La Grave Olympic coulior and Alpe d’huez, AMA and the Skiers Lodge, February 2009

Having encountered almost a full array of snow conditions; we decided to round off the week with sunny spring skiing. We sought out corn snow at Alp d’Huez in the Massif des Grandes Rousses. Looking back towards La Grave from a distance, with the distinctive shark’s fin outline of La Meije; it felt as though we had come full circle. Our marvellous week of skiing and skills; powder and pearls of wisdom and laughter had reached its natural conclusion. It has been a pleasure to guide on the K2 Women’s Movement Week, the camaraderie between a group of women of such diverse backgrounds and nationalities gave the week special and memorable qualities. Fast friendships were formed. Thanks to K2 for providing the latest women’s ski collection, the essential tools for the week. I hope to see you all back next year – no doubt K2 will arrange the sunshine again! Lisa Auer Mountain and Ski Guide 

Wanted, evaded taxi fare for one canine from St Christophe to La Grave! We acquired a canine friend on the t-bar ride to 3500 he was gaining on us galloping up a 30 degree slope – what was he training for?The cirque of peaks at the head of the Vallon de Diable is impressive. It inspires awe. It gives you that big mountain, little me feeling that causes you to forget the day to day clutter of your life. The effect is calming. Most of the snow of the last storms has blown off the Northern flanks of La Grave and been deposited generously (it would seem just for our purposes) as powder on the classic southerly slopes leading to St Christophe. A few Skiers’ Lodge teams are storming the ‘pow’ but there’s plenty of room for everyone.  There’s a kind of carnival atmosphere! The powder’s knee deep up top and thins to a fine plush pile carpet at the bottom of our 1000 metre run.

As we gather our breath and gaze with pride back up at our transient snow-signatures; our canine friend comes charging down the slope choosing a clean powder line. The walls either side as we ski out the valley bottom are lined with alpine-bling. There are ice falls for almost all climbing abilities at regular intervals. We spotted a handful of climbers clawing their way up one of the shady classic routes. On the flats our pooch friend charges ahead and nearly trips me up.The route meanders down the valley for some kilometres before we finally slide our way past the church into the quaint, one horse village of St Christophe.

Back in La Grave as we eject all our gear from the taxi, the dog bounds out of the boot and heads straight for the Castillan Bar. The run was so good that the only thing to do to improve the day was to make another lap – and that’s exactly what we did. Lisa Auer - Mountain and Ski Guide

Today we hiked la Cote Rouge from the small Chazelet lift system. It was a magical morning with inversion cloud filling the valleys and lurking mystically over the medieval villages.

Boot packing up the ridge to le Signal de la Grave  at 2446 metres, we had awesome views to the Ecrin Massif, with La Meije and its neighbouring peaks wearing French berets (lenticular clouds) from the high winds at altitude.

The skiing was a smooth barefoot salsa on a thin carpet of transformed powder.  The rolling East facing slopes took us all the way to the Hameau de Valfroide, a tiny alpine hamlet whose oldest buildings and bridges date back to the 14th century. Retracing our steps on a short afternoon hike we reached a high point that held the fall-line with La Grave. Though catching the last rays of afternoon sun, the descent was a far cry from the graceful morning dance, a refrozen crust - top to bottom. The skiing was nonetheless entertaining, peppered with crashes and giggles.

By mid-run we had all reached a kind of equilibrium, discovering a technique for descending the tricky conditions that suited our individual styles. Certainly some satisfaction can be derived from skiing directly into town and removing your skis at the main street sidewalk.
Lisa Auer Mountain and Ski Guide

Skills and skiing from Skier’s Lodge’s front door step were on the agenda for today. A few clouds and snow flurries kept the crowds away. The upper slopes were hard-packed, smooth and mysteriously empty. While yesterday the K2 Phat Luv’s seemed to be the ski of the day for powder, today the Outlaw came into its own on the hard pack. We took a run in the Couloir le Lac. Many of the chutes and gullies which typically require a fiddly sideslip entry or stepping in over rocks and ice even an abseil can be skied right into this season. Snow depth and coverage is exceptional and it’s only February!  In the afternoon we ran through a session of crevasse rescue, problem solving our way around ski anchors and clove hitches, alpine clutches and z-pulleys, until the cold northerly wind chased us inside.

