|
 Heading
out of Chamonix
I am finding myself in Courmayeur quite a bit due to work
these days. While it does have a much bigger interlinked system
of interlinked pistes than I'm used to in Chamonix, it does start
to feel small after a while. Time to explore beyond the resort boundaries.
At the very top of the resort there are two small cable cars, the
first, the Crête de Youla brings you to the top of a steep but nondescript
piste. Above this is one of the smallest and oldest ski lifts I've
been in. The Crête d'Arp. On entering the lift you are warned that
this is a sightseeing lift and there are no pistes. To be allowed
out the door you have to sign in and leave a valid telephone number.
This is a new one on me!
Signing out
Once outside we understood why. Back down under the cable there
is an almost impossibly steep cliff face. Behind there are deserted
valleys heading off into the white beyond. If you head due south
you would be heading down the Vallone di Youla which ends up between
Pré St Didier. This would put us a long way from the lifts so we
left it for another day. Over the first rise to Skiers left, the
Col d'Arp gave us Vallone d'Arp, which heads west, much more towards
Courmayeur.
  
Our first route of
the day was a wide gently sloping valley for a few miles, containing
some powder, some windpack and some nasty sun crust. Towards the
end we could look over the left-hand ridge and see the ski area
of Courmayeur, and as it got steeper we ended up in the trees. At
this point the track in front of us separated, some heading left
into tight trees and others heading right and staying more in the
open. We opted to stay right. Mistake the leftward path would have
taken us back to Courmayeur. Our route took us down a snow covered
road, down endless hairpins ending up at the side of the river halfway
between Courmayeur and Pré St Didier.
Walk, hike... lifts
To get back to the lifts we hiked upstream towards Courmayeur. Eventually
fording the river to get back to the lifts. Back on mechanised transport
and feeling a little tired to say the least we opted to try and
avoid any more walking. Back up the top of the Crête de Youla lift
we spied a route heading over into Val Veni, with a chairlift at
the end to bring us home.
Our second run took us northeastward into a streambed leading down
to the valley floor. Once there it was a simple case of flowing
yet another snow covered road down the valley to Zerotta to get
a chairlift home. The route had quite a few tracks down it and was
quite torn up in narrow places, but much more fun than piste bashing.
All the time on this route we were under the imposing south or Brenva
face of Mont Blanc. Or Monte Bianco as it's locally known.
Rather than a sting in the tail, this run just became a little tedious.
Almost 3km of barely downhill and very straight road. Quite a long
day out on the hill for just 2 runs!
Picture from Tom
Greenall - Natives Resort Reporter
in Chamonix
W ith Redeye - Natives reporter
official beanie sponsor
 
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