Winter of Skinning

The thought of being let loose on our own with fancy tech bindings and mohair skins, barely two weeks of skiing under our belts, was slightly intimidating to say the least! Shutdown had come far too early in the middle of March 2020, seemingly far too quickly followed by Winter again – we had bought new skis, ski-touring bindings and skins in preparation for being able to head uphill without lifts, totally oblivious to the fact that they wouldn’t even be available as an option.

A big dumping of snow had come in October, followed by lots more in December – it was time to try out our new gear. The La Vormaine ski area is for beginners, newbies just like us – sitting at the foot of the Le Tour red run, a place we still only fantasised about skiing down from! This was to be our self-learning ski touring area, and although we were familiar with the short, mellow, descent on groomed trails we had no idea what conditions would be like without the manmade tracks or lifts. First we had to learn how to use the sticky lengths of mohair covered ski ‘skins’, beginning with attaching them to the ski bases in the subzero temperatures; a task that almost put us off wanting to continue on our new adventure.

This first attempt was a successful disaster, successful in the fact that we actually skinned the 20 minutes to the top lift 4 times, disastrous being that our skiing was terrible! We had forgotten everything and needed refresher lessons badly.

The only saving graces were that we were suffering in early season snow and surely the lifts would be open soon – we desperately needed the services and skills of one of Chamonix’s ski guides! The latter never materialised, with the Coranavirus destroying the entire season. We either got our muscle memories back, watched lots of youtube videos, or gave up and hoped the following year would be an improvement. Turns out that things did get better and both Andrea and I got out into the cold winter almost every day. Our ski paths did go off in different directions slightly, her learning to skate ski, and my determination taking me into some amazing ski terrain that was probably well out of my depth!

Almost daily skinning up the slopes above Les Houches increased the confidence level drastically, the 860 metre ascent initially taking less time than the ski descent. Well not quite but it often felt like it! One of the plus sides to novice ski touring in this resort was that due to local Covid rules junior ski racers were permitted to continue practising – this meant that a few of the pistes were often groomed, and whilst not daily it still made a massive improvement in getting back down the mountain intact.

The major turning point was becoming part of a Facebook chat group for people who wanted ski touring partners – from the end of January a network of like-minded friends began to form! It was time to start skiing in places that I could only admire others doing; pretty skiing it wasn’t but what the heck, it was thrilling and adventurous.

Unfortunately I still felt like the misfit! Almost the worst skier and a clumsy ass off-piste, the upside being my fitness level. I found skinning uphill comfortable and a blast, almost oblivious to the fact that making it to the top was the easy part. By mid February I’d skied down my nemesis, the Pierre a Ric red run at Grands Montets and felt ready to say… Yes lets go for a big day!

…and so it was, beginning with Col du Belvédère, moving on to 3,096m Mt Buet, a couple of jaunts into the Swiss Alps, Col du Tour Noir, and some big skins up from the valley floor to almost 3,300m at Grands Montets. These all felt significant to me but really in the grand scheme of things these were all childs play compared to some of the serious couloirs and steep terrain in the Chamonix valley.

It’s a scary thought as to the implications of the next phase when I really can ski properly!

Season Stats

Total Distance (kms): 891
Total Ascent (metres): 85,066
Total Days: 79

Tours

The season ended up being a huge success, far exceeding expectations, but also leaving some epic tours for the following season. Skiing from the summit of Mt Blanc, Vallée Blanche, and some of the local couloirs are all exciting prospects, then throw in a couple of multiday hut-to-hut tours such as the Haute Route and Monta Rosa 4000ers – happy times!