 Poster: A snowHead
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Scribblings from The Tarentaise .. SPRING SNOW Combe de la Veliere (La Plagne) March 20th 2009
It’s been seriously hot for several days – most of the off-piste is pas-bon and we must have a cunning plan ...  we seriously crave a good fix of Spring Snow and we gotta find some ... 
The very cunning plan involves finding a South facing slope which will satisfy our every wish, whim and desire und where better than La Combe de la Veliere ... 
The end of this Combe has some real dangers, as it ends in high cliffs over the Champagny valley, with only one definite route out. Fog/cloud is about & we must be sure it clears, as we do not want to get caught in a white out at the end of the Combe.
The ‘Red Team’ ... friends Paul (AKA ‘Paul Le Costume’ ) and Sara ...
We drop off the South side of Roche de Mio & traverse one at a time – just in case – to reach the bestest point, where we will receive the absolute maximum number of turns in this Spring-Snow-Fest ... ! 
.... and get our first taste of this delightful, delectable, deliriously delicious SPRING SNOW ...
Happy bunnies ...
Whilst passing Le Tovet (2120m), it comes to our attention that it’s beautiful ‘Venus like’ curved back hasn’t been skied and it is enchanting ... It is Spring Snow personified, but is untracked & for good reason it’s difficult to access from the East & most consider it too much trouble to bother .... But it’s there ... ! ‘... adapt, improvise, overcome’ ... we have a second whole cunning plan in just one day ... “Fix skins & tally-ho ... “
We are in majestic isolation – serene and calm .... for about 40 minutes ...
... but then becoming HYPER for the ski back down ... AND ‘The Demon Chattering Gloves’ are hyper too ...
We stop just below the sommet rock – our tracks are just visible ...
We stop to mark the momentous event .... snowHeads woz here ...
... but they don’t stop for long and take off without me ... 
We descend in that euphoric ‘swish ... swish ... swish’ .. bliss ... maximising every millimetre of Venus’s back .. each in our own little heaven .... It may not be the longest slope, it may not be the steepest .. and it may be we’re fruit-cakes for skinning all that way up for 40 turns, but I’m THERE with my buddies & we’ve earned it ... ! ... and it’s one of the high points of my season & vaults into ‘The Top-10 2009’ ... AND it’s nearly ‘Lunch-O-Clock’ .. !
Heading on to the track down to Champagny-en-Haut ... what a panorama ..
We now thread carefully as little snow remains and the narrowing track will turn over a precipice, that drops over 500m to the Champagny valley & which we all respect ...
About half way down & out of the wind ... it IS .. ‘Lunch-O-Clock’ ... ! ... und for today we have scrumptious Pain d’Olive Vert, avec jambon cru, avec brie and avec a good smidgin of Mrs BernardC’s most desirable homemade, ‘Spiced Plum Chutney’, topped by sliced apple ... which is marinated slowly with our stupendous location ... indeed a Royal feast.
... and as if by magic and to crown (pun intended) the Royal Feast ... Paul produces TWO, ‘Gentry Quality’ Lu, Petit Beurre biscuits for desert ... life after this will probably have no meaning ....
We leave our eagles perch slowly .... prolonging and savouring the delights of our luncheon and of being half way up an Alp. We descend to Champagny-en-Haut. M. DUNAND ( .. well known Taxi provider extrordinaire, to the entire Tarentaise & cousin to one of our Courchevel guides), loads our skis into his mini-bus. We will have to wait for 20 minutes or so, as we find that we have co-passengers for the journey to Champagny-en-Vanoise - Regis and clients are having lunch in the Refuge. Paul, no doubt affected his sudden drop from altitude and to alleviate any possible boredom with the waiting time, puts on a very convincing ‘Mental-defective-who-is-let-out-for-a-day act’ for M. DUNAND. Monsieur DUNAND, who of course does not realise that this is a very convincing ‘Mental-defective-who-is-let-out-for-a-day-act’, is naturally cautious and undecided as to whether this is an act, or whether in fact he is a blithering idiot. I can mentally (pun UNINTENDED) picture him taking our skis back out and secretly calling the Gendarmerie Special Mental Defective Snatch Squad, to take Paul back from whence he came. Monsieur DUNAND is somewhat reassured when I promise to increase his medication ...
We sit atop a local bench in some warmth from the sun and observe Regis and clients slowly exiting the refuge and because we have ‘done the numbers’, we have the THIRD most very cunning plan in one day. Mme Grumpy-Grumpy is driving, so we smartly inform M. DUNAND that Regis & his clients are coming tout-suite and we are allowed to board the bus ... some minor excitement then occurs when the ‘numbers are revealed’ as there’s no seat for Regis ... ! (... titter .. titter ... titter ... )
We’re very Sad, we know ... ! Anyway Regis has to jump into the front to sit beside, Mme Grumpy- Grumpy, for the whole drive to Champagny-en-Vanoise. What a jolly-jape ...
This beautiful day is drawing to a close, but ascending the telecabine from Champagny-en-Vanoise, I hear whisperings from Scarlett O’Hara ....
.... “Tomorrow is another day .... “ .....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'll get right onto it boss
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hope they are the right ones - looks like fixing the video thumbnail links scewed the still pics ones 
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