There’s a via ferrata a couple of km down the road at the Moiry Barrage, I’ve not been over that way this summer although it’s a popular ski spot in the winter with a few lines crossing the barrage itself.

There’s no gentle start and we’re into vertical ground immediately but there’s loads of hardware in place. The start is D+ which is pretty much spot on I’d say.

I like this sequence a lot, it’s one of the slightly more awkward sections, a hanging arête you need to swing onto and the gear is a little offset so you’re having to pull yourself back online.

Mostly it’s all over by this point, a large ledge system means you can sit and take a drink, from here it’s a walk on some steep ledges before two final vertical sections.

Then we’re at the top near the barrage, which, by the way is what we call dams around here, there is a bus that runs and I would have hopped on but it stopped a week or so ago. I’d assumed the buvette, that’s small restaurant or snack place, would be closed but it wasn’t, we’d bought sandwiches so we had a quick drink and sat on the barrage eating our lunch.

So we cross the barrage and walk down which takes an hour or so and gives some views back to the route up and up the valley over the Moiry glacier to some of the 4000m’s back there.

It turns out the ridge I picked is the same rock as over on the Sassiniere and it’s terribly loose so I was pleased I’d given Julie a helmet! It was also about impossible to locate many good anchors so it was all a bit awkward.

But, it was worth doing although the descent was terrible as well. From there we had a late lunch at the little cafe near the barrage which turns out to be great serving the best Croûte au fromage I’ve ever had, served with rye bread and apples with some berries on the top. Highly recommended!

After we skinned up the col above the ski area near the Becs de Bosson we skied into the Lona area on spring snow, pretty much the first spring snow I’ve skied on all season really. Another climb out to the Diablon ridge and we were above the Alpage valley looking at untracked snow, in fact, we were the first and only people in the Lona and had the area to ourselves. From here is a pleasent, albeit easy, ski down to the barrage at Moriy and the usual run out along the summer road although the snow’s a little sticky in the afternoon and we’re pushing in a couple of places.

Above left, looking over at the Basset de Lona from the Col des Becs de Bosson and above right, looking back at the Col des Becs de Bosson from Lac Lona.

Above left, it’s a pretty easy climb up from the Lac Lona, barely a couple of hundred metres and an easy angle. Above right, looking at the descent between the Diablon and Sex de Marinda. In fact, the snow looks a lot better than I expected and it seems to be a good descent.

And the descent does prove to be quite good, it’s a spring snow most of the way down and quite enjoyable skiing. The avalanche risk is low today and the only real danger is small sluff avalanches, these are unlikely to bury you but the risk is these have enough force to carry you down the mountain a short way, dropping to the barrage involves some terrain with small cliffs and it would be unfortunate to be carried over one.

From the barrage it’s the usual run down the summer road, it’s had a lot of skiers over it, presumably from the trade route from Zinal, so it’s icy and hard but it’s an easy enough route. Once in Grimentz I hop on the telecablne and meet Jamie and Vari who are fellow members of the Eagle Ski Club (a ski touring and ski mountaineering club) living in Italy over the Simplon pass and we have a ski around the Grimentz area.