bertie bassett, Thanks for the comprehensive instructions, maybe I'll see how I'm getting on later in the week and think about it.
According to the GPS gadget we got in 13 miles actual skiing today and about 22 miles total distance travelled. We went over on the VE , and got as far as Belle Plagne where we had lunch on a sunny terrace of a 3 star hotel called Carlina - good food and friendly service and I would recommend the establishment if you want a special meal. The journey over from 1800 this morning was hard on the legs - this side of the valley wasn't getting the early morning sun, and it seems to have been a while since the last top-up of snow to soften a fairly hard top after the overnight freeze. I've skied harder corduroy, but the longer distance did tell on the legs in the finish. The La Plagne side of things in contrast was enjoying some lovely sunshine by the time we got there, at about 1030. It was still hard underfoot in the shade of the trees, but in the finish, we arrived in some beautiful sunshine - a real blue-sky day and good skiing once we reached the top of L'Arpette. The route taken once across the VE was:
Skiing down to Montchavin, then took the Montchavin chair, Pierre Blanches and Dos Rond and finally Sella chairs to L'arpette, we took a leisurely ski down some very cruisy blues into Belle Plagne. Time would have allowed further had legs not have protested.
Coming back we used the Arpette chair and skied down to the VE, mostly following the Mont Blanc blue - from the piste markers I'm guessing there was approaching 6Km of it - one of the longest pistes I've skied. Once back over the advice given above on the return route proved well given and it all gelled.
Minimum_2 discovered the possibilites offered by his twin tips - maybe more by accident than judgement and put his snow skirt to good use on the odd occasion, but got up laughing each time so that was fine - he is also becoming a speed junkie. Minimum_1 is un-stoppable, even BMF_Skier is having a job catching her In an ideal world her week of ski school (starting tomorrow, for both of them) would rein her in a little, but in reality I expect it will do us no good at all!!
I am getting more confident on the new skis, now I need to start really skiing them. I need to get my weight more forward and start getting the front edges to engage - at the moment I think I'm on the tails too much and they keep skidding out, I've also got to start getting them to roll properly from edge to edge so they carve properly. They take no prisoners and its important that I now start to apply all that I have been taught now that I am getting more used to their larger size and stiffness. BMF_Skier is giving me justifiable? grief about not skiing as well as I can and being too rigid and he is probably right - maybe I need a tot of whisky on my breakfast cornflakes. The way I see it if I can end up skiing these as well as my old ones then my skiing should have improved. I seem to be getting more out of them on the steeper odd red sections when I have to concentrate - and I'm being sloppy on the shallower blues.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Sounds like you're having a whale of a time! When we were in Vallandry the VE was closed all season - bet that is an amazing experience. I'd like to go back to that area one day, but stay in Les Arcs.
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?
Megamum, you're giving yourself a hard time there - don't forget it's supposed to be fun. the kids sound as though they're doing really well; you must be proud of them.
I bet the kids will love the speed gun over in the Arc 2000 bowl. We were over there a couple of weeks ago, and there are some nice blues down into the bowl and down towards the Marmottes lift, as well as some tougher ish reds too. This was mogulling a little and there was a fun natural gully half pipe you could did in and out of beside one of the reds under the bubble covered chairlift. Am sure someone will supply the name of the run.
The view from the Aiguille Rouge is great, and you can head down again in the gondala if the bottle is not enough. The start of the aiguille rouge is pretty tough for a nervous intermediate IMO. But you can take the Lanchettes chair up from Arc 2000 and do some sunny afternoon runs down a bit of the Aiguille which is not too step or narrow, which has tremendous views of mont blanc. You don't have to go all the way down, as there is a chair you can pick up that brings you back to a blue track link ?Reservoir? to the bowl.
Enjoy the rest of your trip Mrss.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Sunday:- We had a slightly disasterous start with getting the kids to ski school this morning - it may have something to do with me not reading the instructions properly and not really understanding where they had to be. I then sent BMF_Skier off on a wild goose chase whilst we spotted the correct sign and headed off in the other direction. I don't think he was best impressed However, we ended up with very little time so found a small shopping area and bought some nice bread for lunch, a beer later and a decent run back down to the top of the ski garden and it was time to go back to the appt. for lunch. We then decided to try for a decent afternoon.
