7-Day Hut-to-Hut Ski Tour in the Cerces

27 February 2022 — I’m still on the phone to the huts, putting together our ski touring trip, when the group turns up at our meeting point: a post-industrial car park in the Maurienne valley. The original plan has just been scrapped, and its replacement is currently more of a concept than an organised itinerary!

Sometimes, that’s what adapting to the conditions involves: leaving room for changes right up to the last minute. Occasionally, it feels like being an acrobat without a safety net, trying to piece together a neat sequence of huts while someone shakes the trapeze. One fully booked hut halfway along the route and the whole structure can collapse. Then we have to fit all that around the probabilistic weather forecasts, avoid getting ourselves stuck and keep a few options open. A nice little balancing act! My main concern at this stage is to avoid having a pass we absolutely have to cross during the nasty storm that every forecast predicts for day two.

Meanwhile, questions are already flying about a programme I don’t yet know myself. I sometimes envy people who announce their itinerary six months ahead and stick to it. It does sound rather restful! I’m not sure I’ve ever managed that…

Fortunately, this isn’t my first outing with the gang — Rémi, Quentin, Antoine and Ugo. They trust me and let me sort out the final logistics while they finish packing and polish off one last croissant. They know that once we’re in the mountains, it’ll be the same recipe: ideas, options, wishes, questions and decisions that sometimes change at the last moment! The trip will take shape as we go.

A few phone calls later, I finally have a sequence of huts that makes sense: two nights at Terre Rouge, allowing us to work around the bad weather, two nights at Les Drayères and two nights at the Thabor hut. There’s our framework. We’ll see how we link it all together!

A few highlights from what followed:

• A stormy day around the Terre Rouge hut, just as forecast. The guys wanted to see what happens when conditions get challenging in the mountains. Well, now they know! Gusts that push us backwards on the climb, visibility reduced to the heels of the person ahead, and a guide throwing a piece of cord in front of him to make out the terrain, occasionally disappearing into a hole in the snow… They realise just how difficult navigation becomes in these conditions. A valuable lesson in the complexity of such situations, and our vulnerability when the mountains turn up the volume.
• The following day, a complete change of mood. Calm returns, with exceptional conditions around the summit of La Pissine. Powder runs, beautiful passages and a route that threads its way neatly through the terrain: plenty to keep both eyes and skis happy. We finish as the sun sets. Apparently, we hadn’t quite had enough.
• Wide-angle landscapes, just as the Cerces know how to deliver: vast valleys, knife-edge ridgelines and summits as far as the eye can see. Enough to make you feel tiny and lift your gaze from your ski tips for a while!
• A late arrival at the Drayères hut turns into a cheerful drinks session in the hut wardens’ kitchen, with the whole team!
• Moments of deep, nap-based introspection at the hut. Eyes closed, everyone reflects in their own way on the beauty of the journey. Some take their contemplation as far as snoring.
• An ascent of Mont Thabor, the local star, followed by its secret couloir — though not that secret — much to our skis’ delight!
• Above all, an incredible team, always up for my questionable suggestions and happy to put their trust in me again, year after year.