Day 24: Tignes, La Daille

Out today with the Bonjour ski guiding. The guide, Ben, is fast, but, as ever with a group of 11 people there's a degree of waiting around, and runs getting split into small sections. Up and down working our way around Tignes from the top of the lift from Les Brevieres in cloudy and grey conditions, including a run down the "Guerlain Chicheritt" Black run from the "Cold des Ves" lift, which is apparently rarely open. Moguls, but not too bad. Down to Val Claret and up and down to Lavachet for lunch. The big wall down into Tignes is now heavily pisted; I remember it as being all moguls back in the eighties...

After lunch the sun came out (and sunny weather is forecast through Sunday, with only a few clouds out until Wednesday week, so those coming on Sunday to La Rosiere should be prepared for no snow, and sunny weather). Up and down to Val Claret then over to La Daille, where I had the best fall of the holiday yet: I found some ice on a fairly steep section down through the woods to La Daille, fell, and slid "75-100m" according to witnesses. Though they also said "it was a pretty uninteresting slide". No skis came off, though, and only my pride was injured. Back up and down to Tignes Le Lac, then up and back to Les Brevieres, down a very icy red run.

Few pictures today, since there was no time to stop and take them (despite the stats showing a relatively short and slow day), but, jut for "The Editor" :

Cloud on Mont Blanc from run down to Les Brevieres

Day 23: Champagny and on to Tignes

I left Meribel about 9:30 , and drove to Champagny. Apart from a slight detour through the centre of Brides Les Bains, which was clearly unnecessary, I got to Champagny about 10am and parked at the very top of the car park, by the lift. As I was adding skiing outer layers Manissa and Dave appeared from the lift. Up to  the lift office to get a day pass (and recover the Euro 3 deposit on my old pass), and chat to some Canadians in the queue ("What European countries don't have mountains or ski resorts?").
Up from Champagny (which looks barer than a few weeks ago; where's the snow?), and then down into La Plagne, and up onto the glacier, then back down to meet one of Manissa et al's colleagues for lunch, and to swap books.

Lunch 

The best omelette yet for lunch, "Omelette au Beaufort". Up and down a load of runs in La Plagne, which wasn't too icy, then back to Champagny, and after goodbyes, a drive down to Moutiers, then back up to Bourg and on to Tignes Les Brevieres. As ever, behind a bus coming up. (I must do the maths to demonstrate why this always happens!)
Arrived in Les Brevieres about 6pm, and found the "chalet", which is really more of a chalet hotel. Numbered rooms with keys, and a capacity of ~40 at a guess. Seems friendly enough, and food is good. They claim that the pistes in Tignes and around are in good condition. Tomorrow we will see.

Day 22: Meribel, Courchevel

Over to Courchevel in sunshine this morning in the hope of finding good snow there. This actually turned out to be a fulfilled hope.

~270degree panorama from Creux Noirs. Saulire in the centre (ignore the giant safety poles in Meribel!)

Up to Creux Noirs on the usual basis of "here's a lift I haven't taken yet", and a good run down to Suisses, then up and down the Suisses black run a few times since it was so nice. Down to the Altiport since there was a queue at Suisses. They were actually playing polo. To end the morning back down to Chaudanne in Meribel for lunch and to meet Mary to ski the afternoon.
We went up both Tougnette lifts and had a good run down before deciding to go back to Courchevel since Mary hadn't found the Suisses run yet. Skiing with Mary makes me realise I should put in many more turns! A few more runs around Suisses and Turcs (which is mostly the same run), then back to Meribel for tea.

Peter, Jen, Sophia, Jim, Joanna

An excellent day to finish a pleasant week in the 3Vallees (which have been teaching me to keep my legs apart by throwing in some ice here and there to make things "interesting"). Tomorrow to Champagny for the day to ski with Manissa and friends for the day, then on to Tignes for next week.

Chalet host Mary drinking Irish coffee

Day 21: Meribel, Courchevel, Les Menuires

A day under high cloud, so flat light. The meteo claimed the high cloud would clear at lunchtime, but if anything it got worse. Over to Courchevel with Jen and Soph(ia) who competently handled the red runs we found.

Panorama from Saulire looking including our favourite mountain.

We found the most expensive coffee yet (Euro 4.50 for an espresso), the fact that it was in Courchevel, and next to a Polo pitch should have been a giveaway. The people arriving seemed to be Camilla clones...

Panorama at the top of La Vizelle

At the top of La Vizelle we came across The Thinker. Maybe he's considering whether he can afford a coffee.

Soph and Jen were meeting some friends who'd been in ski school for lunch at noon in Meribel, so we headed back, and I carried on to Les Menuires, where I could hear the dessert du jour calling to me form La Marmite de Geant.

Dessert du Jour

The dessert du jour cost Euro 3.50 (though I think it should have been 4.90), but still, a much better deal than Courchevel.

Up to La Messe, but it was a bit icy and flat.

Panorama from Masses looking NE (ish)

Back down to Les Menuires, and back via Mottaret and Saulire for tea in the chalet.

Panorama from Masses looking SW(ish)

Les Menuires emblem at the top of Masses

Day20: Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens

A similar day to yesterday, though the sky was hazy today (but no snow in sight). Up and down a slightly different set of lifts and runs,  as usual taking the wrong lifts on a few occasions on the basis of "here's a lift I wonder where it goes" without looking at the piste map.

Pointless signs!?

This approach did find these wonderful signs next to a drag lift, though!