At BMF's instigation I went back to basics on the ski's this morning, I needed to loosen up a lot and prove the skis would work with less effort than I had been using. I practiced letting the tips into the fall line and then setting an edge and letting them come round by themselves. This afternoon we went some good distance. Starting with Vagere then down and ran the upper Transarc, putting us above Arc 2000, we then skied the Grand Renard (Red ) piste and went back up the Grand Renard Chair. We skied down towards Arc 1950 via, Dents du Paigne intersecting Eidelweis - the lower section of which was very busy, but had excellent snow (also witnessed a boarder there take a real purler - he went frontwards/backwards caught an edge and we think the back of his beany hatted head went down first - to say he knocked himself silly for the next 10 minutes was an understatement - in the finish as no-one else was picking him up from the middle of the piste I walked back up to him and he got himself to the side and finally walked down to the lift where his mate was waiting). I don't know if it was because I was concentrating on everyone else on that lower section, but I finally found I'd got the skis up onto their edges and they started to finally carve One curve after another . Any way, once down Eidelweis we went up the Bois de L'ours 31 lift and then down towards the snowparc, where the Minimum's tried the small jumps again - Minimum_2 had the better of them this time!! Then we took Belvedere back across to Chantel and home to the appt.
So progress on the skis today I think - got them carving and knocked off a modest red - G. Renard - (had done odd sections, but hadn't done a whole one) BMF_Skier's comments were that I'd finally got my proverbial backside into gear!
After all it is free
After all it is free
Butterfly wrote:
Freddie Paellahead, I think you just lost the toss!
Surely you're not saying he's a useless t*sser.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Quote:
got them carving and knocked off a modest red - G. Renard -
good for you. Vagere next I think! Not golf though - had huge scary moguls on it
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Monday: We woke to about 5cm of fresh powder (the resort certainly needed it). We dropped the kids off to their ski school group and BMF_Skier and I headed in the Piesey direction off the top of the first transarc gondola, and after tracking through the trees went up on Derby. Came back down Renard - no issue with the vis. and the new skis behaved - best so far (or to quote BMF_Skier their skier finally got her proverbial backside into gear). Big carves through the powder - great fun We then took half of Retour Plan Peisey and the lower half of Ours (Red) down to Piesey 61. Vin Chaud then warmed a rather chilly morning up Back up Piesey 61 and took Foret and Maitaz back through the trees to get back for ski school pick up. Arrived with half hour to spare so played on Chantel practising some drills, and generally having fun in the powder top - which was deep enough to be very useful.
Out after lunch and the clouds had started to come down. We went up Vagere to take the kids to the park and exited into absolutely apalling vis. The worst I think I've been in. skiing at any speed down the paths down to the snowpark was out of the question - snowploughing big skis is hard work on the legs!! We blundered down to the park and the kids disappeared into the greyness over the green jumps. Unfortunately we found them again at the bottom We decided that descretion was the better part of valour and blundered down next to the jumps and picked our way across the bottom of the park obstacle course until we found the bar - I now know why you are taught to side slip - its when you can't see how steep or where the slope is. Side stepping is also a useful technique when you find yourself the wrong side of one the natural snow bowls there . We finally located the bar via a minor mogul field negotiated in the dense fog - I'm sure they turned the music up to help the skiers who had braved the conditions find them, and the time taken to deal with a shot of hot applejuice with cognac quaffed by myself and Minimum_1 (who also ordered her first beer to pay for her ski servicing) saw the cloud lift enough to get down to Chantel. However the initial cloud density had made for slow progress and we didn't do any more than ski that for a few runs under the cloud cover. However, it gave time to practice some drills with the kids. Hope we get another 10cm tonight and a blue sky day tomorrow
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Megamum, the visibility here was pretty grim all day - you wouldn't catch me out there! Can imagine that the visibility was difficult, in a place you don't know well, and with big new skis. Should be much brighter tomorrow (though you'll be doing well to get any significant new snow).
Was minimum 1 ordering beer for herself? The apple juice and cognac sounds quite good...... I'm beginning to think I'm going to take a hip flask out with me tomorrow. Cognac in the coffee.....
Enjoy the rest of your holiday!
I was out on my Wave Magics yesterday - the replacement ones, which are really short (152cms). For the first time, I tried a really narrow and steep black mogully run - and was very glad of them. Did the job beautifully. At least, the skis did the job beautifully; I was rubbish.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Megamum, you were asking about the Arendelieires run - well, here is a video of the Auguille Rouge run... this video (not mine) does give a reasonable view of the run from the the top of the cable car down towards Villaroger... for the first few minutes this is broadly the same as the arandelieres. there is a particular point where it breaks right and you are on you way to villaroger... les arcs regulars will spot this easily...
