First ski of the 2023/24 season. I only have my classic cross countries skis with me at the moment so the choice was quickly made.

It has been quite a while since I've skied the main pistes at Chamrousse.

Started off on the south plateau. Snow was ok, a bit bare down at the far end where the black was closed but all skiable with no problems.

I had thought about skiing in the morning but was worried with the long period of cold weather that the pistes would be too hard so instead arrived at 2pm.

Trip to la Fecalaz with Muriel, Gregoire and Caroline. Spent some time working with Greg and Caroline on their basic skate / skate one technique then we did a few loops of the green and blue pistes.

Description:The Crêtes du Forez ski area is located on a high plateau in the eastern end of the Massif Central mountains about 40 minutes drive from St Etienne.

DescriptionThe Plateau d'Hauteville, located in the southern part of the Jura Mountains, between 850 and 1234 meters.

Situated between 1000 and 1300 meters and with more than 150 km of marked routes for all nordic activies, the Retord Plateau is a paradise for Nordic skiing.

Late afternoon skate at Barioz. I had no idea what was open but saw a skier up on the plateau on the webcam so figured at least the climb was open.

Difficult xc skiing at the moment, it is either too hard or too soft and there is a lack of snow below 1400 meters. I'd skied Chamrousse at the start of November, nearly 5 months ago.