Powder Day

Yesterday we skied with Alison (who is the daughter of John's best man) her husband, Matt and their two children, Jackie and Seb.  We skied the Rochebrune ridge but the snow was quite hard, although it did soften in the afternoon.  Sadly the wind didn't, and some of the lifts were closed so we came back after lunch.  We had lunch at the Staduel as Alison's father, Mike, doesn't ski .  In the evening we went to La Galeta in St Gervais with Carol, Gordon, Neville and Drew as it was Drew's last night.

It had started snowing in the afternoon and it was snowing really heavily as we came back.

Ali in powder

So today we were up bright and early and at the bus stop for the 8.40 bus.  But no bus.  They have changed the bus time table as the French holidays are now over.  But we got to Mont d'Arbois soon after the first lift.  And then we skied down to the Mont Joux chair which was late opening because of the fresh snow so we went up the Freddy drag and put in some fresh tracks there. They immediately opened the Mont Joux chair so it had been skied a bit but we came down under it because Epaule had not yet opened.  Anyway we then did have success on the Epaule.  We were on the second chair and first down the off-piste under the lift.  As we went up again Ali and Matt and children were skiing down so we joined them and then skied over the back in deep powder to the Porcherry.  Seb said he had a spectacular wipe out but no-one, other than his Dad, saw it.  The rules of wipe outs are that they must be in front of everyone.

It started snowing after lunch

As we came up the Croix de Christ chair we saw that they had opened Mont Joli so we rushed over there.  There were only a few tracks down the Grand Chamois as most people were skiing down by the chair, and that was fantastic.  We had lunch at Chez Tartine where we met Mike.  The cloud came down and it started to snow heavily, so we abandoned our plan of skiing down to Planallet.  Also John had left his rucksack in the restaurant and had to go back for it.
But what a fantastic morning's skiing for the last day of March!

New snow

We were promised new snow. but we only had a few centimetres.   Perhaps more will come tomorrow.
Neville has a disabled friend out at the moment, who is staying with Carol and Gordon.  Drew skis in a sit ski, and it is amazing to watch him.  He skis everything, even a steep black, but it's coming off the chair lift that he shows his real skill.  It looks incredibly difficult to keep the chair upright and manoeuvre off the chair.  He lives in Norfolk, near Hunstanton, where he can cycle along the promenade.  A very interesting man.
John is trying to sort out the repairs to the Rond Point.  We were told that we need planning permission as we want to change the format of the windows.  Philippe Scuotto looked amazed when John told him and said he wouldn't have bothered.  John pointed out that he is English and if we go ahead and change the windows without permission someone is sure to complain.  That's what happened years ago when we changed the colour of the walls of the Sylvana without first getting permission from the Marie.  

Staff lunch

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and staff day off.  Nobody got up early to ski with us, and I had a cold so didn't feel 100%, so we didn't get out until mid morning.   We got to Chez Tartine, the restaurant just above the intermediate station of the Princess bubble, at 12.30 together with half a dozen of our staff, and slowly the rest of the bunch arrived.  Most had chosen to wear fancy dress, characters from the Marvel comics.  So we had Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Captain America, Catgirl, the Joker and several others.  We also had a Maid (Douglas had been given a very fetching outfit by Secret Santa and looked very sweet though he had to keep his salopettes on as the skirt was so short.)

Jake came in his one size fits all costume as a mobile phone, which he said was an essential piece of equipment for the director.  Dean was wearing a startling pair of red and blue sparkly shorts which he said were rather tight.  We had a lovely lunch and then most of the staff went off to the Follies Douce.

Today was another gorgeous day and we skied at Jaillet.  The best views are from the top of La Giettaz.  You have the Mont Blanc range, the mountains over towards Val D'Isere and the Aravis range.  It was stunning today.  There were few people about and the pistes were in marvellous condition, so we had a great ski. Sadly I think it closes next weekend, just about the time all our family come out for our family holiday.  We may get one day over there if we're lucky.  

Last few days

Passing the Husky farm

We have had sunshine the last two days, and cold, which has been great.  On Sunday we had some fresh snow and we decided to ski down to the Chattaz bus from Jaillet.  Unfortunately, John and I went too far to the right and ended up struggling down beside the stream.  The snow was thick and heavy and it took us about two hours.  It was not fun.  However, we came out at the Husky dog farm. I really don't know how it operates - they seem to have 30 or 40 dogs there.

Yesterday was sunny and Gordon, John and I skied past the Pre-Rosset restaurant and then skinned up the other side to the Verey ridge.   Gordon was way ahead of us so we turned back before the ridge as some clouds had come in and we were concerned that the light would go.  As it happened, the clouds cleared and we walked out in sunshine.   There were two goats feeding on the lichen on the trees just below the cliffs at Cote.   Sadly, they were too far away to get a good photograph.

