Christmas

Nick, James and Helen touched down at Bergamo airport; sometimes presents arrive by air. Adam was of course still here. He had proved himself to be a very competent chef and I had enjoyed having his company for a couple of weeks. Things were looking good and we arrived in Courmayeur at a good time. It had just snowed, the skies were clear and the slopes empty. Swooshing down the slopes we were soon grinning the maniac grins that can only result from skiing. Mont Blanc was clear, the Peuterey Ridge, it's line obvious.

The second day we ventured to Cervinia. Unfortunately high winds had shut the resort. The cold drove us back to Courmayeur where we pulled on snowshoes and headed for Val Ferret. You can't go wrong with snowshoeing in Val Ferret. The ambience is sublime, the sunset sweet, the day was saved. On Christmas day we found good off-piste conditions at La Thuile. The snow was still soft and in many places unmarked by skiers tracks. Lunch in France was ruled out by the threat of having to return on button lifts. The day passed swiftly closing with a competitive slalom race in Wacky Races fashion.

This year we had vowed to have a proper sit down Christmas meal. Following the advice of Johan the Swedish ski guide we had booked ourselves a table at Pierre Alexis. The food was excellent and the choice of grappa large. Skiing the following day was somewhat painful, the slopes more crowded and icy. It wasn't until the end of the day that we started to regain our form. But now it was over, our passes had expired and it was nearly time to go home.

Just one day remained and we had saved it for some climbing. This year was different to the last; it was cold. We had had the usual doubts whether it was worth throwing in ice climbing gear but now we were glad that we had. We arrived in Lillaz to find the Cascate di Lillaz in condition. Helen had not climbed on ice before so Nick volunteered to lead her up the easier left hand variation. One look at the main ice fall convinced Adam and myself to join them. We comfortably soloed up filming as we did. The easy passage finished at a large frozen pool under another impressive frozen cascade. This one was less intimidating than the first so Adam and James led through, I followed pausing to film once more.

We were now feeling more confident. Our one day of ice climbing a year was going well. Passing the first cascade a leash-less German girl topped out. Watching the rest of her party from the top we decided to throw down a top rope and give it a go ourselves. Climbing like this was a pleasure, the central section was fluted and required delicate placements of the ice tools. Another party arrived and climbed the cascade on the left. It was interesting to see someone moving confidently over this medium. During our time the ice fall did lose some of it's air of impenetrability and I think we all left feeling more confident. Hopefully the next time it will be approached in better style.