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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3070 |
21st March 2017 Skiing: Cambre d’Aze (St Pierre 1640m) Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny start then cloudy and windy. Max Speed: 39.24 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 39 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Tuesday 21st March – Ski ***** Cambre d’Aze (St Pierre 1640m) sunny start then cloudy and windy. 39 miles with a max speed of 39.24kts and out 5 hours. We were the only vehicle in the carpark at the small resort of St Pierre 1640m in the French Pyrenees, I had a good night but Mags was a bit disturbed as an insect bit her just above her eyebrow and it’s made the right side of her face and her eye sore and swollen and it’s still not right:( Woke at 7.30 with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky so skiing was definitely on! Up, dressed, had breakfast skis sorted, picnic packed and it was still only 8.30. We walked the short distance to the ticket office after spotting Mr & Mrs Crossbill collecting grit from the car park. We were the first there and it hadn’t even opened yet! We had to wait five minutes for it to open, we have never been this early before! We got four hours for the princely sum of 54 Euros for us both:) Then over to the four man TSD du Mouli lift, sadly the only chair in the resort and the attendant was still putting the safety fence up! He radioed to the top to make sure they were ready and we were off, the first up:) It is a beautiful little resort with only 35 km of piste nearly all in the trees and with a fantastic mountain cirque backdrop. The top peak is the Cambre d’Aze at 2750m. A black squirrel was busy beneath the lift:) When we reached the top we had a choice of several runs knowing we would be the first down. As the sun was still fairly low we didn’t want to go down the steep red or up higher as it was probably still icy so chose the very long and appropriately named Promenade en Foret a lovely green with not a ski mark on it and stunning views down the cloud filled valley below. As this was the only chair we did loads of runs here in next to perfect Spring snow, the top Chateau d’Eau green and the Marmottes blue:) Then we became braver and went for the red, it starts on the wide Chateau d’Eau green then drops sharply at the start of the red as it snakes its way back to the lift and you could fly as the snow was perfect with next to nobody here. We did this several times before heading to the top as it had started to cloud over and the forecast was rain by midday but luckily it failed to arrive. It takes two leg sapping button lifts to get you to the top at an altitude of 2400m and the Rhodos red off the top was like dropping off the edge of the world with stunning views into the valley far below:) Then down into the very quiet Eyne 1770m being the first down the debutante Sapiniere and up the short button out, where the lady attendant was in a vest top taking in the sun, reading her book and was a bit surprised to have a customer! The whole resort has a very relaxed feel and as we had the old-fashioned sticky pass, our tickets were not checked once with many of the lift attendants just wishing us a cheery bonjour from the comfort of their small huts and we could have easily skied all day on our 4-hour pass! Again, it’s two long leg shattering button lifts to explore Eynes runs which included more amazing reds, the Jacques Solere and Coulee d’ Eyne where another black squirrel ran across the wide piste as I went up:) We went back to St Pierre and I was amazed to see a deer on the edge of the woods!! We did all the main runs again with the steeper red being best as the flatter runs were going soft and were a little sapping on the legs already shot from all the button lifts! With our 4 hours, nearly up we headed to the top in search of a picnic spot but it had clouded over and the wind had increased making it cold at the top so we returned to the tree filled bowl below the cirque where we had seen some picnic table. Then I spotted Mags favourite a t-bar lift, the TK du Pla and had to have a go. The man even came out of the comfort of his hut to help us on, as with all the lifts we don’t think they had many customers! This lift surprised us taking us high into the beautiful bowl with crossbills in the tree tops and a nice flat rock for a picnic:) Refreshed we did both the runs from the t-bar, first the Petite Fontaine blue and then the Roc Rouge green which lead us to our favourite still fast red and back to the bottom. We could have carried on but had been out 5 hours and didn’t want to spoil what had been the perfect day, except for too many button lifts. We headed back to the van and as the wind swirled dust around the carpark we quickly packed up and drove to Mont Louis for bread but the shop was shut:( We drove to the closed campsite by the River La Tet on the road to Lac des Bouillouses finding a top spot close to the river. A very welcome cuppa and biscuits followed by a read and snooze before a quick walk along the beautiful river with the pine trees full of birds including the usual Crossbills, tits and even a Great spotted woodpecker. Back to the van for one of Mags mum Mabel’s favourite caravan meals, a tin of chunky chicken with veg and buttery instant mash, the perfect end to our best days skiing this holiday:) Photo Gallery Here |
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