Mont de L'Arpille - a hidden bad weather ski touring gem

Snowshoe / ski touring trail?  Plenty of fresh tracks left through the trees

On the way to the Chamonix valley from Switzerland there are several good ski tours to enjoy.  Many are classic glacial / steep journeys venturing high into the mountains.  One, just above Martigny, is a classic, gentle, tree covered route with excellent views (although more commonly skied in bad weather!)

The view from Ravoire down the Rhone Valley

After the first hairpin bend on the road towards Chamonix you'll come across a turning to Ravoire.  Take this and follow it towards the village.  Stay on the main road through the houses and shortly after the next two hairpins there is a large parking spot on the LHS.  At 1109m there is a fairly high chance you will have to walk to reach the main snowline.  There are a few parking spaces above the village, but the snow clearing of the roads to reach these seems unreliable.  A public bus also visits Ravoire.

One of the first fields on the way to the Arpille

Following the roads out of the village to the West, either towards La Foret, or further north along the marked snowshoe track.  Soon you will emerge into the more open forest and pass the Chalets de L'Arpille.  The slope is beautifully gentle and steadily gains height.  Even trail breaking seems pleasant!  On a good day you will see the high points ahead of you.

Following the main snowshoe route towards the Chalets de L'Arpille

Mont de L'Arpille in the distance

Past the buildings the terrain steepens slightly.  Head in the same direction curve around point 2052 to a small col.  From here stay roughly on the ridge to the main summit, marked by a signpost at 2085m.

The summit of Mont de L'Arpille

Returning the same way enables plenty of great tree skiing to be had, and in stable conditions you can ski more directly down the East face too.  Yo-yos of the slope generally seem worthwhile between 1400-1600m and the summit, snow dependant.

Mont de L'Aprille at the bottom left, Martigny is the town at the top right from Switzerland Mobility website

I still haven't been there in good weather, but I think I'm going to have to go back just for the views.

Mont Rogneux a classic ski touring peak in the Val de Bagnes

Stunning views of the Petit Combin

At 3084m high, Mont Rogneux sits proudly along the ridge linking Six Blanc at the top of Bruson to the Grand Combin, a 4000er.  It is one of the classic ski touring peaks in the area and can be done in one or two days and from a variety of start / end points.  This makes it skiable for most of the winter season.  If you would like to take two days you can spend the night at the Cabane Brunet.

Views towards Verbier and beyond from the summit of Mont Rogneux

I chose to ski the peak from Loutier via the Cabane Brunet.  This seems to be the most popular way up the peak, although it is also skied from the top of the Bruson ski lifts via the Tete de la Payane, and from the Val D'Entremont to the west.

The Barmasse parking above Loutier and the road to the Cabane Brunet from Switzerland Mobility

The Barmasse parking lot at 1302m sits on the main road to Fionnay just beyond Loutier, it is large enough to accommodate numerous vehicles, and needs to be as the walk to the Cabane Brunet is a popular outing in its own right.

A multitude of ski touring possibilities within a short walk from the Cabane Brunet

From the parking there is a road heading west towards Le Tongne which is normally pisted by the hut, and you can follow this the entire way.  It is about 800m vertical from here to the Cabane Brunet and is well signposted.  If you want a slightly steeper and quicker variant, after around 1km of skinning there is a summer track that heads south up the hill (and is signposted for ascending only).  The track has a pleasant gradient and makes for a more interesting route to the mountain hut, unless you want to chat with friends, in which case the road would work best.

Smiling skimo selfie

Most people will take around 1.5 - 3 hours to reach Brunet where the hut guardian will happily serve you a hearty lunch, coffee, or on a Wednesday evening, cheese fondue.  And for a lot of folk, this will be the high point of their day out, returning via the fields or the road depending on snow conditions.

Cabane Brunet

However, if you're hungry for another 1000m of ski touring and the possibility of peaks and untouched snow, Mont Rogneux is most peoples next target.

