Tail end of a storm, turning to wet sleet at village level.
Fresh snow, lots of it, everywhere. Rather heavy.
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The dreaded tyre chains |
Public transport in the resort |
The second Lambert family ski holiday, over Christmas this time. We intended to ski on Saturday 21st, but the weather was pretty bad and we were lucky even to make it up the mountain to Les Deux Alpes. Chains were absolutely essential, but broke before we could actually make it up to our apartment, so we had to walk the last couple of hundred yards. By the time we got to Les Deux Alpes, the snow depth was being measured in feet rather than inches. 24 hours earlier there had been no snow in the village.
John in the snow |
Chris in the snow |
Jenny in the snow |
John in the snow |
We had a typical French apartment, which maximised the space available with bunk beds in the entrance hall.
We all signed up for 6 morning lessons which left us with the afternoon free to ski.
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First day. The weather was appalling. This was the tail end of a 36 hour snowfall which left up four feet of snow. The snow turned wet and to sleet, so by the end of the morning when it cleared we were all drenched and for the only time during the week, we went indoors for lunch.
Every cloud has a silver lining and this storm opened the slopes at village level for the first time.
I was in the same group as Cathy for lessons. We took the gondola up to the first plateau level - "Les Cretes" where we learned about the French system for queuing .. just push.
The slope was not well groomed (because of the storm), so there was quite deep wet snow on a firm base, which churned up into soft bumps very quickly. Cathy was not comfortable at all.
After the lesson, I fell on a short black run at the village level and hurt my nose. I didn't think anything of it, but the X-ray later during the week showed a small crack.
Everyone taking the same zig-zag run |
Tracks through the deep snow |
Village level |
The zig-zag |
After lunch, we want back to "Les Cretes" and then returned to the village level for the last hour or so. One run near our apartment was not groomed and for most of us, the skiing was restricted to a narrow zig-zag track through deep powder. Another run was shorter but in better shape.
Deep snow opposite out apartment |
Deep snow opposite our apartment |
Back at the apartment we could see how much snow there had been the previous day .. about four feet. Later on, venturing out to get food as an adventure as the road surfaces froze.
Below our apartment |
Bellow our apartment |
The only night skiing in Les Deux Alpes |
Last updated: 03/01/97