I've got a chest infection but it is not very cold at the moment so decided to work on technique a bit up at the Col de Porte.

I didn't have much time as I had to be back in the valley at 12 noon. Les 7 Laux, Barrioz, Prabert. Finally Prabert as it was closest.

After the 20cm of fresh snow the Col de Porte had reopened its nordic area at the Col. The snow was quite soft at midday and choppy with a few holes here or there.

Weather was forecast as good for the morning with fresh snow moving in during the course of the afternoon, so it looked good for another pre-season trip to the Sept laux.

Back to Chamrousse for an early ski (started at 9am) before the next big storm shakes things up. I did 4 loops of the Lievre Patineur.

Quick climb, 35m20s, half a minute up on my PB, a bit more fitness and I should be able to go under 35 minutes but like cycling it is a power to weight thing.

Chamrousse nordic park had opened, then closed again following the foehn. Earlier in the week around 20cm of fresh snow had fallen, this had been followed by anticyclonic conditions.

It was a grey day. After my run last week I wasn't keen to repeat the experience and have to rest up for a few days. Cycling - too cold and mucky. Nordic skiing? not enough snow.

Back up to the 7 laux, they'd opened the Oursiere lift but we ended up stuck on it for half an hour when it suffered some kind of breakdown. The pisteurs were a bit cagey as to what had happened.

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.