Was this the best days skiing of the season so far???
Matt Helliker and myself headed up to Flegere early doors. The forecast was so so and it looked better in the a.m and we were keen to rip it up. The team was going to be Matt, Jon Griffiths and Simon all handy on the planks so I was going to be playing catch up all day. We all met at the bottom lift and we cheekily used my guides badge to dodge the queue that was looking rather big. This meant we were on the 1st bin that ran just before 10 and in pole position for the day.
It all started well, with knee to thigh deep perfect powder straight off the lift. We threw a few laps in the trees while the liftes got on the case and opened the index lift that would open up the upper part of the mountain. Jon knew of a few little gems and we were soon dropping a steep tight gully (that we had to straight line) that lead into a wide area of untracked champagne snow. We whooped our way down with face shots on almost every turn, surely that was going to be the run of the day??.
The index opened around midday and we hit some great snow. It took a while busting a trail in deep snow to the run we wanted but boy it was worth it. Acres of untouched virgin snow. We were like little naughty boys in a sweet shop. We could ski anyway, could this be what heaven is like, probably not, nothing could be this good. Sitting on the lift we drew the first breath of the day and reflected that so far every run had been fresh tracks and each better than the previous. We were finding that folk were following our tracks so after a 2nd lap left from the index we searched for new terrain.
The pisteur wasn’t allowing us to drop into the Lavancher bowl straight off the lift so we dropped a little height and hit it lower. It just seemed to get better and better, a wee bit heavy at the top but it gave way to lighter stuff lower down and huge amounts of snow. We dropped it 3 times before we broke yet another traverse track, this time on the right hand side of the bowl. It took some effort but the reward……… if the 1st run off the Index was heaven then this had all the decadence of hell but with snow rather the flames of Hades. I have never had such a good run in Europe ……ever ……..until the last run of the day. Jon had held the trump card till last. Matt and I were unsure but the boy came through. A high traverse put us over a little col and I dropped into a steep narrow couloir in deep snow, pure magic. Tired legs saw us blast into a huge fan of deep untracked snow. How was this possible it was 4pm and we were screaming down in near waist deep untracked snow, heaven and hell in one stroke.
We missed a final run as the Index lift shut but we didn’t care, the mountain had been beasted and so had our legs. We stood in our own silence as the lift carried us down, each reflecting on how perfect the day had been. Huge amounts of skiing, in deep untracked snow over great terrain.
Thanks for the crew today for making it happen and even more thanks to Jon for the photos.
Bring on tomorrow!!
Kenton
Was this the best days skiing of the season so far???
Matt Helliker and myself headed up to Flegere early doors. The forecast was so so and it looked better in the a.m and we were keen to rip it up. The team was going to be Matt, Jon Griffiths and Simon all handy on the planks so I was going to be playing catch up all day. We all met at the bottom lift and we cheekily used my guides badge to dodge the queue that was looking rather big. This meant we were on the 1st bin that ran just before 10 and in pole position for the day.
It all started well, with knee to thigh deep perfect powder straight off the lift. We threw a few laps in the trees while the liftes got on the case and opened the index lift that would open up the upper part of the mountain. Jon knew of a few little gems and we were soon dropping a steep tight gully (that we had to straight line) that lead into a wide area of untracked champagne snow. We whooped our way down with face shots on almost every turn, surely that was going to be the run of the day??.
The index opened around midday and we hit some great snow. It took a while busting a trail in deep snow to the run we wanted but boy it was worth it. Acres of untouched virgin snow. We were like little naughty boys in a sweet shop. We could ski anyway, could this be what heaven is like, probably not, nothing could be this good. Sitting on the lift we drew the first breath of the day and reflected that so far every run had been fresh tracks and each better than the previous. We were finding that folk were following our tracks so after a 2nd lap left from the index we searched for new terrain.
The pisteur wasn’t allowing us to drop into the Lavancher bowl straight off the lift so we dropped a little height and hit it lower. It just seemed to get better and better, a wee bit heavy at the top but it gave way to lighter stuff lower down and huge amounts of snow. We dropped it 3 times before we broke yet another traverse track, this time on the right hand side of the bowl. It took some effort but the reward……… if the 1st run off the Index was heaven then this had all the decadence of hell but with snow rather the flames of Hades. I have never had such a good run in Europe ……ever ……..until the last run of the day. Jon had held the trump card till last. Matt and I were unsure but the boy came through. A high traverse put us over a little col and I dropped into a steep narrow couloir in deep snow, pure magic. Tired legs saw us blast into a huge fan of deep untracked snow. How was this possible it was 4pm and we were screaming down in near waist deep untracked snow, heaven and hell in one stroke.
We missed a final run as the Index lift shut but we didn’t care, the mountain had been beasted and so had our legs. We stood in our own silence as the lift carried us down, each reflecting on how perfect the day had been. Huge amounts of skiing, in deep untracked snow over great terrain.
Thanks for the crew today for making it happen and even more thanks to Jon for the photos.
Bring on tomorrow!!
Kenton
