The col de Marcieu is a small family oriented ski resort located in the French Chartreuse mountains on the Petites Roches plateau between Grenoble and Chambery. There is a restaurant and ski hire.

St Hilaire du Touvet is situated on the Plateau des Petites Roches in the French Chartreuse Mountains between Grenoble and Chambery. It has 10km of ski runs and 350 meters of vertical.

The ski resort of Le Collet d'Allevard is situated in the Belledonne mountainsin the French Northern Alps. The lift served area extends from 1450 metres to 2100 metres.

From Epernay follow the road that climbs to the south-east, then zig-zags to the south.

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.

The missus said a storm was blowing in at 13h00. Just time to go up to the Col de Marcieu and ski the Chemin de Herse over to St Hilaire.

Today we were practicing hill climbing and some more telemark turns on the descent.

We ruled out south aspect slopes due to the poor weather forecast and the risk of crust, that seems like a good move.

Finally managed to hook up with Thibaut for a lunch ski. He's a fair bit quicker than me so put me under a bit of pressure.

Parked at the Salt Depot and took the la Gorgette trail just after the bridge following a well made snowshoe track that came from St Pancrasse up to the winter carpark at 1220 meters.