Day 26: Tignes, Val d'Isere

Out again with Ben today under cloudless skies. Over to Val d'Isere and up to Solaise (which now has a fast chairlift as well as the slow cable-car I remember).

Panorama from top of the Daille buble (with Mont Blanc!)

Down some runs I hadn't ever reached before at the back and beyond Solaise, then back to Val, up to Bellevarde and down for lunch near the Marmottes lift.

View down Isere valley over Lac du Chevril and its dam. Les Brevieres
is below the dam.

After lunch Greg fell (despite his expensive new Surefoot boots), maybe it was the moguls he wanted to try. He was able to ski down to the top of the Daille bubble and take that down to La Daille. We went down "OK", which used to be the downhill course, and then back up and over to go up onto the Grande Motte again.

180+ degree panorama from top of Grande Motte cable-car (3456m)

The view from up here is great, including Mont Blanc, and most of La Rosiere.
Finally back home, though the run into Les Brevieres is now extremely icy. The snow elsewhere remains surprisingly good, though the forecast is resolutely set on sun.

Some idiot spoiling the view from the Grande Motte

Day 25: Tignes, Val d'Isere

Out with Ben and a group again. A nine a.m. start at the lift (250m walk in ski-boots away) is hard work.

L'Aiguille Percee (from the eponymous chair lift)

However we did stop for a coffee today at the restaurant at the top of the funicular up the Grande Motte, which gave me flashbacks, since it's identical (give or take some snowboards on the walls) to how it was in the eighties. Back then, of course, it was at the top of the bubble lift, but there's now a funicular inside the mountain, though we took a chair lift since it was sunny all day and the funicular is (apparently) slow.

After a non-stop run down from the top of the Grande Motte cable car to Val Claret (which seemed about 6km long, from My Tracks) up and down to lunch (also in Val Claret).

Queue for the Grande Motte cable-car
(built in 1975!) with Grande Motte in the background.

After lunch over to Val d'Isere, then back to Tignes Le Lac and up and down a few more runs before heading home from the Aiguille Percee down to Brevieres. The run back seemed slightly less icy at the bottom than yesterday.

A long day, 7h37 minutes, with 5h39 moving, but a good one.

~90 degree panorama looking East(?) from top of Grande Motte cable car (3505m by GPS, 3456m according to STGM)

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)