Things got a bit more serious with more exercises but still some skating around. I went out and did a tour of the red after "work".

Day spent going up and down the pistes first on classic then on skate skis after a break for lunch.

The ski area at the col was full of school groups so I decided to head up to the Charmant Som for the 8th or 9th time this season.

Went up to the col de Porte for an afternoon session on classic and skate skis. Generally doing exercises - balance, no poles etc with a couple of loops thrown in for fun.

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 su

The Chamonix cross country ski area offers around 20km of prepared runs just to the north of the town center. The red Bois run is 11.

What better for New Year's Eve 2019 than a night descent of Charmant Som? I was surprised at the number of people climbing up in the dark - walkiers, ski tourers, sledgers, cross country skiers, young

Early morning trip to the col de porte, my first cross country skiing since coming down with a throat infection. In fact my last trip on the 22nd seemed to turn a mild cold into the infection.

Pretty damn cold today although not too windy. The first half of the climb was under heavy snow / grapel but it cleared towards the summit.

I started on the pistes then took the link over to Charmant som across the pistes. The snow at the col was hard and skiable, a bit of late autumn crust skiing.