After the excesses of the pre-Christmas week, things have settled down and we have had a few quiet weeks. My sister, Lucy, and her family – Wilton, Alice and James, spent the Christmas week in a chalet in Saint Martin de Belleville – a satellite village at the foot of the Three Valleys ski resort, and we joined them for a couple of days. The weather was a touch inclement, but we braved the conditions for a ski on Christmas Day, followed by a traditional Christmas dinner that evening. Thank you Lucy!
Poor weather continued after Christmas: conditions were unseasonably warm and this, coupled with a storm front passing through, brought rain on the slopes as high as 2700 metres. The off-piste was left almost unskiable, and conditions on piste were not much better, with ice and hard packed snow on the slopes. Skiing options were limited, so we took the opportunity to practice our skinning in Villaroger and Ste Foy, though it was also a good excuse for some lazy days at home!
By early January temperatures dropped, bringing proper winter conditions, with a little fresh snow. We joined Alpine Experience – a guiding company based in Val d’Isère, for a morning. Thomas, our guide, led us to some fine snow just off the pistes in Tignes. He kept up a fast pace – in just the one morning we skied from Val d’Isère to Tignes, up and down the Grand Motte twice, up and down a route from the Col du Palet, and back to Val: all off-piste. Two days on, and Cate is still “recovering”!
Most of the resorts around here are very much geared to UK holiday makers. With the border from the UK to France still shut (for Covid reasons), the resorts have been incredibly quiet. Whilst that has helped us find untracked powder, and enter any restaurant in the mountains without booking; for the resorts and the people working in the mountains, it is nothing short of a disaster. We keep hearing rumours that the border will open, and can only hope that will be soon.
