Went for a nice easy day at GM with my parents and brother. Unfortunately the visibility wasn't with us so I didn't get a chance to show them the Argy glacier. One lap of top bin; striathon with the occasional bit of powder. OK but hard work with no visibility. A few laps of Lavencher then some pistes. Nice lunch at the bottom in between. Good day, shame about the awful visibility.
Weds 18th: Midi - Gros Rognon - bit of everything
My main aim for the week was to show my family the Vallee Blanche as none of them had been up the Midi yet. Neither had Emily so I invited her to join us and we met for a midday start (it was Paddy's day the day before so an early start was out the window). After a bit of a queue, some photos etc. we were at the arête by 13:15.
Everyone made it down the arête happily and under their own steam with a little encouragement. I explained the route and that I'd sit at the back giving clear instructions where to ski/stop etc. It went perfectly. The Rognon route had a dusting of fresh snow so we got some nice turns and some soft moguls below. We weren't in any rush so stopped often for photos and to enjoy the view. By the seracs du geant the snow had transitioned to spring snow (refrozen in the shade).
They chose the Requin exit so we traversed across and had lunch at the hut. Turns out my predictions for a chalky Requin were woefully wrong. What awaited us was 20cm+ high striathon. Pretty nasty skiing but oh well. More stops, photos, a monstrous queue to for the gondola and we took the train down. Everyone had a really good day so I was happy, especially as it was a hangover day and I'd felt awful whilst getting everything ready.
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