Better than the Last: Rognon in amazing condition...

Tues 28th: Up early for another powder lap of the Midi with Jason, Andy and Charlie for his first time. Made it to the queue by 9am and was down the arête by 10:30. Would've been earlier but I had to pick up my boots first.

We decided against the Envers variants due to the recent reports of a death due to a snowbridge collapsing. Wanted to find out more before we ventured there. Chose Rognon again instead. Decided to drop in high as below the arête looked in fantastic condition... which it was. Stunning snow with hardly any tracks, steep enough to really enjoy it.

The snow was pretty sticky (-20 degrees up the top) and there was gratuitous amounts of poling. Andy, on a board, was cursing his snowboard during these sections. The first pitch of Rognon was epic and we skied it as a group. As I had the rope Charlie was out in front. He cut lower than we'd decided by mistake (in fairness it was his first time) and we lost Jason who went the correct way. As a result Andy, Charlie and I missed most of the nice steep section and had a bit of a traverse but oh well. Jason got fresh tracks down the whole section... What a *%£$.

Rest was mostly uneventful with great snow although more chopped than the top due to traffic off Petits Envers and the true VB. I say mostly because Jason's binding pre-released mid turn and he tumbled into the edge of a crevasse. For a second my heart stopped but his head bobbed back out meaning he didn't go down completely.

The exit to Montenvers was much better than last time - got down with only a small scratch. The snow definitely justified another lap but the calves said no, still tender from the previous day. Also none of the others were interested in going again.

All in all, in my 5 laps that was BY FAR the best snow I've had. Then again I've skied it in some of the worst conditions I've ever seen on snow... so oh well. Fantastic day none the less.