I knew that further South East from Serre Chevalier into the Queyras the Retour D'Est had delivered, and the day before we had gone to Le Laus which is 8km from the Col D'Izoard at 1,750m and it was positively wintry compared to Serre Chevalier but only about 3-4cms nothing to get too excited about, but it was snowing on and off, almost what we call Japanese sunshine with the hint of a yellow blob in the sky whilst it kept snowing.
We skinned up the road for around 250m, and the depth increased a little, which got me thinking about what it would be like in another valley closer to the Queyras and where I could get closer to possible snow, without having to drive for nigh on two hours.
Then later in the evening, I did see an Avy warning 4 for the Queyras after the heavy snowfall and strong winds, which made me think there might be snow in the valley I was considering, and it was a safe option.
Accessing the valley can be pretty tricky, and it's not until you actually start that you know what the best option is. You have to plan for all possibilities, which includes putting the e-mtb in the van.
From Cervieres, there are two options, depending on the snow: one is a long, cold skin in the shadow of a peak on the north-facing side, and the other is the possibility of driving up a road, should it be open on the South side, and/or using the e-mtb.
In good snow conditions, both routes are actually pisted for XC.
As I started heading up the road just on the outskirts of Cervieres, I had to wait circa 5 mins for a farmer with his tractor loading hay from a lorry, and he appreciated my lack of frustration as it were, maybe?
First issue was that the road was officially closed with a white circle with a red perimeter outline, and plus you have to drive around some snow debris left from the snow plough, however it's always like this. Many locals drive up there in these conditions along with the Gendarmes as they patrol up there looking out for immigrants crossing the Col de Bousson. In fact, I've been stopped and the van searched by them, but it's always a tad nerve-racking, especially on your own. Still, there were signs of other tracks going up there.
There was hardly any fresh snow on the road for the first three kms, though the wind was howling. As I gained height around 1850, the road became more exposed, with few passing places and a steep drop. This was also exactly where, last year, a piste basher was taken out by some boulders. I knew that around a bend the conditions could suddenly change, but I carried on as there were still the other car's tracks.
Snow was getting deeper, and it was now 10cms fresh, but I only had about another km to get to the parking area, but then I came around a bend into more of a drift and basically bottled it, where maybe I should have pushed through.
So I decided to reverse back, but ended up veering more into a drift and bearing in mind the 400m drop, I changed direction (was nigh on a holwinng blizzard going on so viz was bad) and then ended up sliding the van across the road with the front wheels going into the gulley, and that was it, stuck!!!!!
It was then that I remembered my farmer that I had been friendly to; if all else failed, I could use the e-mtb to ride back down and ask for help.
I got out the van to assess the situation trying to stay calm, and out with my avy shovel, and dug away at the snow around the front wheels and then changed the lock of the wheels to make them straight and dug some more and around the rears as well, the ditch was not too bad and I was optimistic as I started to reverse back out of it, though there was some burnt clutch smells going on
You can just about make out the impression of my front bumper on the left bank where I ended up side on!
There then followed a very precarious reverse 750m back down until I was confident I could make a 30pt turn to turn around; I then drove about 2km down and parked up and out with the bike.
Then it was back up there with the bike and had to walk it through the snowdrifts, and then lock it up I was hoping to ride it along the plateau to the start of the climb, but the snow was too much for it.
The car that had made it up there was a small Dacia with chains, so damn impressive with a local 05 plate.
There then follows roughly a 2.5 skin/pole along a road, and it was just incredible how the depth of snow increased as I travelled in SE'ly direction. The weather was still not brilliant, with very flat light, but at times the yellow blob made an appearance, and I was optimistic about what I could see where I was heading.
As I neared the turn off the plateau to make my way to the little hamlet where the climb starts, I met the only other person I saw all morning. It was the driver of the Dacia who had already been up the hill, and we exchanged pleasantries and discussed the snowpack with him, telling me that it was quite wind-affected in places, and nigh on 30cms of fresh.
I was thinking of finding a new route through the forest glades, but that was steep, and often those glades form as a result of slides, so I thought it best to go my usual way; plus, there was this guy's skin track, so I didn't have to break trail!
However, he was a fit fecker and his track took more of a steep line than I would have usually put in, but it was better than breaking trail.
Around 300m in and the wind had covered his tracks and there were various options, best being to skin where the wind had scoured a more exposed line but at the same time trying to suss where the best line for the descent might be.
I was also getting more conscious of Ullr with the snowpack and how he could handle it, the good news was that as forecast the wind was easing and the sun was making more of an appearance though there was a fair amount of low cloud around so might have to resort to stealth skiing, that's when you have to wait it out and take a line when the light it right as the clouds pass under the sun as it were.
In the end, I opted to call it a day rather than push on, even though the conditions were just getting better and better, but it was also a little late in the day, should a problem occur, and my day had been a little stressful already to say the least
The descent was lovely in places, and then in others quite technical. The steeper aspects were less wind-affected, it seemed, and the only real issue was Ullr keeping up, but he, too, found the steeper gradients the best. By the end, he was well knackered.
Once I arrived back where I left the bike, I took a photo of where I'd been, and as you can see, it was looking beautiful as the cloud cleared, and you can probably understand why we call Telly Tubby Land, and the French guy i met earlier liked that analogy
Anyway what that sortie proved even more to me is just how localised conditions can be, and as I said it was "incredible" how the snow depth increased the 2.5km as I went along the plateau. From the route you can see the long approach and that's not including the 5km up from Cervieres!
And a video of the day showing what the snow was like and just how stunning it is there.
Later in the evening I read that three skiers were caught in an avalanche in Montgenèvre on Friday, December 26th at 11:00 AM. The avalanche occurred on a route popular with ski tourers, in the Combe de la Doire valley, descending from the Rocher de l’Aigle. Two of them managed to free themselves. The third was rescued several minutes after being buried.
Climbing up I did hear a lot of disconcerting noises and couldn't tell if it was the sound of blasting being carried in the wind from Via Lattea or more localised whompfs and slides.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Went back again and had a wonderful sortie, right up there with some of the best memories.
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Poster: A snowHead
