Really Really Bad Snow

Well finally it happened. So far until today we have had great skiing. All that changed. Chris Dovell and his pals joined me for a days ski touring. The weather was crap. Rain and snow mixed with very strong winds[which further west claimed 45 lives in France] But not to be put off we left France and went to Switzerland. Our first plan was to go to a very small village called Mex. But the road was blocked by wind blown trees. We quickly came up with a plan B which was to climb the the Dent des Valerette high above Monthey. Strangely the sun came out and the wind dropped [for a while] and we had a pleasant ascent and great views all the way to lake Geneva. However the ski down was horrific. Breakable crust covered porridge like snow. The only person who managed a series of half okay turns was Dovell who was cleverly on fat skis. I was not on fat skis and kept sticking my head in the snow and then blamed my equipment. For Dovells friends it was; shall we say an unforgettable day out.

Mixed weather but always good snow

I believe the quality of the snow is always the most important requirement for great skiing. If there is a choice between beautiful sunny days and crap snow or blizzards and powder I will take the later. providing A, I am not ski touring and B, there are trees to ski in.
This is exactly how it was last week with Reuben and Fiona Berg. We had good skiing but not always perfect blue skies.

Cruising the Resorts

I spent the last week skiing various resorts in Chamonix and the surrounding areas with Maighread. She is equally keen on finding good places to eat. On our last day in Combloux we were joined by Laura and Marco. It just so happens that Laura has here own blog dedicated to Alpine Eating! www.alpineeating.blogspot.com

Happy Valentines Day

Skiing up at Brevent on what must be the busiest day of the season as it was the start of the school holidays and perfect blue skies and great snow.

Three different days

Stephen Yeates John Donner and Mike Woolford came out for their annual trip to Chamonix to ski with me. On Our first day we struggled to see a thing, thick mist but at least it was snowing hard, We did eventually find some very good tree descents undrneath the Flegere cable car.
On our second day we went to Combloux and hit the jack pot- knee deep untracked fluffy powder on steep terrain all to ourselves.
On our third day we went to Les Contamines and while the snow was not as good as the previous day we did have some long remote descents with a lunch which was very bizzarre. It was as far away from a mountain restaurant as it is possible to get. We eat in some grumpy women's kitchen!

Great Snow in the low resorts

The theme of these last few blogs is stay low. It has been very cold and the snow in the lower resorts has been as good as it gets. However high up the wind has been wrecking the snow making it heavy , dangerous and difficult to ski. With this in mind I travelled again to St Gervais with Susannah Frieze and many of her friends. Susannah apparently won a chalet holiday in a raffle!! We skied in the trees [and sometimes just over the trees.]
Yesterday we skied in Les Contamines where we had a very good morning and then after lunch the sun came out contrary to all the weather forecasts which was wonderful for the visibility but it got very hot and wrecked the snow a bit.