Lockdown Tales: Waiting For The Lifts...

Ready to go

Sat in front of me on my desk is my season ski pass. Outside my window is snow. Up the road, all but one or two lifts are turning and the ones that turn only turn for the kids in ski clubs.

The next touted date that I might be able to slip my pass it into my lift pass pocket and beep myself on to a chairlift will be in the middle of February 2021. Nearly two months after I was expecting to use it. I am not 100% convinced this date will hold, and I expect there will be a further delay on lifts opening. The good news here is that I am horrible at predicting things.

Unless you count the fact that back in August I bought my first set of touring skis and all the kit to go with it, I’d say that was more fortuitous than foresight. But I am glad that I did as it is the only way I’m going to get some turns in over the next few weeks.

Highs and lows of ski touring

At the beginning of December, when the lifts were meant to open, we had our first big snow of the season. This also coincided with the French authorities lifting restrictions on how we could exercises. We went from a limit of one hour no further than one kilometre from home to three hours and twenty kilometres.

This meant I could ski and so I did. I put my skins on my skis, failed to get my boots into my touring bindings several times and headed off with someone else who also happened to place an order in for ski touring kit at the right time.

We spent quite a bit of time on the way up talking about the ski companies that are slowly disappearing as they simply can’t make a ski business work without travel and skiing. We have always known its a significant challenge to run a seasonal company, and you often wonder why people do it. Then we got to the top of the mountain looked around, took in the view and slid off down the way we came. And it is this that makes you understand why people get involved in the ski industry, passion.

My second tour up took me up a familiar path. It was the last place I skied before lockdown part 1 happened. And then, like now I was presented with a perfect powder day. After a sweaty hike up we snuck off to the left to find an untracked bowl of snow, put in some epic turns and left fresh track all the way back to the car.

As all the lifts are closed our ski tours are often in areas that would typically be heaving with skiers, flying down the groomed pistes or enjoying a coffee in a slope side restaurant. However, there is still plenty of activity.

One hike took place under a row of cannons producing snow. This is something I am not keen to repeat. As you can imagine, it is not the calm a peaceful experience you expect when climbing a mountain under your own steam.

We are also sharing the mountain with the army of piste bashers that usually service the mountains in the winter months. They are busy preparing the resorts and maintain the slopes, so they are in perfect condition when skiers are permitted to return.

New adventures ahead

One solo outing was completed in the rain which had replaced the snow, and I was starting to feel confined again. I wanted to experience the previous week’s freedom of skiing. So spotting a break in the clouds, I made a break for the snow.

After an hour in the trees, the cloud and the drizzle returned. Drenched with sweat and rain and my skis not sliding as well as they could I started to realise why I hadn’t come across anyone else on the mountain. This feeling of isolation was soon broken as a convoy of pisteurs flew by me on their snowmobiles, performing their duty of inspecting the mountain.

Amazingly these weren’t the only people on the mountain. As I reached my summit, I could see a drag lift turning, and out of the mist, I saw skiers. This was a club afternoon, and the kids were either looping the park or the slalom course. Despite the weather, this made me smile as I made my way down on a sticky but groomed piste.

Shortly after this, a week of endless snow fell, and Christmas arrived. The resorts buzzed for the entire time. People discovered new winter sports they wouldn’t usually try, such as cross country skiing and ice skating.

Snowshoeing became popular, and many mountain top restaurants were open for takeaways to reward any upward trek.

As for me I have been really enjoying the touring up and the skiing down. My adventures are getting bigger and more thrilling than I imagined.

It is also great to see all the activities that are going on in the mountains and the new experiences that we are discovering.

But I can’t wait for the lifts to open!