#8.4   Beyond the dune

The Sahara invited itself to our place!

by Marc

17 March 2022

Peak of Vorlaz

35 images


Synopsis:

The end of the season is fast approaching, and we were hoping for another big powder trip, but the weather decided otherwise.

Sahara sand covered our mountains, just like last season, leaving an unusual orange color and a, shall we say, surprising slide.

Hoping to find some more good snow despite high temperatures and no precipitation for almost a month, we set our sights on the Pointe de Vorlaz to take advantage of a small couloir to the north.

A good sweat and laughs, as always, a pure moment of happiness between friends.



We are on March 17, 2022 and it has only snowed 3 times during this season…! It’s coming to an end. But here we are, the weather has offered us a little magic trick; the sand of the Sahara has come to us!

So, we find our mountains covered with orange sand and a mist hanging in the valley. The lack of snow has already forced us to cancel a heli-skiing trip this week, so we decide to take advantage of this special atmosphere and find a small couloir in our area that is still well covered in snow. Direction the peak of Vorlaz.

We start with a 45-minute climb through grass, rock and little snow to reach the ridge from which we will descend, it seems, our last couloir of the season. It’s starting to get very hot!

The conditions are quite good, and the colors are incredible, but we still have to put a bit more energy into our legs because the snow is flabby at 10°C…

The result is smiles on our faces and legs that are pulling, but what a joy to have been able to share this outing with friends. All we have to do now is clean our shoes full of mud!