Valmorel Week Long Holiday
Saturday 24th - Saturday 31st January
by Brent
There was lots of snow in Valmorel...
The now annual January chalet trip to the Alps was superbly organised yet again by David Brown.
The group travelled effortlessly to Geneva and were met by our own small coach to whisk us to our chalet in Doucy Colombouviere, in the Valmorel system. There was wee hitch in finding exactly which interesting but affordable chalet was ours.
However, settled in the right chalet, shopping done and beds made, the activity began:
The usual excellent David Brown organised food, great company and the occasional glass of well-chosen wine should have been enough but skiing was also on the agenda.
The route of the week was found by Chris and Clare who ventured off piste during the mid-week outing to St Francois de Longchamp. Others happily explored the off piste, which was ample even though it hadn’t snowed for a while. But the best was yet to come.
It began snowing Thursday evening and plans were hatched for the next morning. Then suddenly a flurry of activity at 9.30pm found skins being applied.
Brent Clare, Nick, and Bruce set off to make fresh tracks, reversing the usual ESTC pattern by starting in the dark. Their ski down was an appetiser for the next morning when everyone was at the bottom station awaiting the first lift.
We were rewarded with a first run on an empty piste with no tracks. ‘It’s true what they say, it’s better than sex’ shouted one very happy camper. Such undiscussable private comparisons aside, the day continued as it began snow-wise with the pleasant addition of good visibility.
At one point we had our own private, telemark only, bit of off-piste served by a fast chair.
A great day (and the whole trip) ended with the strange sensation of skiing on what seemed like the rock hard piste as folk rushed to catch the last lift.