I've never nordic skied at les Saisies but we alpine skied here a few years ago and it was very flat so seemed ideal for cross country.

From the Pont des Cottaves (1111m) follow a trail on the right bank of the river to a clearing at 1150m (bottom of an old chair lift) then turn slightly SW to follow a ski piste that crosses the Charm

JG wanted to check out the wrecked car and get its license plate to see if it was still registered, it is not. It must have been in the woods above the Croix du Trousset for 20 years.

JG, Matt and I decided to do a short loop via the Chemin de la Pivolle and Croix du Trousset singletracks. The Pivolle is great climbing or descending.

Well not really storming but more grovelling with a time of around 16 minutes to the top. It is a very very steep climb for the first 1km.

The climb to the cable car at Alpino seemed feasible. I'd ridden this way a few times and had noted the rough road on Via Arcioni in Gignese but everything else seemed ok.

I'd ridden this road a couple of times on a road bike. The surface is quite good to Frasmatta so I decided to attempt it on rollerskis - although the classic variety.

The route stars in Bellagio on the classic Ghisallo climb. The first few km are around 14% gradient. As the road flattens a bit (everything is relative) take a right turn to San Primo.

Stresa to Alpino is around 10km with 600 meters of climbing. The section out of Stresa is somewhat steeper than the final ride along to Alpino with some hard ramps on the way.

My orginal plan had been to try and cycle up the quarry road from Candoglia but the road is guarded by a gate with security cameras.