Gordon's Boot Camp

We woke up to about a metre of snow and it was still snowing.  It was up to my knees as we walked across the field to the Chamois lift.  We met Gordon at the top of Mont D'Arbois and skied down the Voltigeurs and Bridans.  Then we went over to the Epaule lift which had just opened and did several runs off that.  We bumped into Alex Perinnet (a mountain guide who is one of the best skiers I know) on that lift.  The sun almost came out but then the snow started again. so we skied down to St Nicholas.   Going through the trees was interesting as the shrubs had all grown up and were  a challenge.  We need another metre of snow to bury them.   We had a hot chocolate at the Porcherry as we were feeling chilly.  They have a lovely wood burning stove in there and you can hang your ski jacket up for it to dry.  Eventually we found ourselves at the Gouet again for lunch.  We had omelettes but we shared a table with three men from Geneva who had the most enormous steaks, followed by pudding and two glasses of genepy (local fire water). When we got to the top it was blowing a howling gale with the snow burning your face and nil visibility, so we skied home,
Gordon described the day as a training day.  It felt more like boot camp.  My legs were burning.  But what a thrill to be skiing fresh powder again.