This is my entry for #monomad challenge by 
Today I will talk about one of my firsts ski mountaineering trip.
It happened on february 2001, in Valpelline (Aosta valley), between Italy and Swisse.
Landscape is dominated by Grand Combin (4.314 meters high), one of my favorite mountain, similar to the Himalayan giants.
We were in seven, and we stayed two days meeting nobody: this mountain, despite its beauty, isn't so much frequented, because of its wilderness.
We slept in a small winter refugee, at zero degrees inside it. I remembered when I went outside before going to sleep: it was snowing but I could see the stars in the sky: we were inside a snowy clouds!
Here first steps after a frozen sleeping. In the background, a rock formation called 'the champignon', because of its similarity to the French typical mushrooms.
Here our refugee early in the morning. Above it, Mont Vélan with its typical summital glacier.
We reached Col Amiante, where we can have a great view of Grand Combin massife, with its two summits: on the left (a very small pyramid along the left ridge) Grand Combin de Valsorey and in the center the main summit: Grand Combin de Tsessette (4.314 meters high).
After some hours, we reached the summit of Grand Tête de By. In winter the air is very thin at this altitude (3500 meters high), so landscape was unique.
Here last steps to sumit of my friend Yvonne through a snowy ridge:
Skiing in the fresh snow, inside the heart of this mountains, has been like to be in Heaven, and after this trip I definitely fell in love with ski mountaineering.
Analogic pictures taken with Nikon FE2 camera, Ilford HP5 films.
February 2001.