Any way... its not a particularly hard run - certainly don't be put off by the suggestion of black on the piste map.
You've got to give it a go. And i'd like to think you'd be pleasantly suprised by the run.. I can't think that it gets at all scary, there may be challenging 'moments' but not for more than 50/100 yds or so...
Great to hear your daily reports... can't wait to be there in, ooh, less than 4 weeks now.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
This is NOT BMF_Skier, it is actually Megamum posting under the wrong logon :
pam w, BMF_Skier has told the Minimum's that they owe him beers for servicing their skis (he has bought them brand spaking new K2 Juvy's for the trip and has waxed and set them all up for them to go). It was Minimum_2's turn today and he caused huge amusement with his order and payment for a large beer with all the park boarders queued up behind him.
Richie_S, Thanks for the video - I may give the black a miss! I'm not overly keen on narrow paths or 'edges' with a drop off . I hope Arandelieres doesn't have too much like that. We might go up tomorrow afternoon, after we grab the kids - the weather looks the best it might get all week and there is light snow at the moment which should soften the top a little.
This morning whilst the kids were at ski school the pair of us went to Vallandry. We ran the Vallandry 24 twice with Vin Chaud in the middle as it was damn cold. The first time taking the blue from the top and then running Myrtilles (a reasonably basic red). The second time we headed towards Derby and then back through the forest via Maitaz. Time permitted (just!) a run to the half way point on the Transarc gondola, and back down the top part of Plan Bois and onto Grands Melezes - That run back down was probably the fastest I've been on the skis - boy, they don't half run fast when you let 'em.
This afternoon, we took the kids back to the park - tried the new video camera - see how I go for time later on and might investigate and see if I took any thing useful.
Lets hope for blue sky tomorrow for the view.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much on Tue 26-01-10 19:06; edited 1 time in total
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
BMF_Skier wrote:
pam w, BMF_Skier Lets hope for blue sky tomorrow.....
Seconded.... I have a lesson at 1PM, will be a waste if I can't see where I'm going..
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Yes, was very murky here today too. Not helpful, as I was showing kitenski and friends round the area trying to point out the likely places for them to find some off piste. Just waving vaguely at another pile of murk..... Was supposed to be sunny today, according to ALL the forecasts. So they might well be equally wrong about the rest of the week. Could be a fairly sizeable dump of snow Friday night, though.
allanm - having a lesson is about the best thing you can do in this visibility. Take no responsibility, just follow the man in red (or yellow, or whatever). Skiing with your eyes closed is supposed to be good for you.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
pam w, Yes, he's in red, Ghislain at Vallandry ESF, his English ain't great, but he's about the best intructor I've had over here... so far.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Mistake, I forgot that BMF_Skier was logged in - its actually my post above at 16:55.
The vis was pretty bad in places here today - lower was clear, but often very flat light, but a lift of decent length took you into it, hence one reason for us staying low. We took Varoger to the skipark with the kids this afternoon and it dumped us out in fairly bad fog/cloud - though no-where near yesterdays near zero vis, however, it was sufficiently bad for us to nearly lose Minimum_1 over a lip where a main piste intersected with the path we were on - just at the last minute she realised where she was and managed to right herself. It was just clear in the park, though the light flattened in and out all afternoon. One of those occasions where you did just have to feel what the skis were doing pam w. A very small off piste mini mogul area links the snowpark to the closest bar, and I did that in low vis/flat light and heaven knows how I stayed on my feet. I guess its all money in the bank though in terms of improving my ski technique. I have actually been practising side slipping these longer skis this week, and its proved very useful when the light has caused the slope to suddenly vanish!!
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?
Wednesday: Great weather today - gorgeous blue sky day all day. The cloud laying like a river in the valley.
