Oops! I spoke too soon...

The views today.... I definately spoke too soon about spring being here. This view is from a similar location to the photo I took outside Reposoir yesterday!

Fingers crossed for tomorrow; Kat (Grand Cerf), Sarah (Reposoir), Clare (Petit Collu) and I are attempting the Three Valleys escapade tomorrow, to include the extra summit of Mont Vallon. Let's hope we can see more than today!!

Spring has returned!

After a fabulously warm February, March has been very unusual. I was worried that Spring had gone and was not coming back.

Today spring is back; as these photos, taken outside Reposoir this morning, show.

There was not a cloud in the sky! Temperatures soared throughout the day. It is hopefully now that time of year where seasonnaires spend the morning perfecting their goggle marks and the afternoons relaxing with pints of shandy outside the Taverne....

The snow has been incredible this March and many of the old goats are saying it has snowed more than any of them can remember for March.

Don't be fooled by the blue skies shown though, temperatures at night are still low and there are still plenty of icicles around, as below...

A trip down the valley...

Bozel, as seen from La Chouliere

Our destination was Bozel, a lovely little town in the bottom of the valley, far far below Courchevel. Our tour guide was Philippe and there were 12 of us who took on the adventure. The route to Bozel starts on the Jean Blanc run towards Le Praz. This piste had lots of snow on it and was beautifully pisted. We did not see another person the whole way down; it was almost as if we had hired out the piste, just for us.

Jean Blanc joins Les Brigues piste and from there you drop off the side into the off piste all the way. Some took 'drop off' a little more literally than others...

At La Chouliere, we took off skis and boards and crossed the main road to re-join the off piste. The route took us through gardens and over snow covered fences to meet a little bit of a cross country track around Saint Bon. We looped around and over the bridge parallel to the main road and then dropped still lower. There were some difficult parts and some tempers were frayed and almost lost, but luckily I had a hip flask of sloe gin which I had brought especially for such times....

Finally after skirting streams and just about missing all the trees, we arrived in Bozel hot, hungry and thirsty. We had three huge bowls of chips and a few beers to celebrate our triumph...

The victorious Finlays Crew...

Philippe Flop...

Check out the pictures below... We caught on camera an unusual sight; Philippe had a fall!! And not just a little fall: he lost both skis, sun glasses and he has very snowy hair... If you look closely at his tracks you can see the root of the problem. Those blasted trees just jump right out at you if you aren't careful...

The Easter Bunny is down!!!

I have had a visit from some of my family this weekend, and the fun and games have been continuous. Today, there was yet more wonderful powder to be found; and believe me, we saw it at very close quarters... My younger cousin Hannah was adorned with bunny ears to celebrate Easter; as you can see, the ears were more upright than she was at times...

We also discovered a hidden valley in 1650 which I have only come across once before. It is somewhere in between the Pyramides and the Roc Mugnier runs. It consists of some narrow corridors, with trees as obstacles and most importantly, we found untracked powder. Once we reached it, it was a choice of taking it on or walking back to a piste... No contest! So we dived in for some narly skiing. The carnage in the photo below is just the start! My cousins, Andy and Mac, collided in what I think was a contest to go first. My uncle Pete was so busy watching that he wiped out a little higher up...

Seasonnaire tip: Always be the one to carry the camera then your wipeouts aren't photographed!!

That is a lot of digging!

It has been snowing solidly all day and the powder is unbelievable. It is going to take a lot of digging to rescue my poor car who is stuck in his car chalet! Many of the old local mountain goats are saying that they have not seen such in intense and heavy snowfall for many years.

The skiing today has been brilliant. Visibility was a bit patchy but when there is powder over your knees to cushion the landing, it does not seem such a problem!

The video below is to redeem the previous video of my fall; after four seasons I promise I can ski! Well maybe occasionally... But more to the point, look how hard it is snowing!!! Lovely, lovely neige...

Oh dear...

An interesting piece of parking I think you will all agree!! This car had been parked on the side of the road as normal. None of us are quite sure what happened, but we think that another car nudged it and it slid over the bank!

By the end of today it had been replaced onto the road... It soon got driven away and if the driver has any sense he won't park it there again!

Hiking up the Col de la Loze!

The Col from the bottom....

Views from the top over towards Saulire.

Today I was extremely lucky to do my first bit of proper hiking... I set off from La Tania with an ESF instructor as my guide. We headed up to the top of the Dou des Lanches chair and started the climb. We strapped our skis to our backpacks and off we went.

