10 March, 2024

The hut custodian walked out the door, looked at the three of us sitting there, and just started laughing at us.

…

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s rewind 24 hours.

It’s Friday morning and I’m off to a Hut for the night. My first winter hut experience in France.

Finally!

Us three boys are heading to Refuge de Loriaz for the night. It’s an easily accessible spot away from any ski resorts or glaciers, nestled at 2020m, with space for about 30 people. We only have to climb about 600m elevation to get there, so it can be reached in less than a few hours from the parking lot. (Or probably much faster if not taken at a leisurely pace with a first-time snowshoer in the group)

The plan: Reach the hut. Chill out. Play games. Feast.

The first third of the trail was completely snow free. I attached my skis and boots to my definitely-oversized-for-a-one-night-trip-backpack, and started rucking. This is the problem with being a photographer. Any trip instantly turns into a question of how many camera and accessories to pack. Being my first chance to wake up at an elevation over 2000m this year, I basically brought it all:

• Phone
• Phone tripod
• Mirrorless camera
• Extra lens
• Mini camera tripod
• Extra batteries

What should have been a 45L backpack trip quickly got upgraded to a 70L backpack trip.

The rest of the gear:

• Sleeping bag liner (or “Meat sack” if you’re translating the french)
• Lots of warm tops