Keith and Mike have a little North Shore-esque play on some picnic benching and then we are off up a short, sharp grunt that brings us out above Les Crozets. In summer we'd ride the DH track down to the lift but this time we find a traversing singletrack that is fast and loose and cut across way above the empty DH trails. Fast jeep track encourages a race down to the bottom before we start the 200 metre uphill. The sun has had chance to dry things out and traction is back and welcome. The climb that looked foreboding from the other side of valley turns out to be 99% ride-able (100% with a little steely commitment and the lungs of a whale) and as we near the Col de Cou we're almost disappointed that it's ending. The views from the top are compensation enough and our disappointment soon fades as it dawns on us that it's all downhill from here back to Morzine.