Tuesday 2nd February,
Snow, snow, snow! This week has been fantastic. We have had loads of snow fall, and it just keeps coming. The forecast for the week says it will be snowing everyday day until Monday. It also says there might be a day or two of rain which would absolutely terrible as it would just wash away all the snow we have just had. However the forecast keeps changing between snowing and raining and seeing it is so cold hopefully it will fall as snow.
It really has been very cold this week, getting down to -27 at night, it is very bitter on the mountain. I just got some new icebreaker thermals and I am amazed at the difference they have made. My outerwear isn’t the best quality and I often get really cold, but with these thermals I have been absolutely fine. It is really worth getting good kit for the snow, there’s nothing worse than not being to enjoy yourself skiing because you are cold and miserable. I also got some icebreaker gloves liners which have kept my hands a lot warmer in my cheap gloves. I also decided it is time to get some decent gloves and have ordered some of the world famous leather Hestra gloves; I can’t wait until they get here, no more cold hands!
On Saturday we had a huge amount of snowfall, over 50cm! Everything is looking beautiful, including the slopes! On Sunday we went up to Chatel and skied some of our favourite routes. The snow was so good and deep, we were getting face shots all day. We were heading over to Valley de la Manche to finish an epic day of powder, and on the way over my friend didn’t quite know his way down one of the routes and got stuck on a massive cliff band! He was just above the cliffs and tried to traverse around but it was so icy he kept slipping and slipping. He slipped right to the very edge but luckily there was a tree there which he put his board up against so he didn’t fall off! It was so so scary, we were below and could see him sitting right on the very edge of this huge cliff. We went to get the Pisteurs help straight away. If you are ever in any trouble, just get their help immediately. They were amazing; they went straight to the cliff to help him out. The pulled my friend up with a rope until he was in a safe spot and then they hiked out together. I have a lot of respect for the pisteurs. They clearly are professionals and know a lot about the mountain and know exactly what to do in an emergency. Without them I don’t know what we would have done. Thanks guys!
The following day we headed over Les Gets side, to Nyon, and we managed to find some more fresh tracks! Although it has snowed loads, in some areas there just isn’t enough base and because the snow is so light and fluffy you can end up scratching through to the ground. We went through an amazing off piste run though some trees, with loads of small trees stumps you can pop off. It proved to be one of the places where there wasn’t enough base and Rick was flying down the run and got his ski caught under a tree and then went flying through the air into a tree! Luckily there were no major injuries, just a few scratches. We have had a few scares this week; it just shows you how powerful the mountains are and how careful you have to be!
