Ski touring from Le Ponteil towards col de Val Haute and Les Rougnoux with Seb and Oxo: an eight-hour outing and powder after three weeks without snowfall.
A last-minute call from Seb and Oxo, and we throw together a “local” ski tour in my own backyard... Having prowled around a little, I’ve spotted a few powder-producing zones still in business! After three weeks without snowfall and almost summer-like temperatures, it’s hard to believe, but true! There’s still powder out there!
Our last outing together was two years ago, and Seb remembers a tough first day when we climbed 1,200 vertical metres over two runs around Fonts de Cervières... Today’s little plan should come close to 1,300 m. All is well!
From Le Ponteil to col de Val Haute and towards Les Rougnoux
We start from Le Ponteil along the Tramouillon forest track. In eight hours out, we’ll meet just one other skiing human all day... We climb towards col de Val Haute. Given the heat, I’d rather head through the north-facing woods than end up roasted or dehydrated!
We push on above the col, another 200 vertical metres towards the summit of Les Rougnoux. That will give us better slopes to ski and make the most of the descent beyond... The little extra climb has made itself felt in everyone’s legs, and when we reach roughly 2,700 m, I can tell I’d better not suggest another extension!
Mature powder and a little uphill ordeal in the larches
Things go pretty well on the other side: from the very first turns, we find mature powder that gives us plenty of pleasure! Seb and Oxo savour this lovely father-and-son run! After the open slopes below Les Rougnoux, we enter a larch forest full of powder down to 1,900 m. Here there’s no room for negotiation: the skins have to go back on for another hundred vertical metres... A proper uphill ordeal!
From the top of this final climb, another 1,000 m of descent awaits! A little surprise powder at the start, before we cross the daunting Eysserenne avalanche gully. More good skiing through the woods down to 1,500 m on spring snow, then we glide gently along the forest track into the valley, another 400 m below, where a car mir
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