10 Joys of Snow

1.   Being woken up at 6am by Diego (our concierge) clearing the snow from our apartment building car park with the snow blower.
2.. Racing to the bus stop to get the first bus so we are on the first lift. The bus is late
3.  Making first tracks down the black Princess and Bridans piste.
4.  Can't hear the church clock- the snow muffles the sound
5.  Having the pistes to ourselves.
6.. Poor visibility - but then it is snowing.
7.  Gloves getting soaking wet.  They are still on the radiator
8.  Snow down one's neck - but it is snowing!
9.  Tired legs
10 Big smile - what a glorious day's skiing in Megeve 

Snow and Sunshine

What a welcome back! We skied all day making fresh tracks and in sunshine for most of the time.  I made the mistake of following Jonny and not John down one pitch and got totally snarled up in shrubs.  Jonny bulldozed his way through but I climbed up and found an easier path.  We skied down at the end of the day to the bottom of the Chamois lift, and very nearly to our front door.  It's supposed to be snowing this evening and for the next few days so the conditions are going to be brilliant.  Probably won't be able to see but you can't have everything.

Where to Ski and Snowboard

Dave Watts, one of the joint editors of the above book, has joined us for a couple of days.   Yesterday John and I found some new snow to make tracks but today, with Dave, we skied the whole mountain.  We started off on the Rochebrune ridge, finishing on the Ladies Downhill piste which was in excellent condition.  We then took the bus to Mont D'Arbois where Gordon left us and Jonny and Hannah joined us.  We skied over to the Epaule chair and down the Grand and Petit Epaule to Chatterix.  We stopped off for lunch at Le Gouet.  The others all had the croute de gouet but I bucked the trend and had the diots.
We then headed off to Mont Joux as Dave wanted to join the festivities at la Folie Douce.  It was the inauguration so it was busy.  John, Jonny and I threw a few moves to show them how it should be done wearing full ski kit. including helmet and goggles.  Then off home.  For pics see Dave's blog!
Snow is forecast for tonight, just as John and I come back to the UK to look after the grandchildren. Just our luck!  Back in about ten days time.
Still a few spaces to dash out this weekend.  See our website for details!

20cm of fresh snow on Alpette, Megeve

It was snowing this morning so I got out early.  I went over to Alpette which was lovely, 20cm of new snow that scarcely anyone had skied.  I was the second person down the black run.   However, it was blowing a gale, so I only skied four runs, the black and red twice and then came home.   There was no-one else around except for a pisteur redoing the signs on one of the pistes, but then a huge party of French school kids turned up so I decided it was time to go.   We are aiming to get out there early tomorrow and it's still snowing out there.  Can't wait!

We've still got a few last minute rooms w/c 18th & 25th Jan so check out our special offers for a week or a short ski break to Megeve.

New snow

We had some snow this morning which refreshed the pistes.   Not as much as we would have liked but it has covered the patches.  More snow is forecast for the end of the week when we go home, so it is likely to dump.  We are going back to look after grandchildren as we usually do, to allow the girls to come skiing.   John always says there is a dump of  snow at this time in January, and it looks as if he may be right again.  The pistes were quite busy today but it was Sunday when all the locals come out to ski.  Tomorrow they should be deserted again.

Le Gouet

We had lunch yesterday at Le Gouet yesterday, the restaurant just above the Croix De Christ chair.  You can get to it either by skiing over from Chatterix or going up the button lift, which is  the return lift for St Nicholas.  Madame, whose uncle used to farm there, has now retired, but has leased the Fond de Commerce to Violaine and Guillaume.  They have both worked there for some years.  So thankfully it has not been sold to someone from St Tropez who immediately guts the place and charges sky high prices.  The croute de Gouet is as good as ever.  So, if you get the chance, go and eat there and support them in their first season.   You can't book so in the busy period you need to get there early or late.

Ice Flags

We saw these ice formations on the stems of old flowers.  They form on the stem but you will see that they become detached and are almost free standing.  We thought that they were so pretty and different we would take a photo.  This was with John's phone so the quality is not as good as a camera.