Fri, 6 March 2026
Minimum altitude: 1,198 meters
Distance: 27.1 km
Slope Aspect: Various
Vertical Climbed: 649 meters (2,129 feet)
Vertical Descended: 646 meters
I wanted to explore further along the GTV trail compared to last year when it had not been pisted. Today the prep was excellent. I'd wanted to go south at first towards Giron but a route finding error (no phone signal so no map) meant I did a short loop around on a blue called Le Ramble variant - it wasn't o the piste map. After getting back on the right trail it was getting a bit warm (10am) so I headed north instead, the idea was to reach Bellecombe. The skiing towards the north was excellent just until I reached la Petite Bramande. Here I had to remove skis to cross a road, something I repeated twice more and the same on the way back. The snow was much softer now and I finally decided to return to base at la Croix Pattie, a few km short of Bellecombe.
I skied a bit off piste (crust skiing) from la Croix Pattie to la Bramande, always fun to free yourself of the trails. The refreeze was very good. Then the Malatrait red back to the car park. This was a nice shady descent to the fork at l'Anquerne but afterwards it was a soup fest and really hard work to get back to the car. I'm glad I had water with me.
About 5C at the trail head. Sky was haze covered but refreeze seemed sufficient on the trails without being extreme. Snow was soft after 11am. Excellent piste preparation.