This morning whilst the kids were at ski school we took Transarc 1&2, and ran the Col de la Chal down to Varet 40 - this is probably not the best run as it required lots of poling. Up the Gondola, we discovered a speed flying (parachute) skiing contest was underway and the Vallee de l'arc was closed as they flew above it. So we were faced with taking the lower part of Arandelieres. I took too long looking at the start and ended up side slipping the first third until a certain chap read me the riot act and made me put in a turn, then I got down the rest without problems. We returned over the Bois de l'Ours 31 Arpette and Charmettoger back to get the kids. It turned out that they had done similar, but had finished with Aiguille Rouge 30 cable car and had been to the top and taken the entirety of Arandelieres back down. Despite this we decided to go ahead and try for the top with them this afternoon - at least they knew the way!! Once up the cable car, we parked the skis and walked up to the top - spectacular views in the sunshine. The backdrop of the mountains and the valley shrouded in cloud which didn't shift all day. We took Arandelieres from the top and there were odd places where I didn't really qualify as skiing it, but I did get down it. It started with a zigzag of two narrow but billiard like tracks that opened onto the black/red area Then there was a nasty little narrow mogulled track/gully area (I'm never that pretty when I ski, but that gully was just a get down it job). Then it opened into a really wide slightly mounded up area that wasn't actually too bad. More tracks led down to the same station we had been to in the morning. I made a confident start on the slope that had given problems in the morning and was going like a good-un, then a snow snake that was buried in a mound of snow caught a ski and brought me gently to me knees (damn!!)*. The rest of the run didn't cause problems. Minimum_1 was brought down by a boarder who offered her no assistance or apology - she has been instructed to chin the next one to do that. Minimum_2 continues to take everything in his stride. The kids told us that the conditions were much better up the top this morning, than when we skied it. We came back home via the park, and the bar that does the hot applejuice and Xante
*Minimum_2 has been watching Harry Potter, and told me that I should have been speaking to the snake in Parseltongue .
So there we go - I had a crack at Arandelieres and I'm still alive
We have also been playing with my new toy (mini video camera). We are still getting used to it, but have nice footage of the kids that I will sort when we get home. At the moment I'm very disappointed with how I look (so you won't be seeing me) - it actually feels much better than it actually is when I see myself, but at least I now know what to work on.
We nearly had a SH meet up this morning. Minimum_2 came back from ski school with a report of sharing a lift with someone in a SH hat - unfortunately he wasn't the same side of the lift chair to be able to make himself known. So if someone with a SH woolly hat recalls sharing a chair lift with a ski school child in a yellow bib then that was Minimum_2
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thursday: Woke this morning to fairly overcast conditions and it has snowed on and off all day. It was evident that we would run into fairly thick cloud at much above most of the mid point lift exits, so we stooged around off of Transarc 1, and Vagere. Having been horrified by seeing video footage of me yesterday, I've been practising improving my ski stance, standing up straighter in my upper body, using my knees more, relaxing my arms, facing downhill and letting the skis do the turns rather than using my shoulders. I think its got better, but still has a long way to go. Les Arcs seems good for that sort of thing - many of the runs are nice and wide and long and of predictable incline, which means I can think about things other than what the skis are doing.
After lunch we took the kids up on Vagere a couple of times and let them play in the park. Then visited the Altiport bar, which has become a regular afternoon haunt after the kids have played - Their hot applejuice and Xante mixtures went down very well today as it has been significantly colder up here. For the first time we broke out the hand warmers for the kids and added extra layers under our ski jackets. Clearly we were not far from bumping into other snowheads today as the bar was sporting a new SH's sticker that I am sure wasn't there yesterday.
The light has played around today, one minute you could see where you were, the next everything blended together into an amorphous whiteness. At least it was better than the other day when the fog caused near zero vis. but I still don't like the flat light, when you can't where you are or even whether you are still moving.
Our last full day is tomorrow, then we hope to get some last minute skiing in on Saturday before the long drive home overnight, so I hope to get a last update posted tomorrow night, assuming I can find time around loading the car up.
Sounds like you've had a good week, despite dodgy vis. I'm all packed ready for the off tomorrow morning -working in Sheffield then heading on for Stansted & flying out to AdH Sat morning. Must catch up with you on msn sometime!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Friday: It's been snowing gently for most of the day - looking at the slope from the garage we are in at the moment it might be snow chains to get out in the morning.
Today we have been some distance. BMF_Skeir and I went transarc 1&2 then skied down, plan des eaux. BM_Skier wanted to do plagnettes (specially groomed), but the light was totally flat up there and I didn't want to do an unknown and possibly steep in places. Apparently I was being a tart, but I got my own way though I was made to feel guilty about not doing it. Anyhow, we had a good run down the blue, and took Bois de l'Ours back up to l'Arpette. We then took Clair Blanc down by the side of the park and then across to 1600. We hopped Cachettes back up and took Blevedere via the Arpette restaurant (which also served Xante and hot apple juice ). This afternoon, we went Vagere and the kids went to the snowpark again. Then we came back Grand Melezees with a lump of Golf (red) (icy as hell under the fresh snow) thrown in for good measure at the top. We cut across to Chantel and took Vagere back up with a similar route straight right off the top of the lift, then finished with Chantel lift and the route back home. All in all about 25Km skied.
