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| Date: | January, 1997 | ||
| Snowboarders: | Mathias | ||
| Terrain: | Hard icy off piste | ||
| Area: | Le Vanoise, Southern Alps, France |
I was geared up for some serious off-piste boarding and unfortunately
like the previous year I had to do it on my own due to a total lack of attitude in the
rest of the group. But I did manage to drag my good old friend
the super skier Lars Klammer on to some pretty good and steep
slopes. The last day in Val d'Isere was pretty interesting: I was to pick
up a car in "Moutiers" which is situated on the other
side of the Tignes Massif. I could either take a bus/train from
Val d'Isere to Moutiers, which would waste a precious day of snowboarding
or I could go to the top of the Tignes Massif (accessible on the
lift system) and then head out in totally unknown territory (I
bought a map) and thereby cross the mountain and avoid the long
bus trip through the valleys. I tried to persuade Klammer and
other potential interested to come along, but they where all discouraged
by their respective girlfriends. So I was alone...
I prepared the trip - it seemed as there was two possibilities
- either "
Vers
Champagny" or "Vers Peisey". I decided to go up
to Col de Palet where the trip would start and take a look at
the conditions. I was in the Col at around 12.30 and spend almost
half an hour discussing with myself whether I should do it or
not. It is always extremely difficult to decide in these situations
- it a battle against your rational self and your adventures self.
I think my rational side won and I started heading back to the
safe slopes on the other side of the fence and danger signs. Suddenly
I shouted - "What the Hell - let's do it!" and I turned
around, quickly attached my board and went of into the unknown
void....
| Note: If you want to do the Vers Champagny on Snowboard - wait for good soft conditions, bring an ice axe, and money for the bus to Moutiers. |
The trip turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. Snowboards are not good for randonee (back country) skiing and I soon realized that it was going to be more a pain in the legs to get to Moutiers rather than an enjoyable ride through the wilderness of Vanoise (the name of the national park). It took me around two hours of continues snowboarding to reach Champagny from where I hitch hiked the rest of the way to Moutiers. I made the Hertz office just 10 minuttes before the office closed and I picked up a nice Fiat Punto and made it back to Valdisere in time for the beers and after skiing and had the final rave on Dicks Tea Bar.
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