I haven't skied the Virgule couloir this year. An error but conditions have not been good with the long anti-cyclone and I've also been very busy.

The clocks have changed so it is difficult to find the right timing for a before work.

First aulp du Seuil of the ski season, better late than never. I'd hoped for more snow, the avalanche bulletin had mentioned 20cm of fresh, it was probably a quarter of that.

Thibaut had suggested we ski the Couloir en Virgule.

This is almost certainly going to be my last Virgule Couloir of 2019. First off all getting up at 6am during the week is not my cuppa but the reward is seeing the sun rise over the Alps.

Powder in March is pretty short lived, here today, gone tomorrow.

Trips like this only happen a few times per season. 20-25cm of fresh, cold snow with a descent just after dawn in perfect conditions.

From the Col de Marcieu climb the ski slopes to the top of the drag lift (1290m - watch out for skiers etc), climb behind the top pylon then follow a trail, steep at first, through the Bois du Grand E

Climb to the summit of the ski runs (watch out for downhill skiers). At the top take the small path the climbs above the ski life to the north-west.

Nice couloir, never too steep. The area has generally good snowfall. Views of the Oisans, Mont Blanc and Vercors mountains.