Courchevel couloirs

After a hectic December it was nice to have a few days r&r before January kicks in, with an almost full schedule of off-piste coaching courses coming up (see here for more details).

On Sunday Ginny & I went over to Chinaillon/Le Grand Bornand to meet up with my sister & family. The snow conditions were great off piste, with soft snow down to 1200m even on South facing slopes, though the pistes lower down were a bit icey... We had a great ski with all the gang, with Tom & Matthew really starting to rock on their skis now (how long before they leave Mum & Dad behind??).

This morning I went out for a ski with Ginny, and with a quiet resort, fresh snow, and clearing skies it turned into a great morning. A couple of laps in Sous le Telepherique - untracked at the far end ('Couloir de l'Antenne'), then we swam our way out of the Grand Couloir and over into the Curé.

Ginny following my trench:



Nice scenery on the shoulder:



Ginny on the entry:



We found great powder (again) in the Curé, with most previous tracks well filled in with super-light powder, giving dreamy skiing all the way to the end:



Mmmm...powder...:



Despite the 'poor' start to the season the couloirs have actually got a really good fill in them, and are no rockier than they ever get... Here's hoping for more runs like this this winter..!