On Portette I fell over, for the first time this week. Rats. Finally I got up to the top of the Col (one of the slowest chair lifts in the world AFAICT) by the Glacier de Thorens at 3130m. Here's a panorama (for the Editor's benefit looking south, so not including Mont Blanc). This was stitched together in no time by the wonderful Hugin open source stitching software. Throw in three photos, ask its expert to stitch them, and out comes a panorama!

Panorama looking south from "Col" over the glacier.

By now, though, I could here the cries of the "Tarte Tatin fabrication maison" that I didn't have on Tuesday, so down to Les Menuires and La Marmite de Geant.

Tarte Tatin at La Marmite de Geant

The tarte tatin wasn't dessert du jour today, but it seemed a good choice. Indeed, there was a chap at the next table who'd just finished eating his dessert du jour (fromage frais au coulis), but, when he saw my tarte tatin he ordered one too!
Back to Meribel without going via Mottaret just in time to hear them announcing the final results of the Europa cup slalom.

Meribel with that mountain behind it

Up on Saulire and so home by 4pm. This seemed like a shorter day than yesterday, but My Tracks reckons yesterday was 6:15:52 and today 6:15:23, and that I was moving longer today, which seems unlikely since I stopped for lunch today but didn't yesterday. I think it's the teleportation yesterday that confuses it!

Jim at 3 Marches (2704m)

Day 19: Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens

First the news from last night. Meribel beat Courchevel 9-4 in the ice-hockey. An enthusiastic crowd of somewhat less than 100 people watched the match. A lot of the support was in English. The choice of music (which appeared at every break in play) was slightly weird. I wasn't expecting "Mrs Robinson". For some reason I hadn't worked out that an ice rink might be a cold place, so despite all my outside clothing I was cold by the end of the event. The driver of the ice resurfacing machine got a big cheer when he ran out of water half way through the job. One of the Meribel players was sin-binned for obstruction. It looked exactly the same as the rest of the play to me.

Bottom of Europa Cup course

I was woken by a big crash at 8am, which turned out to be the weird triangular window in my room falling open. That may explain why I was so cold!

The Europa Cup  is in town, with three races. There was an Austrian standing on a balcony above where I took this radio-ing comments on the course back up the mountain for his team, apparently with good effect, since an Austrian won.

Mary suggested that the Messes slopes above Les Menuires might be good, and, indeed they were. The snow was much nicer there again. This did cause me to find the other half of Les Menuires, which means I should maybe revisit my assertion that it doesn't look like some piece of the banlieus dumped in the Alps.

Les Menuires

Mont Blanc in the distance from Bouchet

Looking South(ish) from Bouchet

Since the snow was good and I had time I decided to  see if I could get to the top of the whole 3Vallees, so up to Val Thorens then up the bubble and cable car (Cime Caron) which they claim is at 3200m. From there down a black run round the back (really in the fourth valley of the Trois Vallees) and then up two slow chair lifts to they to the top of Bouchet at 3230m. Back down to Val Thorens and then up on the wrong lift so had a quick run down a nice red (the snow in Val Thorens was nice today!). Up and down via Mottaret to Meribel. A long day, which My Tracks reckons at close to 95km (which may be a slight under-estimate, since the maps shows some use of the transporter beam).


For the benefit of The Editor I have included some photos that don't include Mont Blanc today, though I believe that there's an obscure French law (<insert link to made up Wikipedia article here>) that says you have to have at least one picture of Mont Blanc every day if you can see it.

Day 18: Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens

Over dinner last night I discovered that Peter runs a choir, and is also one of the people responsible for Ted Fest. Here (video) he is as one of the "Christian Brothers" singing his own composition. So, we spent most of the evening going through choir songs, arrangements etc. I expect he'll contact Ali and Dee to talk about using some of their arrangements with his choir.
Up late since it's Mary's rest day so no breakfast to get up for. The sun comes in through the big windows in my room on the dot at ten a.m.. I decided to go in the other direction today, over to Les Menuires and Val Thorens. I had a large omelette fromage frites and demi-pression in Les Menuires. It was so big I was able to resist the "dessert du jour: Tarte Tatin fabrication maison". Espresso Euro 1.90. Les Menuires has improved somewhat since I was last there (maybe 25+ years ago). They've expanded by adding some buildings with pitched roofs, stone and wood, which make it seem less like a couple of blocks of flats from the banlieus dropped into an alpine valley.

Mont Blanc from Col de la Chambre

Up to Val Thorens and around a bit. The snow here seems less icy than on Courchevel, but you still find good "slip 50m" pieces to keep you awake. Probably why my speeds are down! Up on the wacky Bouquetin lift, which is a funny cable car/bubble lift cross. It's like a cable car in that there are only two "cars", so when one is up the other is down, but like a bubble in that there is no stationary cable. The "cars" are like three big bubble lift cars right net to each other.

Up to the Mont du Vallon which the lift top station claimed was at 3000m, but the piste map and GPS reckon less than that 2952m on the piste map. Down the Combe de Vallon red run, which wasn't too icy, but is an interesting run. There's nowhere where it's so steep you think it should be a black run, but it keeps up a decent red-run gradient for its whole length which seemed like > 1km. Just relentless.

No sign of more snow. Meteo France "meteo des Montagnes" had it forecast for Thursday in yesterday's forecast, but it's disappeared from today's forecast.

Time to head out for a snack and then the ice-hockey ("hockey on ice" as the English translation on the posters has it).