Pointe de la Terrasse

For the first entry of this blog, I thought it’s mandatory that I write something about the most grueling ski tour of the 25/26 season.

Summary

• Date: 2026-05-21
• Route: Finhaut to Point de la Terrasse (round-trip)

Context

The 25/26 season was very dry. There wasn’t much snow throughout the season. In May, however, it was still somewhat cold, and we were blessed with a lot of participation during that time, leading to insane snowfall in the Alps. At that point, I just felt like I had to get out there and see what’s popping.

This itinerary is quite a popular one late in the season, as the altitude is high and the access with cars is also convenient. I still remember my friend sent me a Facebook picture showing how busy it was the week before I went. Busy it was, but the view was insane. Maybe this was also one of the reasons why I decided to go on this ski tour.

The beginning

I suppose the popularity of this ski tour is due to its accessibility. With a car, one could easily drive up to the dam at 1930 m and start the tour from there. This high up is mostly snow-sure even in May and June. However, since I neither have a car nor know how to drive, to do the same tour, I had to start from the train station of Finhaut and first hiked from Finhaut to Lac d’Emosson. The day before, I already knew this was going to be a long long day.

My journey began in the lovely village, Finhaut. I strapped my skis (with boots clipped in) onto my backpack as illustrated below and started walking my way up to the dam.

Starting out, the view was already quite amazingTrient Glacier. I passed through the village with a huge dinosaur (for some reason) and hiked into the forest. The hike wasn't particular challenging, but with the heavy payload on my shoulders it was definitely not a stroll in the park either.

After 1.5 to 2 hours, I finally reached the dam, and I was glad to be greeted by another dinosaur and a magnificent view over Mont Blanc.

I was my first time (a lot of first times on this trip) in Lac d’Emosson. The reservoir was coolLac d’Emosson, but the view looking out from the reservoir was seriously something else. That said, we still had a long way to go towards the summit.

Let the skinning begin

After a short break at the dam, I quickly transitioned into skinning mode and finally started walking on the snowWe’re skinning!. The start of the trail was basically through a snow-covered road. I’m most certainly not an expert of skinning, and the trail being narrow and the hard and compact snow due to its popularity and the aspect definitely didn’t help. There were multiple moments I felt like I might fall right into the water, which would have been extremely funny but tragic at the same time. Anyway, long story short, I managed in the end.

After the narrow stretch at the start, the rest of the hike up was generally enjoyable. The snow was quite grippy and the terrain was nice as well. Even though I checked the day before the avalanche risk was relatively low, wet avalanchesTiny wet slide were still prone to happen later in the day in Spring conditions. As there was chute/canyon-like terrainScary terrain. I could have walked around it, but I was not sure what to expect there either. along the way, I was extra cautious when passing through it. Luckily, it was totally stable and safe that day.

All the way up

Personally, I find the hiking process relaxing. I am just out there at the moment taking one step after another. The path might be long but we’ll get there eventually. While hiking up, I saw a few people already skiing down and having fun and all these tracks people left behind perhaps a few days agoIt looked insanely good to ski..

After a while, I reached the famous Facebook picture spot. It was really beautiful, as you can see the chute in the foreground and the dam in the back while having some snowy mountains in the backdrop.

Even though the hike was enjoyable, it was definitely grueling as well. The hike from the dam to the summit should be easy without the snow, but with the skis andchallenging boots on it was for sure challenging for me. At many points during the process, I was considering calling it a day before reaching the summit. Fortunately, I had some animal companions along the way, and I’m sure that they made all the difference.

The summit

After skinning for 2 to 3 hours, I made it to the summit. A few people were there chatting, snacking. I was very much relieved and happy that I actually did it. While enjoying the moment and walking around taking pictures, I was called by a person at the summit as I was walking towards to cornices. I saw them while hiking but completely forgot about them, so huge shoutout to the stranger! Without him, I won’t be able to tell the story now.

As it’s generally recommended to end early in Spring, I had some snack and perhaps a banana and transitioned into down-hill mode. It’s always exciting to actually start skiing but the first turn is also always somewhat terrifying. Overall, the skiing part that day was not the best. The snow was very sticky even at the top. The texture changed all the time. Since it was sticky, I lost the momentum all the time and had to hike a bit here and there. After 30 to 40 minutes of survival skiing, I got back to the dam safely.

The end

The final segment of the mission entails hiking back from the dam to Finhaut. I was very much exhausted after all the hiking and skiing, but I was in no rush at all. To my surprise, while walking along the road back to Finhaut, a car stopped next to me and they asked: “Vous allez où ?”. I was a bit confused, as I was tired and my french is bad, but I replied: “Finhaut” (in french). They then said something in french, and I interpreted it as “they could drive me there”. After some shuffling the stuff in the trunk, we managed to put my stuff in and squeezed into the car. It turned out they were the people I met at the summit, and the driver was the kind man who saved my life there! During the drive, they told me that they live in Chamonix and they came for a quick skiing. They also agreed the snow was too sticky.

Back at the station in Finhaut, I said goodbye to them and they told me to keep going out there and explore the mountains. I had a satisfying day that day, and I hope they did too.