Dry powder snow in the trees

Today we skied through the trees down to the path that takes you to the Petit Fontaine chair.   The snow was light and fluffy as the sun had not got to it.   John and I then skied through the trees to the left of the Petit Fontaine run where there are some lovely glades.  However, the stream at the bottom was extremely challenging.   Gordon had gone down a different off piste run from Jardin, and said that was challenging also.

Celebration lunch at the Alpage

We then met for lunch at the Alpage at Communailles.   Jonathan Muirhead has torn the ligaments in his ankle so is unable to ski.  Carol brought him in the car but the rest of us, Fiona Muirhead, Neville and Caroline and Gordon all skied over.  We had a very good lunch.   Carol provided two cakes, one for Neville's birthday in a day's time and one for Caroline retiring from work.  It was a very jolly lunch.

Our family come out in ten days' time and they are going to have a great holiday.  All the pistes are open and are in great condition, and there is nobody here.

Ski Cross

Today they were holding a World Cup Ski Cross at Cote 2000.  It started snowing this morning when I got up, and continued steadily through the day and it's still snowing.  The finals were early afternoon so John and I put on our ponchos (essential when it's snowing to avoid a damp bottom on chair lifts) and off we skied to Cote.  Sadly, the race had been cancelled.  The officials said it had been rescheduled for tomorrow morning, but it's supposed to be still snowing.  Tomorrow afternoon is supposed to be the finals of the moguls.  We shall have to wait and see whether they manage to hold either.   The last time we had the World Cup Ski Cross there was not enough snow.   Now its because there's too much.  

Sunshine and snow

Yesterday was a beautiful day, sunny and good snow.  We met Gordon and headed off to find some powder.   We started on the Epaule ridge and skied off the left hand side down to the Croix de Christ. John took a rather better line than Gordon and me and found a track down the stream.  We did quite a bit of uphill walking!  So we did it again and skied down John's stream, which he said was very pretty.  I was concentrating on not falling into it.

There was a race going on of over 100 competitors.  They were skinning up to the Epaule ridge, presumably from St Nicholas or Chatterix.  From the top of the Epaule chair they took their skins off their skis, strapped them to their backs and walked up Mont Joli.  It must have taken about another hour, hour and a half.  From there they skied back to the top of the Grand Chamois, down that and traversed back to the Epaule ridge which they skied down to the big bump.  At that point there were two slalom courses set down the left hand side.   We watched one or two come down and it did not look a pleasant experience.  That was the end of the race.   It looked gruelling.

Today was a completely different day, cloudy and overcast.  I skied on Jaillet with Gordon, Neville, Caroline and two friends of Caroline's.  John had a day off.  I left them having lunch at the Bonjournal.  It is now snowing but supposed to be a nice morning tomorrow.   So we're hoping for a powder day.  

Tuesday

John went home for the weekend so I haven't been able to blog, as I cannot do it on my iPad.  Friday we skied with Elizabeth and Caroline on Mont D'Arbois.  They skied some off piste but it was heavy and we didn't feel up to it.  It was OK but not as nice as the day before.  We had lunch at the Gouet.

Saturday was not a good day and we came home early.  The girls stayed out and said they were the only ones skiing at Giettaz.  Even the lifties looked surprised to see them.

Me showing the effects of a tree encounter.

On Mothering Sunday John got up early to go to the airport so we three skied together on Rochebrune.  We had a lovely morning and the snow was good.  We had  lunch at the Radaz which was busy.  The girls were leaving early afternoon so we came back early.

Today it was snowing so Gordon and I skied together.  We went over to Jaillet and had to wait while they opened the lifts.   They had to clear the snow before they could allow us through the gates.  It snowed all morning but we had a great time.  We skied the bowl at the top of the Christomet chair about 6 times.   No-one else was doing it, possibly because the visibility was not too good.

I had a contretemps with a tree branch and have a graze down the left side of my face.   It is quite swollen as well, though I did spend the afternoon icing it.  It won't stop me skiing!

Friends and Family

This week everyone has turned up.   Our friends from Istanbul, the Hatton family, have rented a chalet near Jaillet.  Our friends, Rob and Elspeth Pinckney, are at the RP.  John and Tracey Cox are staying with Gordon and Carol in Combloux.   And Elizabeth and Caroline, our daughters, are at the Clochettes.  Wednesday we skied with Rob, Humph and Ruth Hatton.   The weather kept changing. One minute it was a blizzard, and the next the sun was trying to shine.  We had a good day.

