Our alarm goes at 2:50am to venture to Gatwick. We've been awake all night though, and we merely meakly utter vows to never catch morning flights ever again; a mantra that we echo for the next nine hours as we begin our journey to Val D'Isere.
At four am the check in area is a buzz with sleepy travellers bumbling aimlessly in circles. Shortly after we arrive at Grenoble, greeted by an army of highly organised tour employees. Asha and I have signed up for one of those package deals; ski, sleep and eat for a week. We're using Ski World, a UK operator, who have a fairly solid gig going here, and I have to say that they have been incredible in making this lazy trip magical. And easy.
We arrive in to Val d'Isere on a bus, passing a classic bond-looking scene: meters of snow everywhere, a dam nestled in the alps and ragged peaks towering on all sides. Patches of evergreens and desiduous trees commingle across the valleys and hills. And then finally the town. A wooden/rock styled chalet town where every building is proudly donning a white cap two to three feet deep. The snow-crusted roads have up to six feet piled up on each side, and all the while there is more and more falling every minute. For hours. And hours.
Well fed, well wined, we pass out early, before the other chalet guests even arrive.
Another foot of snow falls overnight.
The next morning we awake to delicious food, and meet our new house-mates for the upcoming week. All interesting and humourous individuals; this will be an easy week for us all.
More snow falls.
The ski fields are vast. It has literally taken days to explore each side. We might be being blessed with magnificant quantities of fluffy stuff, but the trade off is near-zero visibility at times.
When the skies are clear then the views across the towns and valleys are incredible. Each morning we seem to have an opening of breathtaking visibility. Each afternoon we loose this as the clouds settle in. Clouds which bring yet more snow.
We are here with a group of over a dozen others, and are scattered across four different chalets. We have had some interesting runs together. The perfect visibility runs have included a long descent through trees and over bridges in to the picturesque La Daille 1785. The less-visibility runs include getting relatively lost up beyond the glacier, visibility so limited we were unable to see the next piste marker, and then occasionally getting stranded in plateaus. All good fun though.
There's an amazibg atmosphere here. Cocorico is an outside club that's cranking between 5-8. Pm that is. While there yesterday we were fortunate to witness two fireworks displays. The first atop (or part way up) The Face; a black run. Over 50 skiiers descended carrying fire torches, while sparodic fireworks lit the mountain in bright momentary flashes of colour. We enjoyed this while drinking vin chau (sp?) and listening to 90s dance tracks.
This place has magic in the air. It's an incredible place to visit, to see the town, imerse yourself in French culture, and have a great time. The skiing is pretty darn incredible too.
