So after a bit of rock climbing down in Provence, we are now living up at what claims to be the highest village in the Alps. Saint Veran in the Queyras National Park, sits at just over 2000m at the far end of an very long and winding road. The good thing about this is that even though the ski seasons of the Alps are generally over now, there is still plenty of snow about up at these altitudes for those keen enough to seek it out! The village is really old and the chalets all look very 'rustic' and there's plenty of snow!
We met up with our friends at the bakery in the morning, got our skins on our skis and set off up above the village. There are a couple of ski lifts here but they all closed for the end of the season - which was yesterday!!
On the plus side, it meant that were the only people about as we set off by the small chapel above the village.
The visibility was pretty good although up high, clouds were building around us. When the wind blew got cold, but otherwise it was a great temperature to be skinning.
Above the lift area, the terrain was beautiful.
And the views from the summit were pretty good too, even with a bit of low cloud around.
But of course, the best bit was the going down! This is where ski touring is simply the best way to travel in the mountains! All the hard work is done, the views are great and you get to whoop your way back downhill with minimal effort. And as was the case today, you get to whoop downhill through wide open untouched snow slopes!
The light went a bit flat and the snow a bit crusty for the first few turns, then after that, it was lovely spring snow all the way back to the village. We actually skied to the far end of St Veran to get the best run down, then two of our team walked up the road and got the cars and came and picked us up! Perfect!
By now the skies were blue again as we celebrated by tucking into some of Dodi's home made cake and sank a few cups of tea out on the balcony. Brilliant.
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