I'd not been back to Barioz for a while but had a half day off to enjoy the last of the summer in winter weather.

Tot was keen to do a morning at St Hilaire. The snow conditions are still really good and we tried to arrive in good time to ski for a couple of hours.

I'd wanted to do a return trip along the Herse early in the day (9am start) but the Herse had not been pisted from the Combe Noire junction (not enough snow depth and too hot apparently).

It seemed like late spring today. 20C in the valley and a lot of smog, some of the worst valley pollution of the season.

The snow was reasonable good so decided to climb to Emeindras at the summit, or nearly, of the ski runs. Of course the descent was icy which meant it was not too reassuring on cross country skis.

A tour of the pistes and off pistes of the old "phantom village".

A tour of the Sagnes marches which I'd not done for some time and Thibaut had never been here. Unfortunately the runs were only partially open.

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.