Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Heading north in La Plagne

16th February 2011, by Oxygene

Face Nord, La Plagne

Getting off the beaten track in La Plagne requires some stable snow and clear blue skies, just the ticket for an adventure down the North Face. We catch up with Jo from Oxygène Ski, who tell us about one day last week ...

Still glorious sunshine and cold temperatures in the Alps on Monday 14 February, but the forecast for the week is SNOW! We should have 23cm of it before the week is out, if the meteorologists are to be believed - so, what better time to think of an off-piste adventure.

The North Face is a firm favourite with instructors and locals in La Plagne (take a look at our Instructor Profiles - you’ll see that it’s where you’ll find most of the Oxygène team on their days off!) and that’s where Oxygène’s Level 4 ski school group headed last Friday, for the grand finale to a super week. The itinerary makes for a full morning’s skiing, so, despite the official 10am start time for our group lessons, we met early at 9.30 for coffee, briefing with instructor Laurent and to pick up our ARVA gear and backpacks (shovel, probe etc) before making a dash for the top of the glacier. From Plagne Centre, that’s around an hour’s on-piste skiing - plenty of time to get warmed up (and calmed down!) before the proper business of the day could begin.

The cold temperatures have kept the snow in pretty good condition, but it was a bit thin on the ground at the start of the route, with a few rocks to be negotiated and a long traverse across the mountain. From the top of the glacier at over 3000m we could see all the way down to Nancroix, nestled like a toy village in the valley bottom.

The snow may have been a bit thin, but there was much more of it over on the North Face than we’ve seen on the pistes for weeks. It took a while to get used to the powder! However, the North Face is a popular route, so there were plenty of tracks around and moguls lower down. With the first traverse under our belts, Laurent assured us that the worst was behind us, and we started to head down through deep snow (feeling thoroughly jealous of Laurent’s easy grace on his brand new ‘fat skis’ - 191cm planks that he seemed to control as effortlessly as if they were his own feet!)

A few turns further down, and we were back on more familiar ground - moguls. We headed down through a wide couloir to reach an area where an old avalanche had strewn huge lumps of frozen snow and ice all across the mountain. Picking our way through them, we followed as closely as possible in Laurent’s fat ski tracks, winding between rocks and ice boulders towards a narrow gap where the route had almost been blocked completely by a fallen chunk of snow. Yikes. This called for chocolate! So, a quick snack break and on we went - through the gap and down to reach the scrub and treeline, with the village below drawing slowly nearer and the flat plain between us and our well-earned lunch finally in sight.

The final obstacle was a rocky stream, reached through a small plantation of young trees where the snow was thin and the ground scraped bare in parts (muttered apologies to the Oxygène ski men who work so hard to keep our stock of skis in tip-top condition!) - but, the final descent was finally over, the stream was crossed; we bounced up the far bank to the Les Arcs side of the valley, and it was all plain sailing through some little bumps and onto the ski de fond pistes of Peisey. Phew!

The route home is via bus to Peisey Nancroix, then the Vanoise Express cable car to Montchavin and a straightforward ski home to Plagne Centre - but buses run only every half hour, so we had plenty of time for some well-earned long, cold drinks and Plat du Jour at the pretty little restaurant at the bottom, watching other North Face veterans arriving group-by-group as we relived our morning’s adventures. All in all, a super day out!

If you want to get off the beaten track with Oxygène, we’ve got a range of options in La Plagne and Val d’Isère. When the conditions are right, we run a range of off piste itineraries from La Plagne and Val d’Isère, including such classic routes as the Tarantaise Tour (starting in Val d’Isère), the Paradiski Tour taking in the Cul de Nant glacier, and the stunning North Face of the Bellecote Glacier - over 2000m of vertical descent, from the top of the glacier in La Plagne to Peisey Nancroix at the far side of the Vanoise Express.

More detail on courses: www.oxygene-ski.com

---

---

Back to all blogs