Out of the appt. tomorrow and holiday over Hoping if weather permits to do La Plagne again over the VE before driving home. Next weeks residents are getting a good top up of snow to start on. Hope they get better vis than we did.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Megamum, yes the new residents are hoping that too . Forecast at the moment is for it to be very cold next week.
See you tomorrow
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Freddie Paellahead, you'll know whom to blame if the apartment isn't SPOTLESS! Have a great time and you have a safe journey home, Megamum et al.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Hi ,
Mini Snow Report Here!!!
Its Minimum_1 here, just to tell you that it snowed very heavily, here in Les Arcs and you could barely see past your nose. By the afternoon the flakes of snow were very large indeed. The lifts were absolutly covered in it as well. We all got rather cold and me and Minimum_2 were going to have a snowball fight but in the end we decided not to.
Today I, yes I, fell off the Vagere chair lift and the people had to stop the lift and try and get me back on a different chair. In the end I was on a chair lift with 2 snow-boarders and a skier. They were all English so the lady who was the skier gave me a times tables test and a french lesson. Then we went to the snowpark and did the vert jumps and rails. We both went very high and I nearly lost it on the first one!!
BYE this is all from Minimum_1 and 2 speak to you again soon.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Minimum_1 wrote:
Today I, yes I, fell off the Vagere chair lift and the people had to stop the lift and try and get me back on a different chair.
Did you fall off at the start? How many feet do you think you fell - I guess it can't have been very high and hopefully you had a soft landing!
Your skiing in the snowpark sounds a bit too gnarly for my tastes - us older folks prefer to just bimble around on the slopes.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Thanks to you all for sharing your holiday like this. I have really enjoyed it.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:
They were all English so the lady who was the skier gave me a times tables test and a french lesson.
Minimum_1, that sounds like rather hard work. You should have told her (politely) that you were on your holidays!!
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Megamum, thanks for your daily reports - very informative. As the other half of the apartment's new residents tomorrow they have really got us in the mood for our week in Les Arcs. Have a safe journey home.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I'm glad you had an enjoyable (if sometimes challenging!) holiday and hope you have a good journey home
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Megamum, BMF_Skier, Mimimum_1, Mimimum_2, I've really enjoyed reading your daily updates - thanks for posting
(Not jealous, honest! Well, maybe a little bit... )
Hope you have a great day tomorrow & a safe journey home
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I really enjoyed your daily blog, thanks for sharing. sounds like you had a great time. I think i would have had reins on the kids in that fog, sounds a bit scary lol. bit frightening to think minimum fell out of a chairlift, it is one of my worst nightmares
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?
Since you were all enjoying this so much, the new residents of A6 thought that they'd better continue the blog.
Mr and Mrs Paellahead arrived via Chambery and a perfectly routine drive up to the Chantel part of Arc 1800 until about the last 800m. The hire car (a Citroen C4) has fairly tired set of summer tyres on and on the steepest bit came to a very gradual halt. Freddie persuaded Mrs to take over the driving whiled he pushed and then had to run up after her as she zipped away, but started coughing when he came into contact with the smell of burning clutch.
The final approach to rob@rar's apartment is downhill with the steepest bit being the last bit with a sharp left into the underground car park. After inching our way down the first bit of the slope a wimp's bale-out decision was made and we headed off left into the outside car park. However the wisdom of this decision was made evident about 30 mins later as they watched a van (complete with snow chains) sliding uncontrolledly backwards down that very slope.
A few hours later Richard E and Iscream arrived via the Eurostar to Bourg St Maurice and the navette. The navette driver stopped at the bus station in Charvet and dashed out leaving the engine running and the doors open. They assumed that he had some digestive problems but then realised that he had in fact dashed off to the nearby bar for a drink.
Megamum and BMF_skier have left us a few beers in the fridge, and we have had a tea of bread ham cheese (and gin and red wine) and are now looking forward to tomorrow's skiing. The temperature outside is about -15C
Megamum and BMF_skier have left us a few beers in the fridge, and we have had a tea of bread ham cheese (and gin and red wine) and are now looking forward to tomorrow's skiing.
How perfect is that?
Glad you got there safely in the end! Hope you have a wonderful week (I'm trying really hard not to be envious, & I'm almost succeeding...) & do keep up the good blogging work
Freddie Paellahead, Richard E, I hope you all have a great week. Don't forget to keep us all amused (until we have something better to occupy us of course (.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Richard E wrote:
Guess who got the double bed
Ah. So it's going to be Mr & Mrs Freddie Mashedpotatohead from now on.