Mont Rogneux from the Cabane Brunet from Switzerland Mobility

From the hut head SW across gentle slopes for a few km, the route is pleasantly angled with hardly any steep slopes around or above you until the final summit push itself.  Eventually you will end up on the NE ridge which starts pleasantly and then continues more steeply.  If snow conditions are good you will be able to skin the entire way to the summit, but you might need ski crampons and given the dots on the map at times you may need to walk to the top with crampons and an ice axe.

The summit of Mont Rogneux looking very snowy

Once on the summit there are a multitude of options in descent from the steep and committing to the gentle.  You can also ski on nearly any aspect and still return to the Cabane Brunet.  This means that you can generally find some good and safe snow to ski, grab a coffee on your way down and follow the road to the bottom if conditions aren't great lower down. 

Exploring the Alps, it's always good to see a sign post that confirms your navigation!

This route took five hours, four to go up and one to return.  And I can see why it's so popular.  I'll definitely be back.

Powder turns from summit to the Cabane Brunet

How to go ski touring in Snowdonia

With winter just around the corner, and hopefully one full of snow and mountain adventures, I thought I would write an article about how to go ski touring in Snowdonia.

Ski touring at dawn in Snowdonia

Weather and Snow Conditions

First things first, you can and people do, get avalanched in Snowdonia so make sure you learn about snow before going skiing.  There is no avalanche forecast in Snowdonia either.  Below are various ways I build a picture of what the snow conditions may be like:

1. Looking at the weather forecast, has it snowed, is snow forecast, does the Met Office mountain weather forecast mention anything under Ground Conditions?
2. Read between the lines of the latest UKClimbing welsh winter conditions thread, are there any useful comments or photos of routes recently climbed
3. Scour Facebook groups such as Snowdonia winter climbing conditions, north wales skiing etc... for snow updates
4. Look at instagram photos taken recently on the peaks you are hoping to ski off
5. Look at various webcams, most usefully OVMRO webcams and the Snowdon Webcam.
6. Actually get out there and have a look - probably the most reliable method!

An avalanche in Snowdonia above Nant Peris Photo by Brian Wills

Psyched after a great day of skiing in Snowdonia, I took a chance and had a look, and there was more than enough snow to ski and enjoy

Another really useful too is the BMC Cwm Idwal winter conditions page which provides live temperature readings at various heights and depths of turf.

The BMC Cwm Idwal winter conditions page

Iona's snow seeking guidelines

Normally there is more skiable snow than there looks, particularly if there has been a good freeze thaw cycle

More snow than there looks, the view from the A5

The Carneddau tends to hold more snow than the Glyderau and Snowdon ranges

Looking towards the Northern Carneddau where there is often more snow than elsewhere

If it's been windy, has the snow been swept onto one side of the hills more than the other? - normally the case in Snowdonia but watch out for the avalanche conditions that come with this.

The spread of snow across Yr Elen and Carnedd Llewelyn, notice the lack of snow in some areas, particularly ridge lines, or the increase in snow in the gully between the two peaks.

You don't actually need that much snow to ski on, as when it's frozen the patches of grass between the snow ski quite well too!

Skiing the lines of snow between the grass, and the frozen grass too!

When you're out hiking in the summer look for slopes that are grassy underfoot as normally there is only enough snow to cover grass and not rocks and small boulders.

A variety of terrain in Snowdonia, some of which I had checked out in the summer months before hand

For the steep skiers amongst you have a look at a the winter climbing guidebooks for inspiration, grade one gullies can sometimes make great skiing.

The steeper lines here can provide great skiing in addition to climbing

Often conditions are better in the morning before it gets warmer, so go out and enjoy a dawn patrol

Setting a skin track before work in March

Stay safe and have fun

Keep smiling, it's not every day you get to ski in Snowdonia

Eagle Ski Club Leader's Training week, Monte Rosa ski area

I started writing this blog at the start of February!  Earlier this ski season I went on the Eagle Ski Club Leader's Training week.  It's a week long ski touring training week aimed at getting you ready to lead tours for the club.  This year we've been based in Brusson, just down the valley from Champoluc, in the Monte Rosa ski area (between Cervinia and Gressoney).  Despite the snow conditions being very poor for touring we have managed to learn lots and get some great ski tours in.  Below is an account of what we got up to.

