Live: deep powder and sun!

Riding in the eye of the storm is awesome, but riding deep (one meter) of fresh powder in the sun might be even better. After a collision with a larch stump last Monday, my leg needed a few days rest. But Friday was the day and I went back into the snow. For an absolute awesome day. Off the beaten track deeply hidden in the Queyras.

Hidden in the Queyras!

Last Sunday and Monday the retour d’est left a meter of fluffy pow. After the storm it became cold, which means that the powder was perfectly preserved. Especially in the far est of the Queyras. Our ski tour started in the village of L’Echalp, a small hamlet behind the ski resort of Abries. The Queyras is a very remote mountain area in winter and Echalp is the superlative of remote. You can’t go deeper into the Queyras.

^Recommended: the gite ‘Gite 7 Degrés Est’ in L’Echalp is highly recommended if you want to go skitouring (or mountain biking in the summer), run by fanatic touring skiers.

L’Echalp starting point of beautiful and challenging tskitouring

So you have to drive for it, for the village of l’Echalp, but this village is a starting point for many beautiful tours. Often through fairly steep forests and to very nice couloirs or slopes. You are here on the border of Italy and France and just below the Mont Viso, thanks to this location the retour d’est leaves almost always a lot of snow behind. Add to this the fact that the whole valley above Abries is already cold, but in Echalp it is often even colder, and you’re quite sure to find good snow!. When we left the thermometer of my car indicated -20°…

Old trees ans great mountainface

Enough about the starting point and the cold. We climbed up towards the Praroussin a mighty mountain that towers proudly above the valley. First through a magnificent larch forest. Several larches are more than 500 years old and some have been there for 1000 years. The age of these beautiful trees can be seen. Above the forest looms a large wall. The Praroussin. Ypu can ski almost every face of this mountain. Today we left the north wall for what it was. The avalanche danger seemed too high to us and the choice between deep powder in the sun or shade was also quite easy.

Awesome powder

About the descent I can be brief: absolutely great. Light powder, faceshot after faceshot and nice fast skiing snow. We had to make sure we didn’t get a cramp in our face from laughing. It was so good that we just hiked up again. The lifts may be closed in the French Alps, but one run is never enough!

After the last descent we slid back to the car in the last rays of sunshine. It was still -18° when we got to the car. We drove on the snowy roads back home and out of the Queyras. A mountain area I lost my heart to. An area that every freerider should visit once in his life (especially after a return d’est)…