For several days now, the most addicted ski fans have been getting their early fix for the 2023/24 season. To do this, they fix seal skins to the underside of their skis, and 'skin up' the hillside, remove the skins and ski down. This is Ski Touring.
On the sunny south face Flégère ski area, every day there are several hundred ski tourers putting down tracks, all thanks to recent snowfalls that have been sufficient to create a base.
The Flégère gondola is open until November 26th, then it will close for a few days until the official start of the ski season.
The route of to Lac Blanc is well tracked, as are some of the passes into Les Aiguilles Rouge that overlook Lac Blanc.
Paragliders and snowshoers have also joined the pre-season bliss ball and over on Les Grands Montets, a few a few diehards have skinned up the Pierre à Ric to Lognan and from Le Tour, they are skinning up to Charamillon and beyond in search of the Moksha moment.
Take care out there, the avalanche risk is high, particularly above 2,200 meters where the wind has blown snow into deep accumulations.
Le Dauphiné assisted with this article
