On what looked like the last day of good weather for a while, Andrea and Phil of http://snowretreat.co.uk/ Snow Retreat and Joey and Nick of http://nickskithreevalleys.co.uk/ NickSki embarked on a previously unexplored (by us !) walk up the Valley of Avals.
Starting from Courchevel 1650, near the Chaplets lift, up to the col de Chanrouge then back down to Lac de Tueda in Mottaret. A fantastic sunny day all day (Wed 15.9) with clear views over to Mont Blanc and almost tripping over Marmottes nearly every step of the way.
We passed by the Refuge des Lacs Merlet then passed Lac de Petre before ascending to col Chanrouge for a much needed lunch stop. From here we spotted an unusual view of a popular lift, can you recognise it from the picture? Then after admiring the views and much pontificating about how glaciers had carried boulders to certain places we descended to the Refuge du Saut. Then following the streams and rivers down the valley we finally reached Lac Tueda where we had parked a car the night before to take us back to La Tania.
Walk took 7 hours with a lunch stop, hoping to try it again in the winter with touring skis and a GPS.