Incredible views across the Alps

Sunday 24th January (Sunday shakedown day!)

Waking up to the reality of pretty bare mountains and being in a newly formed group of people, we planned for a piste day.  Staying on the pistes meant we could check out the abilities of our co members, but predominantly allowed us to see just how little snow there was in each of the valleys and wonder where on earth we would go ski touring!

Skiing the Eagle Couloir

As with all skiing plans, they sometimes don't quite got to plan when you see a line you'd like to ski!  On our way up to the Indren we spotted the Eagle couloir being skied and it looked very well filled in, and possibly the best off piste skiing we had seen yet.  That was it... we had time and the capability to do it, so we headed up the Indren lift and made our way down the hard wind blown snow into the couloir and down to the Refugio below.  From here we made our way up to point 2911m above the hut on skins and tested our abilities to pick out the best snow to ski on for the way back.

Transition time under a moody sky.

It was a great first day, and we covered lots of topics from decision making to skinning and skiing route choices, the 3 A's - aspect, angle, altitude, and much more.

Skiing down 'into the abyss' from the Col de Cascoccia

Monday 25th January - Antagnod - Col de Cascoccia

In addition to looking around us for the entirety of Sunday, this, combined with some local conditions information led us to a few more ideas of where we might be able to ski tour (or rather, where all of the local guides had taken their clients and we knew would be some snow!).  Leaving a car at St Jacques we drove to the quiet resort of Antagnod.  Here we took the chairlift to the top, traversed left and skinned 452m up to Col de Cascoccia (between the Facciabella and Bec de Nanna). We skied ok hardpack beside breakable slabby crusty stuff down a superb wide open gully and into mush and crappy snow lower down.  Skin track setting was looked into in more detail and some ropework.  It remained very hot and sunny.

It was such a lovely evening on Monday I couldn't resist going for a run above Brusson up to the Bringuez alpage!

Tuesday 26th January - Bettolina pass

After taking the ski lifts from St Jacques to the Col di Bettaforca we had a short skin to the Bettolina pass (3100m, just north of the more prominent col of the same name at 2900m).  Following an summer route we had a simple skin through incredible scenery, and the odd bit of excitement along the way.  This gave us further opportunities to discuss use of the rope, strategies while skinning downhill and route finding.

Skinning along the summer path

Don't fall... skinning downhill around an exposed corner!

The lack of snow cover made route finding particularly problematic today.  After some scouting we opted to walk down the rocks until a place where we could safely put our skis on.  The snow was surprisingly good in places, and the uncommitting nature of the route meant we even had time for a good lunch break!  The final section of the descent provided us with more route finding and a 'lovely' track to zigzag back down into St. Jacques.

Looking out beyond the Alps towards the Med

Wednesday 27th January - Indren to Alagna

Another great day of weather lay ahead of us.  Warming up by hooning across the entire ski area from St. Jacques to the Indren  we started to skin up the Indren glacier, hoping to find a suitable point to ski onto the Bors Glacier and continue towards Alagna.

Dancing above the Indren Glacier!

Great skinning over hardpack snow meant we arrived at what was clearly an abseil station in no time.  After much discussion we decided that the abseil wasn't worth the ski.  It was interesting to discuss abseiling and 'watching out' for members of the group that aren't confident mountaineers, and the difficulties of matching expectations with terrain, skills and risk.

Skiing back down

Weighing up our choices, we decided to ski down the classic off piste ski route past the old Indren station and below following the summer path (into the Olen river cwm?) under the line of the old lift.  The top section had a great gully that we cautiously skied down before opening up into a steeper area of incredible snow, oh to come back here on a powder day!  Passing by the other old lift station popped us back into the lift area. 

Skiing chalky snow beyond the gully system

Keeping time on our side we skied the pistes until we were firmly above the St Jacques/Champoluc valley.  Getting stuck here if a lift shut down in the wind would mean a very long taxi or skin.

Skiing down the gully system

Thursday 28th January - Cuneaz valley skills day

As the forecast wasn't great for today so we opted for a skills based (rather than touring based) day.  After a super warm up on lovely pistes we headed along the Cuneaz valley on skins.  First skill, we built a shovel up from a foot of powdery snow on the floor that was just about big enough for all of us to squeeze into.  This was quite a feat as normally a snow shelter is easier to build in sticky snow, and almost impossible to create out of powdery light snow.

