Part 3: Assorted Episodes in the Ecrins: A Backcountry Adventure in the Southern French Alps.
Better late than never.
Thick flakes were pouring out the sky.
They had space for us, it was time to say goodbye to Serre Chevalier.
Kenes soccer-mom 4x4 wouldnt start.
I tore launch the curtains shortly after 7am the following morning to find… rain.
Transferring from one side of the lift terminal to the other was like passing from between totally different worlds.
This limited capacity is of course its great appeal.
On this day however, the lift’s capacity was irrelevant.
Apart from us, there were no takers.
Chipie drops in, and is too busy shredding to notice the spooky rock-face watching him fly by.
The chute spits you out in some of the world’s best lift-accessed tree skiing.
Chipie can confirm this, despite struggling to see much of it.
Dave was so excited he started jumping on his bed.
Chipie, still in agreement about the quality of tree skiing.
There may have been as many as 15 other powder party participants by now.
We decided to wait as long as possible up top before our second and last run of the day.
The longer we waited the deeper it would be.
A complete vibe-reversal from breakfast!
The camera was put away and we repeated the same run.
Our tracks from the morning session had been well and truly refilled, and then some!
La Grave is not an apres-ski destination.
Concerns that the lift wouldn’t open proved to be well-founded.
Guess who didn’t care?
Chipie thought about going to church, but in the end decided to do this instead.
The gospel that Joe preaches is powder.
And with that unusual but nonetheless awesome episode, our trip was at and end.
Well certainly be back!
So many places to ski, so little time!
We travelled from the UK by train.
His knowledge, creativity and enthusiasm were invaluable to us.http://www.provallone.com
Words by Matt Carr