Slide captions:

Lin Heffner carving it up in the Couloir le Lac.

And Lin Heffner sorting out a dropped loop crevasse rescue system. 

Lisa Auer Mountain and Ski Guide

Day 2 of the K2 Women’s Movement Week we decided to take a road trip. Perfect weather again! Vera said that K2 arranges a week of sunshine for the women’s week every year.  She’d probably know - she’s been here three years running. In spite of the fact that it’s another beautiful day of sunshine and some days after the last storm we managed to find some gorgeous stashes of untracked powder with just a short hike. An hour’s drive in Skier’s Lodge mini buses took us to Montgenevre.Starting from the Rocher de l’Aigle (Eagle Rock) a traverse, some side-stepping, a short boot-pack with skis on our backs and glorious views gave access to some NNW virgin snow country. The powder didn’t come easy, there was some wind crust to negotiate and a few discussions on avalanche hazard and safe travel practices as we hopped ridge to ridge through the trees. Then, our reward - clean fields of powder through a sparse rolling forest. Yvonne declared, “It doesn’t matter what we ski for the rest of the day THIS is the highlight!” We refuelled on pizza and pasta at La Gran Bouc in Claviere, Italy. But where exactly did we cross the border??Back in France, a chair ride away we took the confusing spiral of lifts up to Les Gondrans. We scooted under another fence, traversed some old military ruins, another hike up a ridge in golden light, then a whole forest of powder lay before us.When I asked the girls about why the idea of a women’s course appealed; Lin said she liked the camaraderie amongst such a diverse bunch of women from a “Marsala mix of backgrounds”. The lack of competitiveness, and the fact that women tend to be more ‘bolstering’ of each other were other reasons mentioned by Yvonne. The combination of learning and experiencing new skills and techniques in an environment says Lin, “where it’s OK to stop and ask silly questions”.Lisa AuerMountain and Ski Guide

What do Lin an American living in Delhi, Yvonne a Swiss lady residing half an hour from Engelberg, Vera and Mirjam two Dutch women, Cecilia from Sweden, Lisa an Aussie guide and three Basque paparazzi have in common? They love skiing. Powder is an international language, it requires no translation.  And that’s why they’ve come to La Grave.First day of the women’s K2 ski week couldn’t have started with better weather. There were surprisingly few people (for one of the busy Sundays of the season) and, on account of recent snow falls, record snow cover and cold temperatures – perfect conditions. We started the week with a classic run from P3 down the Chancel face, taking our time to adjust to the thin air and following the secret garden to find hidden powder stashes. A snow cat tow-in added some novelty to our glacier access.  From the Col de la Lauze at 3512 metres we had such a clear view to Mont Blanc it felt like you could almost reach out and touch it. The interesting moon surface of the upper Girose glacier transformed into smooth and creamy skiing lower down. We shared the whole glacier with three other people.Last run of the day we cruised down the Vallon under the shadow of the mighty North faces of Le Rateau and La Meije all the way to the village of La Grave. The run took us through powder, some wind-touched snow, fast chalky cold snow, a smooth silky piste-like surface, even moguls – always something new and fun and challenging. From the Col des Ruillans to the valley floor this is a descent of 1800 metres. A fantastic warm up day and so many skiing possibilities for the coming week . . .Lisa AuerMountain and Ski Guide

February 16th, 2009

Ayse, Pelle, Miles

After a week to recover and settle back in the humdrum of work I just wanted to extend our thanks from myself , Richard, Martin and Ben for another memorable week at SkiersLodge. Without a doubt I think all of us came back with a feeling that it was an adventure rather than a holiday. Also this year Miles’ impact of expert knowledge and some ski tips that he passed onto us has made all of us improve our ski technique.Once again a great week of expert guiding,tuition,adventure and of course great food. We will be coming back next year once we finalise our dates.

P.S. Thanks for arranging the great snow conditions