In this snowy month of May, Philippe and I have chosen to go skiing a flagship summit of the Maurienne: the Albaron and its 3637m. And since Philippe is well trained, it will be a day trip (a small 2000m D+ all the same). So here we are, early in the morning, in the Vincendières car park, it is cloudy but it should pass with the good weather… The car is carefully wrapped with its anti-marmot tarpaulin (they like eating car cables ). We put the skis on the bag and let’s go towards the summits! An hour of walking before reaching the snow towards the chalets of the Parise. We tack in the beautiful west-facing valleys of the ‘Albaron before reaching the Grand Fond glacier.
The glacier is well filled and we reach the base of the Albaron rocks without difficulty. The weather is fine, it’s perfect! We leave our skis to cross a rocky bar about fifty meters high with crampons on our feet. The steps make the climb easier and we quickly reach the summit.
With no one in sight, we enjoy these magical moments alone. The Haute Maurienne is truly beautiful and the surrounding peaks invite us to come back! We go down to find our skis. The snow, which is initially hard and blown, quickly becomes very good for skiing, we take advantage of the wide open spaces! Then we have to aim for the snow bands to go as low as possible. A beautiful location is an excuse for a picnic.
A little trot and we are back at the car, the marmots have not visited it 🙂 We will come back here for the Charbonnel and the other peaks that wink at us!