I always come up to les Saisies at the end of the season and always end up a bit disappointed as the snow is rarely good, or it goes off very early in the day.

Decided to go for a bit longer ride, only 44km mind, over 4 summits to do some climbing. A bit sluggish on the climbs to be honest - VAM of about 670m/h over 30 minutes.

We profited from the end of the school holidays to ski all day for 42 euros (weekend price) in calm conditions.

Climb to the refuge was a bit complicated by the lack of snow. I then did a loop around the Cret Luisard for the views.

Overview Les Contamines-Montjoie is a ski resort in the French Alps. It straddles the Mont Blanc and Beaufortain mountain ranges.

Very enjoyable morning cruising around the pistes of Chamrousse nordic park.

A little blast around the pistes of Allevard. No real queues for the end of the holidays but quite a few kids groups on the slopes so quite busy. The snow is holding up quite well.

Morning ski at les 7 Laux. Snow is good, a bit thin at resort level where they've not used the snow canons. Not too many people on the pistes as a bonus with just 1 short queue at the Oursiere.

One of the unique features of the Hautes-Combes area is the seamless connection between its villages—allowing visitors to explore the region effortlessly on cross-country skis or snowshoes via an exte

My PR is  21m18 which is 5m20. Today just over 2 minutes off that and 50 seconds improvement on November. A bit off the January pace but in the ballpark. Hopefully something to build on.