It's not every day you practice abseiling down the piste!

Other topics covered included making Abalakov threads and getting them right each time, challenging kick turns inamongst a steep tree covered slope, and survival skiing back down!

Building a shovel up out of a foot of snow on the ground

Friday 29th January - Morge - Tete des Fra

The last day of the week, and probably the best skiing too.  After an hour's drive west down the Aosta valley towards Courmayeur we stopped at La Salle near Morgex and headed towards the road's end just North at Morge.  Skins on at the roadside, and we begun the 1100m skin towards the Tete des Fra.

Focused skinning in front of Mont Blanc

Upon arrival at the summit we could choose between powder or spring snow, what a luxury in January!  Powder it was and several incredible turns later we were back at the car.  What a great way to end the week.

Looking back down the skinning track from the Tete des Fra

Huge thanks must go to Rick Marchant, our guide, Alain Hosley for co-ordinating the week, the Eagle Ski Club for their enormous generosity in continuing to support aspiring leaders, and of course my fellow ski tourers on the week.  It was a superb week of learning and ski touring, and has given me lots to learn, think about, and put into practice.  Who wants to come touring with me next year?!

Champex-Lac to Col des Ecandies ski tour, via the Val D'Arpette

Great skinning towards the Col des Ecandies (just out of view top right)

When there are so few feasible ski touring options close to home because of the snow conditions, word gets around quickly as to what is possible.  Earlier this week I heard from several people that the top of the Val D'Arpette was in a good condition and we thought it would be worth a look.  I was also quite keen to look at the steep couloirs to see what ski condition they were in too.  These have been on my ticklist for years (I can see them from Verbier!)

The blue piste at Champex Lac we skied down to the valley and start of the ski tour

The Champex Lac chairlift was open and we got the first lift at 9:30 (with a season Verbier pass you normally get several days in the Pays de St Bernard resorts for free).  From the top of the lift you follow the blue piste down until the conviently located summer signpost where the piste meets the valley floor at around 1800m.  I would highly recommend taking the lift as it saves you around 2km of valley floor slogging!

Skinning through the trees and rocks

From here you begin the long ascent towards the col, initially through small trees and undulations, normally evened out by snowfall.  Once out of the trees we began to wonder where and how we were going to ski down.  A few older tracks were in but not many of them looked that appetizing!  At least higher up the valley there was snow in the distance.  

Despite skinning in the shade it was very mild.  Notice how little snow there is on Catogne in the background

After the first steepening the valley evens back out and you need to carefully navigate around the moraines, here staying climbers left pays dividends as you avoid loosing any height and can make a simple continual ascent to the col.  Ahead of us there were at least ten people booting up the couloirs and it looked like great skiing.  A few kick turns later we left their track and traversed the large moraine towards the bottom of the col.

Ptarmigan tracks?

Fox tracks?

Soon we made it to the col after some more kick turns and a short section on boots.  The other side of the col had no snow on it at all and the Trient Glacier looked relatively bare too.

The short walk up to the Col des Ecandies

Looking across to the Trient Glacier

Now for the ski down, and I wouldn't recommend it!  In true ski touring fashion it was a good mixture of crusty, slabby snow, temperature affected, the odd rare easier section and plenty of rocks and trees to avoid!  All in all it was survival skiing save six or seven turns.

Skiing down across the crusty snow

Between the tree line and the piste we skied a never-ending winding tongue of skier compacted snow dodging rocks, holes and trees.  I think this was possibly more thigh burning than the ascent.  A short ski down the blue piste brought us back to the car park.  We had survived the second tour of the season!

Making turns in the small gulleys helped us to avoid the worst of the rocks

As the snow continues to melt in Verbier I now think we are going to have to head to the Argentiere Glacier or Cervinia for any reliable ski touring!  Either that or I'm going to stick to trail running until it snows.

A final skiing shot with the Col des Ecandies in the background (classic couloirs on the left)