Something of a day off after a busy Christmas and New Year, we did have guests in the B&B and arrivals tonight but we had time to get over to the Col des Mosses and do some nordic skiing in perfect conditions. We parked at the far end of the loops in La Lécherette and skied to Les Mosses where we enjoyed lunch before skiing back.

Conditions on the pistes, nordic and alpine, are perfect right now and it’s fairly quiet so it’s very pleasant to be out and about.

Tags: Col Des Mosses | Nordic Skiing | XC skiing

I’ve been playing around with a ContourHD wearable video camera with the bike and decided to try it for nordic skiing. First I needed to make a head strap for it so I cannibalised an old pair of goggles and made a strap then I gave it a quick go Nordic skiing yesterday.

So, here’s the least “favourited”, least shared video on Youtube right now :

Tags: Cross Country Skiing | Nordic Skiing | youtube

A few photo’s from around Giffre valley area. The first three are from a ski tour up in the woods not far from Les Gets. I’d taken some nordic touring gear which was ideal for the ascent but not great on the descent, the combination of free-heel, soft boots and hard, rutted snow on narrow forest tracks was extremely difficult and after a while I gave up and racked the skis on my sack. Even so, that’s part of the beauty of nordic touring gear, it’s so light you can throw it on the sack and hardly notice and the boots have more than enough support and grip to walk a good distance in.

Next day above Les Gets on the other side of the valley I decided to go to Mont Chéry for a quick trip on snowshoes. Just near where I left the car a group were setting out on a dog sled trip. I always love to see these dogs, they’re just born to do this and they live to run. They’re actually one of the fastest animals on the planet over long distances and some of their wilder relatives run so hard that even in Arctic environments it’s too hot for them during the day and they travel primarily at night.

It’s not a bad route and it’s quite nice scenery but it’s way, way too busy on the popular routes around here. I saw several groups of people on snowshoes using the same tracks. On the plus side though, there was a nice little restaurant for some lunch before heading back to the car.

I did pass the dog group again on the hill, my guess is the dogs have a pretty good idea what they’re doing even if the tourists don’t.

Tags: Cross Country Skiing | La vallée du Giffre