Towards the start, we met up with another ski instructor and off went Yorric, Bruno and I. The climb is very steep and weaves around huge rocks and then up along the shoulder. It takes between 30 to 45 mins. The views are stupendous and it feels like you are on top of the world.

Just when I thought we were at the top, we left Bruno to go down the first couloir and Yorric and I climbed a little higher. Perched on the edge of a big drop, we stopped and donned our skis, with tranceivers set to emit. I was still so warm that even at 3000m I did not put my jacket on - the climb seriously heats you up!!

And so we dropped into the couloir. The snow was wonderful: knee deep in places, fresh light powder without a single track to be seen. We glided down to about half way and then Yorric let me go first. My first real off piste fresh tracks... It was worth every minute of the gruelling climb for the ski down.

P.S. Please don't try this alone!! I did it with two instructors who know the conditions and the mountains and when it is relatively safe to go...

J'ai fini sur la toit!

Our glass next to a conventional pint glass...

Day off is always worth celebrating and this Tuesday was no exception... Clare (Petit Collu), Sarah (Reposoir) and I decided to head over to La Tania. While there we popped into the Chrome bar and ordered a big beer... 3l worth of big! As you can see, we all look totally natural with it!!

However if you think this is good, some of the other Finlays crew were living it up in the Rond Point in Meribel. The Ronny is renowned for its apres ski. Unfortunately, there was some crowd surfing and Fi (Elan) ended up getting hit in the face by a ski boot and knocked out cold!! She is recovering fine now and hopefully hatching a more impressive story of how it happened, involving 360s and cliff jumps...

March or January?

So much fresh snow has fallen that it is actually quite difficult to tell which month we are in out here. There is fresh powder everywhere as you can see in these photos from around 1550. It is quite tricky to see, but these pictures are actually in colour!

I love seeing the trees laden with snow. Who says you don't get fresh powder in March? They should come and see this... Tomorrow is looking excellent for day off; I could well be uploading some more videos soon of the Finlays crew once again showing off their off piste expertise...

Lovely view!!

This was the view from the Loze piste earlier today... Bad visibility and murky weather but it is a lovely view for a seasonnaire: fresh snow!! It is supposed to continue for a day and then clear up for a couple of lovely days, so there should be good conditions for all our guests this week and next... It does make it tricky for the first skiing day, but in among the trees down runs such as Folyeres and Cave des Creux should be nicer.

Have you ever seen such a pretty snowboard?

Isn't she beautiful???

I am now the proud owner of this Burton Custom, which I have been buying in installments over the last month... She is so pretty!! And of course, great to ride... I am looking forward to trying her out in all the snow which is forecast next week.

I just cant decide on a name. My old board is called Doris. Any suggestions? I am thinking of Beryl or Delilah at the moment...

Cloudless skies and blazing sunshine...

Another stunning day up here in the mountains...

Temperatures have risen and we are back to the spring like weather of a week ago. I was very pleasantly surprised by the snow conditions when I went up the hill yesterday. I thought the rain would have washed all the nice snow away; but the pistes are in really good condition. There was not really any ice about because the warm sun had softened it all up.

However, if you are not a fan of slush then you should stay higher up. Towards the bottom of some of the lower pistes got slushy fairly early on. However, up around Saulire and over above 1650 would stay colder.

For those with three valley passes, it is well worth heading over to Val Thorens or Mont Vallon (Mottaret); both of these were above the snow-rain line and so still have lovely fresh powder.

Enjoy the sunshine!!

Finlays staff looking good in the deep snow...

If you thought the photos in the blog entry below were amusing, then see these videos... The first is Sarah (Reposoir) attempting to get up after a big wipe out on the Stade de Slalom in 1850. This run is normally closed to the public but as the fence was not up, we took the opportunity of testing it out in deep powder. It went better for some than others...

Next up is me. I manage to look ok until I try to stop and then I have one of the most ludicrous falls of my skiing career, have a look at what I mean...

Powder everywhere...

(Left to right) Abby, Clare (Petit Collu) and Sarah (Reposoir) enjoying the soft landing!

We were so keen to get cracking yesterday, that a gang of us caught a bus up to 1850 so that we could be first down Tovets before the lifts opened. It was CJs last morning and she was determined to have a few hours on piste before leaving at 11am. So off we went! It was incredible, well over a foot of snow had fallen and we glided down tovets.

After they left, I went home and switched from a board to skis and headed up to meet a gang of Finladies... We messed around on the 1850 stade and then into the forest around the Arolles piste. There was so much powder and it was amazingly soft a fluffy. The pictures below tell the story... This is how us seasonnaires cope with fresh powder...

It's snowing!!!