After all it is free
After all it is free
That's the skiing for day 1 completed - glorious sunshine all day, lovely snow conditions higher up and a good lunch at restaurant Le Solan in Plan Peisey. Iscream has gone from wide snowploughs to almost parallel on the gentler slopes and speed has built with confidence. She probably covered more miles today than in a complete week on previous holidays. Freddie Paellahead will provide a more descriptive account of pistes completed later and there's talk of a photo, but now I think it's beers all round.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
The apartment woke early with the excitement of our first day in les Arcs (to be absolutely precise, the excitement seemed to affect Richard E's bladder and the resulting noise woek the rest of us )
Breakfast of croissant and coffee was followed by all of us putting on several layers of marijuana thermals (at least that's what Iscream calls them - the rest of us don't quite understand this because we think marijauna is supposed to make you chill and thermals are supposed to make you warm .
Iscream was clearly in a greater degree of excitement that the rest of us because she arrived in the boot room without her boots , went back to the apartment to fetch them, and reappeared after about 5 minustes saying that she could not find the apartment
We came out of the locker room to largely blue skies and fairly extreme cold - luckily no wind to speak of but still around -15C.
We made our way down to the Chantel lift and skied Chantel twice. On the first trip down, near the top, I helped a young Irish girl to get up after a wipe out. On our second trip down she had progressed about 100m - "instruction" seemed to be being provided by a friend who was mostly skiing in front of her so wasn't helping much.
By this time Iscream had shown how much she had progressed from easiski's and Norwich dry slope's timid ladies groups so we thought it was time to move further afield. We proceeded up Vagere and across via Charmetoger to the Blanche Muree for our first bertie bassett recommended restaurant. By this time we were all absolutely frozen so a stop to warm up was required (along with some vin chaud for the ladies). I was wearing some new Arcteryx shell trousers and wasn't sure how warm they were going to be - the answer is that they weren't warm enough Luckily I used to be a Boy Scout (that isn't actually true, I was in the ATC) so had put a second set of thermals in my back-pack - so was able to use the (very clean) loos to increase my layers
From Blanche Muree we skied down Plan Bois to the Derby lift, then dwon Renard, Foret and Retour into Plan Peisey to lunch at le Solan - another good recommendation from Bertie Bassett.
After lunch we went up Peisey 61 and back down into 1800 vis Foret and Maitaz.
We took Vagere up again planning to have a sundowner at the Arpette but missed the turning off Clair Blanc so skied back to the apartment and are now having our beers here.
There was also enough light for me to put the snowchains on the rental car and drive it safely into the underground garage - (phew)
THose of you that are familiar with les Arcs will notice that we have only skied blues today - but the result has been a great bit of confidence-building for Iscream.
Mrs Paellahead showed no qualms for her first trip back on skis following her Christmas Day 2008 blood wagon evacuation in Zermatt with a dislocated shoulder - her only problem seemed to be poling on any flatter bits (so perhaps we had better avoid Arc 2000)?
I'm afraid there are no photos because Richard E's (work) lap-top is too security conscious to even look at them
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sun 7-02-10 21:53; edited 1 time in total
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
In my defence i felt i had better put my side of the story. The apartment and double bed are lovely We were a little worried when Mrs Paellahead told us this morning that Freddie Paellahead had had diffculty getting his leg over last night despite being on top (of the bunk beds ) I was very excited about getting back on the snow this morning after all my weeks of practicing on the dry slope so it was an easy mistake to make to forget my boots although was it not really Richard E's fault for not reminding me. I spent ages looking for tha appartment as it is quite a rabbit warren and in the end i decided it was better to go back and face the others empty handed than to spend the rest of the day wandering around.
I had a fantastic day skiing and even managed to keep up with them most of the time, I had three very good instructors. My only complaint would be the orange slow down signs on the pistes which i seemed to be drawn to like a magnet and they always kept popping up when i needed to turn.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
In an ideal world her week of ski school (starting tomorrow, for both of them) would rein her in a little, but in reality I expect it will do 
the kids sound as though they're doing really well; you must be proud of them.
However, we ended up with very little time so found a small shopping area and bought some nice bread for lunch, a beer later and a decent run back down to the top of the ski garden and it was time to go back to the appt. for lunch. We then decided to try for a decent afternoon.
into gear! 
- its actually my post above at 16:55.
next week.
)
