The adventure is over!!
It was probably the toughest thing that I have ever done, and much harder than I could have imagined. Was it an enjoyable experience? At times. At other times I was in a whole world of pain, grimacing with every step!
The day started at 7pm, with a drive to Val Thorens to start the tour. The morning walk up the col and the ski down on the glacier was amazing, until we hit the valley above Pralognan which was avalanche city, trying to pick our way down without getting ourselves buried. I even set off a mini-avalance on the now named "Jenna Couloir"! Eventually we found a safe, shallow slope and made our way down to Pralognan, picking our way over avalanche debris, crossing rivers, and carrying our skis, until we reached the car which would take us to the other side of Pralognan where we would start the ascent to the refuge. This was at 5pm, a few hours later then we were hoping for due to the bad snow conditions! We eventually reached the refuge at 9:30pm, after skining up a red run and a gruelling long traverse, which I thought would never end. My boots were rubbing my feet and my muscles ached, my back pack weighing me down more and more with every step. I have never been so pleased to see civilisation before. We ate dinner and went straight to bed, ready for our 5:45am wake-up call!
The next day saw a climb through the col de la Grande Casse, the views were incredible, and well worth the crampon boot climb to the top! The ski down the glacier was amazing. We then had a long hike to the top of Tignes, which again was made so much harder by the snow conditions, or lack of!! We kept plodding hoping that each ridge would be the col! Eventually we made the top of Tignes at 16:30, expecting an easy ski down to resort. We could see the piste, but getting to it was another matter. I sank up to my waste in the spring snow and then spent 10 minutes digging myself out, it was like wading through freshly poured concrete! But we made it to Tignes and had a well-deserved beer! Although we didn't get to Val D'Isere (the lift was closed by the time we got there) we did do all the hard part of getting there, the rest was just ski lifts and piste skiing! I do feel a huge sense of achievement now, and every time I'm out in the mountains I will remember our adventure, and the huge expanse that we walked and skied!
Thanks to all who have sponsored me, your donations really helped to keep me going!
Here's to the next challenge!!!
Jenna
I don't know how it happened but I was recently talked into joining some friends on a ski tour from the ski resort of Val Thorens to Val D'Isere! It's going to be a massive challenge, as it is 2 days of ski touring and back-country skiing, and the snow at this time of year is going to make it that much more difficult! We'll also be skiing over glaciers, and have to take Crampons "just in case" which makes it sound very hard core!!
My Dad was recently diagnosed with Cancer, so this will be a great opportunity for me to raise some money for Cancer Research. Cancer affects so many of us, so please support me in my adventure, and dig deep and donate now!
If anyone has any questions (or advice) about this then please get in touch!
I'm already looking forwards to having a beer at the end of the tour!
Jenna
xx
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