Nordic Skiing: Chasing the sun - 1,673 m. (5,489 ft)

Thu, 2 January 2020

Technical

Minimum altitude: 1,290 meters

Distance: 11.9 km

Slope Aspect: East

Vertical Climbed: 421 meters (1,381 feet)

Vertical Descended: 421 meters

Description

I left about quarter of an hour earlier than NY eve and knew I would climb quicker (about 36 minutes skating compared to 42 on classic) so the aim was to see the sunset but I just missed it, or the sun was behind the low cloud hanging over the Vercors. Bitterly cold on the summit plateau so I skied over to the Bergeries then back without stopping. The descent (at just after 17h00) was better with my lamp but the hard snow was a bit rock-and-roll but things got better further down. Conversely climbing was hard for the first km, better over the last couple of hairpins. Looks like crust skiing should be possible, the snow was softish off the ski runs but the wind was so cold I didn't hang around to explore too far.

Conditions

Loose, soft snow for the first 2km then more polished by the passage of skiers. Cold and strong southerly wind at the summit plateau.

Route


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