes, so occasionally I would feel the need to spend some time away from people and lifts. It snowed for a couple of days. The storm left about 50cm of new snow. I got to the bottom of the Col at about 8:30 and I probably spend the whole morning just walking around. As always I dig a snow pit to check the snowpack. It wasn’t super stable but as you can see from the photos the aspect of the slopes I was on is very gentle, probably around 15-20 degrees so the avalanche risk was really minimum.
This was only a few days before I went to Chamonix for the Mountain Safety course, where I knew I was going to have a very intense and tiring time and some sort of test/exam at the end of the week. So I was quite keen on having a very chilled day in my favourite element and revising and practising what I already knew about travelling in avalanche terrain, studying the snowpack, identifying the safest route, etc. It was such an amazing day. As you can see for the pictures I had the mountain for myself, at least for the morning. Then during the afternoon I had the company of a small group of people who came up for a super mellow ski touring itinerary.
It’s interesting to think about the few people I met during my walkabouts and day trips. They were all very nice. And since there is usually no one else around, starting conversation is always very easy. Also, if people are there having a day away from the lifts, walking or skinning their way up, sweating.. it means we have something in common, doesn’t it? I just wish I had more friends in the village interested in doing this type of hikes. It’s not very safe to travel outside resort boundaries on your own. This is probably the main reason why in a good number of occasions I felt “restricted”. If I had had somebody with me I would have definitely venture myself in more challenging terrain, taking bigger risks
at some point I remember having the impression of being on another planet
this is definetely another option in terms of aqccommodation for the summer. the only thing is I might have to wait untill .. probably mid may to move in. removing all the snow now is not an option
let’s keep walking, that’s what I am here for anyway
This was a very nice line, cruising through the trees. ok, not very steep but very cruisy
Lovely view from the top. although it looks very high it’s only at 1,800 mt. turns on the way down were lovely too
amazing how snow can make every line and corner very rounded
