Skinning up in St Foy to find fresh snow

With limited options I decided to head down to St Foy on Friday with my team of Scots to ski the wonderful Northern slopes of the Foglietta. It’s about a one-hour ‘skin’ to the top and as we neared the summit the wind was blowing a hoolie and I was worried about the backside being wind-blown. We sheltered down to take off our skins and put on another layer or two and when I finally looked over the edge I shouted for joy as the snow looked absolutely perfect and there was lots room for us to find untracked snow.

The entrance is very steep and sometimes a rope is needed but the entrance was kind to us and we just side-slipped in and off we went. The snow was knee-deep and feather-light and it was outstanding skiing with fantastic ambience. We started skiing about 10:45 and didn’t get down to the bus-stop at the Masure until 12:30, just to give you an idea of the vastness of the skiing. We then celebrated with a fantastic lunch sitting in the sun at the Hotel Monal followed early evening drinks at the Pub Moris where Mike and Ritchie play every Friday night. The place was rocking and it was a perfect end to a brilliant day. (I even managed a dance, which is a pretty rare occurrence!)

A day out like that was always going to be difficult to follow-up but we did a pretty good job of it on Saturday by hiking up to the Col de Ves in Tignes to access some steep slopes with great powder and wonderful scenery. After an excellent ski we then needed to skin out for about an hour but that’s the price at the moment for great snow and solitude. On Sunday I returned to Tignes again and we had a much easier morning skiing the Sachette with very little walking.

With several days of sunshine the pistes are in brilliant condition and are probably the best they've been since the pre-Christmas period. With a pretty stable forecast for the next few days the piste skiing should remain excellent while the off-piste is in need of some fresh snow.

Weather in the resort:

• Monday- Sunny -10C/+4C Wind from the S at 5km/h
• Tuesday- Partially sunny -10C/+3C Wind from the S at 5km/h
• Wednesday- Light snow -8C/0C Wind from the ESE at 5 gusting to 45km/h
• Thursday- Partially sunny/light snow/rain -9C/+2C Wind from the E at 5 gusting to 55km/h
• Friday-Sunny -9C/+5C Wind from the NW at 5km/h

Fingers crossed for some snow mid-week but the easterly wind gives us a chance at a retour de l'est, which can turn a light snowfall into a significant dump up towards the Fornet. Have a great week and look out for another update on Friday!

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