Here in Courchevel it is bucketing it down. Tomorrow could be a great day; the snow is already settling and it is really big fluffy flakes...

First lift is looking tempting for day off...

A birdseye view of Courchevel.

Flying over Courchevel - tempted?

Why not get a birdseye view of Courchevel and try a tandem parapente? It is a great experience and so peaceful when you are in the air.

You jump with a qualified instructor so there is nothing to worry about, they are in control; and then you just float around in the thermals and enjoy stunning views.

You can either call Craig on 0033 681 646 970 or try flying with the FBI (Flying Brigade Instructors) and call 0033 609 765 040. Prices are about €85 for a 20 minute flight; trust me, it is worth every cent!

Miniature sunscreen!

Have you ever seen such a tiny bottle of sunscreen? Or is it just a huge glass of wine???

Remember to wear sunscreen out here, it may feel cold but the sun is really strong. You only have to look at the seasonnaires' goggle marks to realise how easy it is to catch the sun...

St Martin de Belleville.

Today we headed over to St Martin for lunch. St Martin is a very picturesque village in the Val Thorens valley, but located way down, below Les Menuires. There are a few great runs to get there, a blue called Verdets, and one run which is many peoples favourite: Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a red run which is wide and rollling, often well groomed and very quick; we flew down getting air from all the natural rollers which make up the piste.

The mountains down to and around St Martin are almost totally brown, however there is still a lot of snow on the pistes. As you go down, it is obvious how much snow they must have been making and how rigourously they piste bash it.

Down in St Martin there are a number of lunch options along the front, but our favourite is called La Voute and is located near the church. The pizzas are great and the panachés (shandies) went down a treat. The inside is really nicely done with vaulted ceilings and a very cosy feeling; there is also a terrace outside for nicer days.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

It is snowing in Courchevel and has been for a little while!! Apparently there is lots of lovely fresh snow up the mountain, so I am heading up there now...

Ex-staff return and we hitch a lift in a piste basher...

Alex, Me, Annabel and CJ ready to go...

CJ loves her new marmotte rucksack...

CJ and Alex have returned for ten days of skiing / boarding hard and playing hard as well... CJ was the floater two years ago and last year ran Grand Cerf; Alex ran Marmottons last year. They have both been really jealous of all the snow and have been looking at the Courchevel webcams every day for an update.

They are out for ten days and have been on the slopes every day and in the bars every night! On Monday it was CJs birthday so we headed out to celebrate. We made the most of cider night in the Bar in 1550 and then caught the bus up to 1650 to go to the Schuss Bar. After a few more drinks we headed on up in a bus to Bar Le Jump in 1850. We missed the last bus down and so had to go to Kalicos... Following much drinking and terrible dancing we decided to potter home. We took the rash decision of walking down the Brigues piste, which was sheet ice. We spent most of it sliding down out of control.

However, the best part of the night was undoubtedly the end... A piste basher stopped next to us and the driver offered us a lift home. So in we hopped!! We did a couple of laps of the Brigues piste which was fantastic and then he dropped us off. We gleaned some information out of him and found out that it takes him 6 hours to bash the Brigues piste. I think he was very bemused by us but he was laughing so hopefully he was enjoying himself as well! It was amazing being in a piste basher and I would highly recommend it to anyone who gets a chance...

Free punch!

Sadly not an alcoholic drink, but I knew that the title would get a lot of people's attention...

Do you know the yellow car game? In some parts of England, if you see a yellow car, then you can punch the person next to you, as long as they can see it as well... Please note there is only one punch per car / ski suit. On the slopes this game continues with yellow one-piece suits (see pictures below for a few examples). But if you do play this game, then please do not punch too hard! Also, just to be clear, you are punching a friend, not the person in the yellow suit. There was some confusion among certain members of chalet staff when the rules of this game were passed around and we don't want this to turn into persecution of the yellow suit wearers...

Some believe that children in yellow suits do not count because they do not dress themselves; I will leave this up to you to decide. So go out and enjoy the search for the yellow all-in-ones and you get a free punch! Happy hunting!

Where's the sunshine?

Today started with more horrible weather and I think that the guests were actually happy to leave, hopefully it would not be raining so much in England!

Thankfully the day cleared up nicely by the time we got back on the big coach and there were plenty of patches of blue sky, promising a lovely day for Sunday. There were still some swirls of cloud settled in the valley, but at times you could see framed glimpses of the lovely weather they were also having in the mountains on the other side...

Confusion at the airport...

After nearly 18 years, Philippe is still a little confused as to which company he is working for... Either that or he just pinches other peoples signs to liven up a day out at Chambery airport!