Above: A winch-equipped piste-groomer hitches up on the Grand Massif.

When the lifts finally fall silent and the entire ski domaine has been signed off by the teams of pisteurs who’ve just skied every single run, it’s time for the piste-groomers to begin the skilled task of putting back what another day’s skiing has taken out.

Peer out from your apartment in the dead of night and you’ll glimpse their headlight patterns in the far distance, among swirling snow-flurries. The piste preparation teams (or, more correctly, les dameurs) are mostly nocturnal, working two night shifts to cover the dusk-to-dawn period. While you’re sleeping soundly you can bet that the dameurs will be out there somewhere in the darkness performing tasks such as restoring tired pistes and drag-lift tracks to near-virgin flatness, nudging nearby reserves of drifted snow onto thin patches, and much more. Poor snow-cover can be unavoidable in more exposed areas, where prevailing winds can blow the fresh snow away as fast as it falls.

Above, L-R: Winch-equipped and standard Piste-Bully groomers ready for work above Samoëns; tracks can be damaged by objects hidden in the snow.

It can be lonely up there. Even in daylight, if visibility suddenly drops, skiers can lose their bearings in seconds, but the groomer drivers know their mountains intimately even at night and in blizzard conditions. But the unexpected can still happen, so to keep the drivers in constant contact with with the control centre (and each other) they are armed with GPS, avalanche transceivers and of course mobile phones. And just to keep spirits up they have hi-fi systems and formidable cab heaters.

Not that life here is exactly a picnic; riding on wide, metal-bladed tracks means that progress, even on soft snow, can feel decidedly firm. The controls, though, are amazingly light, thanks to power assistance for all main functions. This includes the massive bulldozer-style front blade capable of shifting whole walls of drifted snow (or reserves created by snow-cannon).

A Light Touch

Once the base is established the real process of grooming (or conditioning) begins. This requires sensitive and precise handling, with the front blade in minimal contact with the surface - merely flattening it sufficiently to allow the rotating blades at the rear of the vehicle to whip up compacted snow, aerating it before final smoothing by a heavy, serrated rubber blade. The result is the trade-mark lined surface which tells skiers that the dameurs have done their work well.

Above, L-R: Preparing for work; in-cab controls are surprisingly light; a brief encounter relieves the solitude; extending the winch cable for steep terrain grooming.

Grooming, like other operational costs, doesn’t come cheap. Each vehicle costs around 250,000 euros and the Grand Massif has thirteen of them, including a few with a neat trick up their sleeve. Add a 3.5 tonne winch and a 1000m cable to your groomer (a worthwhile option at 50,000 euros), attach the cable to a secure anchor-point and you can wind your way up and down otherwise impossibly steep pistes in perfect safety. Yes, that’s how they do it.

With the 12 litre 435bhp power units consuming fuel at the rate of 250 litres per vehicle per shift, and eye-watering prices for the inevitable replacement parts needed to keep the show on the mountain (a winch cable alone can cost 6000 euros), a clear picture is emerging. Still wondering why your lift-pass is becoming pricier?