The avalanche risk finally dropped enough to open the Beldina nordic ski area; part of the 7 Laux ski area.

We decided to head up to the 7 Laux for Christmas day on the grounds that the locals would be eating their Dinde aux marrons and otherwise occupied. It turned out to be a good plan.

Return to Emeindras with skate skis as the trails had been pisted. However I broke a basket on one of my poles which meant for a bit of lopsided skiing.

A quick tour on nordic touring skis towards Emeindras above le Sappey.

First alpine ski of the season. Absolutely nobody around so we managed to cover quite a bit of ground.

After some research I decided that the Plateau de Retord was the best bet for the weekend.

First nordic ski of the season. Basically did a return along the piste to the Col de la Republique.

First ski tour of the new season. I took nordic skis. Roads were clear of snow to 1350 meters and the FL was around about this altitude according to the car thermometer.

This route has a couple of interesting pointsA lot of it is on cycle paths and relatively quiet roadsIt has a couple of fun climbs, fast descents mixed with a nice amount of flatThe section from Lyon

I've stopped cycling for the winter so wanted to get back into running a bit before the ski season starts. A bit of an improvement on September and managed to run under 6m/km for the 4.