Finally we’ve had some Powder out in the Alps and conditions have been much better. In week 7, we have had the overnight hut tour out in the Vanoise National Park by Val d’Isere. Although the Huts are pretty basic and unmaned over the winter – there are few things better than getting to a hut in the mountains and chilling out after a day’s riding. Our group stayed at the Font des Fours Hut where there is a wood burning stove for warmth and great views of the surrounding peaks:

Chilling outside the Hut

The fresh powder combined with the depth hoar in the snowpack did make traveling uphill challenging, especially for the snowboarders), but the guys did a great job to keep at it for 3 full days and the reward was fresh tracks on every run.

Ski Touring in the Vanoise

For some more great shots of the backcountry ski tour, check out our gallery at:

http://www.alltracksacademy.com/useful_info/gallery/201011-photos/

First thing on Sunday Morning, we were discussing where to ski when Roddy’s phone beeped with the news that an isolated snowfall had dumped on La Fornet. Having had no fresh snow for a couple of week, our minds were obviously made up immediately and we jumped on the chair up to top of La Fornet. Thankfully, not many other people had the inside track and we enjoyed lapping the area riding powder with nobody else around- good times!

By Monday the word had spread and more people from across the Espace Killy were heading over to our stash. With that in mind, we headed out touring beyond the Col Pers.

Powder Turns down from Col Pers

In the valley down from Col Pers, you get a couple of nice pitches and as we had our touring equipment, we were able to descend further into the valley than the other group who were in the areas giving us more fresh turns.

Henry of Henry's Avalanche Talk and one of our off piste ski instrctors, leading the group to the goods

We had our lunch and a rest near the valley bottom, before touring up onto the ridge for a ski back to La Fornet. A very, very good day!

Mike loving the Powder

The weather has remained blue bird and we’re looking forward to the new snow arriving. We do have the benefit that at least with Espace Killy being such a vast, high area – there are still plenty of options.

At the start of the week, we practiced a number of compression tests and slope angle measurements with Henry as well as doing a nice variation in the Chardonnet area above Tignes, where the snow remains surprisingly good.

Jake doing a compression test

The skiers and snowboarders went touring together to the Col des Fours today. The route follows a fairly gentle tour from the Col d l’Iseran, before getting a little more exciting on the traverse just leading up to the Col itself. The route down brought some mixed conditions and Evan was particularly delighted when Mike ate it half way down. We stopped for for lunch outside the Refuge des Fours before entering the ski area by the Manchet chair.

Evan about to set off to the Col des Fours, Val d'Isere

Sadly week 2 has not seen any fresh snow out in Val d’Isere but we have been blessed with 7 absolutely blue bird days – and skiing and snowboarding in the sun is always fun. Furthermore, when it comes to skiing off piste in a new area, the guys were able to fully appreciate where they were going and become more familiar with the area.

As always, the week began with Avalanche Skills training with Henry Schniewind from Henry’s Avalanche Talk, an experienced Off Piste Val skier- Henry has put together a unique 6 day course enabling us to learn more about operating in the backcountry and about conducting avalanche rescues. Thankfully, he also manages to find great snow many days after the last snowfall!

Henry digging a snow pit

The remainder of the weeks lessons combined both on and off piste improvement. Both groups ventured further in the Espace Killy’s Backcountry with routes such as the Chardonnet Couloir, Pisteurs Couloir, Col Pers and many more being completed. On piste, the focus was improving technique and Keiran’s video camera was getting put to good use.

Check out the ALLTRACKS Gallery for more photos:

Ski & Snowboard Course Photos

Stuart at the top of Pisteurs with Mont Blanc in the background