If I’m surprised by the sheer amount of snow that’s fallen, perhaps I shouldn’t be. This trip is effectively round two. Last season we’d done the same thing – gathered a crew (at the instigation of my friend and colleague Matt) and when we’d spotted the snow coming, headed out to explore the lesser-known regions of the Tarentaise on touring skis and splitboards.

He wasn’t wrong, it was absolutely dumping it down and we couldn’t see a thing. But despite the white out conditions, we spent an entertaining morning tearing through the thick blanket of snow that covered every piste.

An invitation to the traditional shepherd’s hut owned by one of Matt’s French friends rounded off the day nicely. As we sampled his homemade genepi, Xavier waxed lyrical about the famous off-piste run that he’d planned to take us on. “The Combe des Moulins, it’s amazing. You start at 2,600m and you finish at 1,500 m, so you have 1,000 vertical metres.” We’d not been lucky. But surely, we thought, the weather would clear over the next few days? Surely, (to paraphrase D.Ream) Things Could Only Get Better?

We fared little better the following day when we headed to Val d’Isere. After exploring the valley’s less famous resorts, Matt’s plan had been to show us the lesser-known zones of one of its most celebrated. He’d skied here many times and between him and our guide, they knew it like the back of their hands. Unfortunately this time they were reduced to talking about former conquests, pointing out the runs we could have ridden if the conditions were better.

We consoled ourselves with an evening making the most of Val d’Isere’s unparalleled après scene – this is a place with a bar to suit all tastes, from dingy dives featuring punk cover bands to clubs where the champagne starts at 300 euros a bottle. The following morning, battling through the hangovers, we were again treated to a taste of what might have been. The snow was falling as snow again, and we had an excellent couple of runs through the trees underneath the Fornet cable car. But we left feeling frustrated – we could see the incredible potential of the riding in the Tarentaise, we’d just not had any luck.

Which is why, almost exactly one year later, we find ourselves heading back to Val. This time surely the powder gods will smile on us? This time surely we’ll get lucky? “I can’t believe we have to put chains on in Annecy,” says Pete, who’s driven these roads many times before. But with the snow falling thick and heavy, it’s 3am before he finally pulls into the carpark in Val d’Isere. It’s a Stakhanovite shift – a journey that was supposed to take two-and-a-half hours has taken us the best part of six.

Despite the late arrival, we’re up early doors the following morning – we’re frothing to get out and make the most of the snow that’s still falling. Linking up with Matt and Pete’s friend Kene, a Val-based journalist and photographer, we head again for the Fornet trees that served us so well at the end of the previous season’s trip.

Unfortunately we don’t have time to appreciate any of this. Pete, who’s once again at the wheel, used to work as a transfer driver ferrying people to and from the airport to Tignes and Val d’Isere. He knows these roads like the back of his hand. “I used to shit people up round these corners,” he says, proceeding to demonstrate. “Once I had this whole family asleep in the back so I was ragging it, and then as I got to the bottom I realised the mum was wide awake, gripping the armrests in terror. Ooops!” I know how she feels – I’m in need of a stiff drink by the time we get down.

Thankfully, the Hotel Le Monal is among the best places in the Tarentaise to ask for one. Set back slightly from the main road in a small cluster of buildings, it’s the kind of place that package tour coaches whizz past without a second thought, but the locals know like the back of their hand. Come in here in the morning and you’ll see many of the pisteurs, lifties and resort staff from St Foy and further afield taking their morning coffee.

We’re guided once again by Colin of Evolution 2, and after the tantalising glimpse of the potential he’d given us the previous year, it’s clear that he’s stoked to be able to show us the goods properly. A short hike takes us up to the top of the Col du Granier, from where we drop into an open powder field filled with windlips to slash, rocks to drop and rollers to boost off. “Holy shit this is good,” I say, barely able to contain my whoops as we carve down the slope.

A few turns through some well-spaced trees, a scramble over a stream and a long run out down a fairly flat path lead us to a tiny village where we encounter several other powder hounds with equally wide grins on their faces. Before long a bus pulls up, and after loading our snowboards and skis on the back, we head up for another go.

The rest of the day is spent lapping the terrain off the lifts, finding fresh pockets of powder almost everywhere we go. By the time we finish our final run, I’m exhausted. It’s only 4.00pm, but I have a bus and then a flight to catch if I want to make it back for work on the Monday morning. It’s been an intense weekend in pursuit of powder, but it’s been an incredible one.

I wave goodbye to Matt and Pete, who are heading on to La Rosiere for their final day, completing the previous year’s trip in reverse. As I ride away on the bus, I’m reminded of something one of Colin’s colleagues, Sylvain, had said the previous year.

He was talking about St Foy, but it could equally have applied to the whole of the Tarentaise: “I’ve been in many resorts, I’ve done many seasons. But the off-piste here blows me away. The accessibility of the terrain off the lift… If you just want to ski, ski, ski this is the place.” At the time, with the less-than-ideal conditions, we’d had to take him at his word. But now I can see he’s not wrong. We came back, we saw and we shredded. And damn, did the Tarentaise deliver.

DO IT YOURSELF:

Getting there:
We flew to Geneva on EasyJet, who operate multiple flights daily from London airports.

Accommodation:
We stayed with Crystal Ski (crystalski.com) in both La Rosiere (Les Balcons self-catered Apartments) and Val d’Isere (Hotel Auberge St Hubert). On our second trip we stayed at Hotel Le Monal in St Foy.

Guides:
Our guides all came from Evolution 2 (evolution2.com) who offer ski lessons for all levels as well as guiding services all over the Tarentaise valley and further afield.

Read the rest of The Challenge Issue on Mpora here.

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