Attempt Vélan central + Testa Grisa + Pointe de Crete Sèche

Cool day at Bourg St. Bernard without big expectations. We thought about trying one of the Vélan couloirs, but the weather was not in our favor. On the other hand, the descent from Pointe de Crete Sèche was absolutely amazing, really nice to find such good snow after a long dry and warm period. There was a rescue operation going on at the bottom of Annibal couloir. Quite a lot of people heading to Testa Grisa.

Vélan central couloir: hard-packed/icy in the ascend (as we expected) and not smooth, but due to cloud coverage arriving early and wind, probably it would have not heated up enough until the afternoon to get soft, which is why we turned around after 1/3. The few turns down didn't give much fun. Exit is already quite tight (see photo). Descent from Testa Grisa on changeable snow, was not too bad. Descent from Pointe de Crete Sèche in amazing old powder (due to N-orientation.)

Sunny start but sky got quickly covered, short snow shower and bad visibility going up to Testa Grisa. Some sun spells again later. Quite windy nearly everywhere.