Me skiing at Christomet

Thursday was fresh snow so John and I headed to Jaillet and up Christomet.  No-one had skied the bowl at the top of the Christomet chair, so it had to be done, three times!  Then we skied off the back down to the small drag lift.  By the time we got to the top Gordon had joined us, so we skied down to the Chattaz bus.  The bus driver was the same man who had told us to clear the snow off our skis and boots, and then  had lectured us because we were at the wrong bus stop.  This time we were at the right stop and had clean skis and boots.  We still didn't get a smile.   Then we skied down to Cordon where Carol and Tracey met us.  By then the temperature was rising and the snow was getting heavier, so we decided it was time for lunch.  We went to Chalet Emilie at Combloux which was pleasant.



Today we skied with the daughters on Mont D'Arbois.  They skied some off piste, particularly on Mont Joli, but it was heavy going and John and I felt tired.  It was intermittent sunshine but overall a nice day.  The pistes were quite crowded (for Megeve) as it is the last day of the French holidays, and everyone was out.  But the piste down to Chatrix was deserted as usual - its odd how all the french seem to congregate around Mont Joux!

Sunny Sunday

Yesterday it snowed most of the day, stopping at about 4pm.  We met Gordon and skied  the Mont Rosset field and then down to Planallet where we met Neville at the bus stop.   We took the bus to Jaillet and skied down the Face which was good, though the light was flat.   We then went up again and skied down to Magland, 500m past the Medical Centre.  As we got to the road the bus drew up.  The driver told us to knock the snow off our boots and skis.

Today the same driver picked us up and gave us a lecture about how we were waiting at the wrong bus stop.  We knew we were but that bus only runs once an hour and we didn't have time to walk up the road, so we hoped that he would take pity on us and stop, which he did.  A lecture is preferable to waiting another hour or walking a mile into town, carrying skis!

Some weird snow we found in the forest

Today was bright and sunny.  We found some lovely powder off the back of Christomet.  Gordon and Neville skied down to La Giettaz but we didn't fancy the track out along the stream.  However, we met up with them later and skied along the ridge to the wooden cross (which we failed to find).  The last time we did it was about 4 years ago with John Cox, where he received a call to say that the chef at the Sylvana had tripped on the stairs and put his arm through a window.  Fortunately he didn't cut any tendons and was back at work within three days, but it wasn't a fun ski down.  Today was marginally better in that we received no phone call, but the snow was deep and heavy and very hard work.  But we got to the bus, and had a well deserved beer.  This is a picture of us at the top of the last field.  It looks great but was quite testing.

Emerging from the forest - great view of Megeve with the Mont Blanc Aguilles behind.

The Beast from the East hits Megeve & Norwich!

Are you looking at all this snow out of your window and dreaming of skiing?!

It's fair to say that over the last few days we've had more than our usual share of the white stuff here in the U.K. The only problem is that there are no mountains (or ski lifts) to make use of and this country is not geared up for heavy snow...

As 'The Beast from the East' swept across the U.K, our Norwich office was covered with a wintry blanket. We have all been snowbound with poor Debbie unable to reach the office for two days.  Meet our snowman!



Oodles of snow in Megeve with more to come this weekend.  It's been minus 15 out there so very chilly- super conditions though!  This season is set to be a record breaker for snow.
This pic was taken by staff in Megeve today



If it is skiing you dream of, we have some fantastic offers available in both our catered and self catered chalets with prices starting from just £300 for 3 nights. Great deals on short breaks and ski weekends as well as week prices.  All you need to do is find your flights and we'll take care of the rest.  The base is around 2 metres now and there's another 50cm forecast this weekend.  It's really going to be fab for the end of the season.

With 445km of freshly groomed pistes and levels to suit all abilities, there really is no better time to make the most of our fantastic deals and head out to Megeve for a short break or week in a magical playground that is completely set up for fun in the snow!
As always, we're here to help if you have any questions at all - fortunately, we all get to visit Megeve with our families at least once a year, so we know the resort really well.

Hope to hear from you soon

Elizabeth, Debbie, Rachel, Sarah & John xx

More Snow

We woke up this morning to fresh snow and it was still snowing.   We had a great morning mostly skiing pistes, as there was not quite enough snow to cover all the moguls off piste.  However, we did the Monrosset field twice and that was nice.

This afternoon the temperature has risen dramatically and we have sunshine.  We haven't seen much of that recently, although yesterday was sunny.

On Tuesday evening we had dinner at the Sylvana, and there were two Lincolnshire famers and the son-in-law of one of them who was a farmer in Somerset.  One of the farmers lived in the village where I grew up, and his daughter and son-in-law married in the church where John and I got married 50 years ago.  They knew a lot of the people I remembered as a child and teenager.  It was a real trip down memory lane.  The next day we skied with them on Jaillet and had an enjoyable morning showing them round the slopes.  We do have some lovely and interesting guests.