Let's Go Skiing

 So here we are two weeks into our adventure to the Alps and we haven't really started talking about skiing yet.  What's going on, we know there is loads of snow and we've seen Melle's Instagram and Facebook posts so why haven't we had a blog about the skiing.  Well here it is folks so strap yourself in.

Of course, you'll remember when we arrived there was virtually no snow in the campsite or in Samoens town.  The following morning we got kitted out in our skiwear and made it to the ski / boot store at the entrance to the campsite but it started raining so hard that we gave up on making the journey across the road to the Grand Massif Express which is the main ski lift to the mountain.  It rained hard all day and other than doing some shopping we did little other than look out on an increasingly flooded campsite.  But critically it had started to change and from sleet it gradually became snow.  I'll be honest, I never thought it would stick and become a layer of snow but by the time we woke up the following morning there was a good 3 or 4 inches on the ground and it was still snowing hard.  

On that morning Melle had some english lessons she was teaching online so I decided to take my ski's and see what was up the mountain.  When I got to Samoens 1600, which is the mid station, it was snowing even harder and also quite windy, not a feature down in the village.  However, people were skiing so I got off and joined in.  On that morning most of the mountain was inaccessible due to the high winds so Samoens 1600 only had a few learner, or debutant, slopes open.  But I was keen and so I skied them all, again and again.  To be honest it was a good warm up for things to come although because it was almost blizzard conditions it wasn't at all warm and so my only photo from that day is below - taken from the shelter of one of the bar/restaurant/accommodation blocks.  But it didn't dim my enthusiasm and I was keen to share my experience with Melle when I came down.  We planned a follow up together trip the next day.

For the next three days we skied every day although sometimes it was only limited to an hour as the weather conditions didn't improve very much.  But gradually slopes opened and ski areas began to connect eg so you could go up to Samoens 1600 but ski across to Morrillon and Les Carroz and on the Wed afternoon in the middle of a white out the sun came out.  We had just got off a lift in Les Carroz and together with everyone else we started cheering and clapping.  All of a sudden we could see clearly where the slopes were and we skied down a lovely blue run together.  The photo below is from that run.

The next day full sunshine (a blue bird day) had been forecast and although Melle was teaching in the morning I had been invited to ski with our Antipodean friends (see earlier blogs).  We left intime to catch an early lift and met a huge queue of people who had planned to do the same at the Grand Massif Express.  I guess everyone in the resort had been waiting for this day!  But they took me to Flaine and the top of the mountain and we skied all morning in blue ski and powder snow.  It was a great morning and the next day I took Melle to Flaine so she could experience it too.  We had a great time and it has been fantastic skiing ever since although as you will have heard in other blogs it has largely been bitterly cold with temperatures sometimes above -10 on the mountain and the wind chill has made goggles and face coverings essential with our hands and fingers constantly in need of warming up.

But the skiing has been great I've managed to use the new GoPro that my former work colleagues at Energize kindly bought for me and I've posted some links to a few videos I've created from these trips.  Learning to use the GoPro has been an experience and there's still much to learn to 'improve the content' and sometimes my GoPro seems to have a life of it's own.  I've selected the voice activation feature, so I don't have to take my gloves off so often while skiing, and that makes filming even more interesting as I've found footage I didn't think I'd shot when I got home.  Anyway enjoy.......

The first video is from Samoens area and is a 'mural' (that's a GoPro feature btw) of a number of runs and lifts while I was trialing things.

The next group of videos are from the 'Best Days Skiing We've Had So Far' on Tues 24th Jan.  They are some of the most popular blue runs from Flaine area.  If you look carefully you will often see Melle skiing in front of me on these clips, she's wearing a white coat and helmet and is skiing very neatly, which is Melle's style 😁.

You might have also picked up that we went to a Nordic Activities event at Cirque De Fer-A-Cheval at the weekend.  This was a fantastic event for us as we had the chance to experience lots of new activities and also to visit what is a sight of specific natural beauty.  You might have seen Melle Instagram post on the subject earlier in the week but here are some of my moments.

Cross country skiing - Classic Style

Snow Shoe experience - the sights and sounds (including silence) of the natural wonder

Ice sculpture of a Chamoix (which someone sculpted at the event).  P.S. we saw the chamoix on the rock faces through a telescope set up for visitors, amazing.

Hope that's enough for now.  More on other activities available in the area in future blogs.