January came around, and I packed away my skins to make the best of the pistes and easy to grab off piste that is all around the Anniviers. Had a great drive down across the Jura on the way out, stopping briefly in Kent to give a lift to a pal who was staying in Zinal for a week.
We got stuck in to the unpisted areas within the resort boundary and had a blast. The conditions varied widely, some slopes had breakable crust, though anywhere in the shade stayed powdery.
It was cold again, so I was back wearing lots of layers, only this time I found myself having to say to Andy, no, wear more! We still saw skiers with no hats or goggles though, they must be more hardy.
Having been cruising in the back seat, Andy finds some Breakable Crust and decides to take a rest, and why not, he's on holiday!
My friend came round from Zinal, and brought all his friends with him, we had quite a crowd. We took them onto the same slopes we'd been skiing, smiles all round.
Most days we took a picnic and stopped at one of the Mountain Huts as the sunshine was glorious.On one occasion we had a visit from a confident local bird!
Spent a day in Zinal where there was still plenty of good skiing, though the bottom of the Freeride area was a little thin with a couple of streams showing through. Easy to avoid though. The main part of the resort had some Paragliders practicing for the Mauler Cup, which is a pretty big competition, so standards were very high.
The air was so clear that we were able to see the Cabane Becs des Bossons from the Corne du Sorebois in Zinal.
A day in Vercorin offered us this great view across to Chandolin and the Illhorn drag lift, which is quite steep, and not just from this distance.
Back in Grimentz we'd been watching television and web reports on how bad the snow conditions were in France and Switzerland, um okay, if you say so.
There was a Skier and Boardercross competition in Grimentz, which also brought in the Freestyle skiers to the 6Park. Standards were quite high. You won't catch me doing this stuff!
I took my Stockli's into the local ski shop for a service, and needed to sit down when the technician told me that the edges were so thin, the shop could do only 1 more service before they were scrap. I love my Stockli's so this is bad news. They also now seem to attract stones, and I spent several evenings with a P-Tex candle repairing the day's dings and holes.
I've not been counting my days on skis this winter, but in case you are wondering, it's 24 so far, more to come, hopefully.
