Let me put some blue sky and snow into your life in the middle of the endless wet spell that is the UKs weather at the moment.
My annual ski trip to the Three Valley’s in the French Alps.
Off to a good start with nice clear views over the UK from the flight to Geneva, here looking over Birmingham.
South Coast of England and the Isle of Wight.
Lake Geneva and the Jura. I don’t think I’ve ever landed at Geneva from this direction before. Luckily our pilot didn’t make the same mistake as en Easyjet pilot a few weeks earlier when he had to abort his landing after being told by Air Traffic Control that he was far too low and close to the water!
I like this shot as I managed to get the shadow of the plane on the ground below.
Our now regular stop off in Annecy for lunch.
Warm enough to dispense with a jacket and it rained for most of the drive to the resort and was still raining at 1800m when we arrived, never a good thing in a ski resort as it turns the snow to wet mush which then freezes bone hard overnight.
First ski day was beautiful though.
Snow low down was icy as hell but up top it was still in good shape. This was top of our favourite long run down to St Martin de Belleville.
Eating is of equal importance to skiing on these trips. The slightly warmer weather, while not great for snow conditions does mean you can eat outside in the sunshine.
Sun sets on our first day.
Mont Blanc towering over the rest of the Alps.
Like last year it was a week with nothing in the way of fresh snow but plenty of sunshine by way of compensation.
As the years go by I find skiing in fresh powder tougher on the legs so I don’t miss it all that much. Just being out in the sunshine and clear air is more than enough for me.
Another of our favourite lunch stops with a fine sunny terrace overlooking the slopes.
THO and MM at the end of another day’s skiing.
One of my favourite end of day views as the sun casts shadows on the mountains.
We had a couple of gorgeous mornings with pink skies.
These are taken from the apartment balcony.
A new find for lunch – a fantastic burger place on the slopes with another sunny terrace.
Evening sunset.
Taken from a walk up the hill to do some shopping.
I say shopping but it was a lame excuse to head to our much frequented little local bar for a couple of early evening beers.
The Minchin brothers.
The view from the top of the slopes before we head down to the apartment at the end of the day
And yet another food consumption photo!
The slopes of Val Thorens, one of Europes highest ski resorts.
MM, THO and the Aiguille du Peclet.
THO and Mont Vallon.
More eating!
After which we did actually do a little skiing!
On our last day we stopped off at the top to admire the views before the final run down. As the lifts stop running and everyone heads home its a beautiful and peaceful spot. We stayed for half an hour and would have stayed longer but the lift attendants make you ski down before it gets dark for safety reasons.
It was a great way to finish the trip and the first time we’ve ever done it. I think we’ll be doing this more often in future.
A nice, clear sunny day for our flight home. A view of the CERN complex especially for the Prof.
Tired of the endless grey skies of the past few weeks? Let me cheer you up with some pictures of snow-capped Alpine mountains under blue skies from my ski trip a few weeks back.
A (very) early morning flight from Bristol!
High Alpine peaks above the clouds.
Snow covered peaks of the Jura mountains below them.
The swirling clouds looked fabulous from the aircraft but delivered a very cold and grey day for our day’s journey to Moutiers via Annecy before heading up to the resort.
When we left Moutiers for the short drive up to Mottaret it was -1C. When we got out of the car 45 mins later it was -14C!
Compensation in the form of a truly stunning cloudless blue sky day above with a sea of clouds beneath us.
We didn’t have any fresh snow during our week’s stay which is always a disappointment.
But we did have the best week of weather I can remember on a ski trip, 8 straight days of blue skies and sunshine, cold enough to keep the snow in good condition.
A view from the top floor of our apartment block while we waited for the cleaners to finish up.
And our apartment, right on the slopes, top of the column of 4 balconies in the middle of the phtoto.
Skiing is hungry work. We eat a lot on these weeks, A LOT!
One of my favourite views from the summit of Saulire.
And the joy of easy skiing with good mates.
Sadly between the times the above two photos were taken, I took a bit of a fall. Quite innocuous compared to some of my more spectacular falls but I seemed to have done some damage and lay in the snow in pain for several minutes. After a lunch and a large beer I felt better and skied not only the rest of the day but the rest of the week. On returning home and after X-Rays and MRI Scans, it was confirmed I’d fractured part of my shoulder blade in several places (the Corocoid Process if you’re interested). I’m now facing several months of discomfort while it heals itself. Perhaps I’m getting too old for this kind of tomfoolery.
I took things a little easier (although not much easier) the rest of the week.
I was lucky in as much as the weather was perfect and had there been any fresh snow I wouldn’t have risked skiing off piste.
The ski area is the Three Valleys but the name is outdated as for many years its had a fourth valley. This is the long wild blue run that feeds into it. Another of my favourite spots.
Looking out over the peaks of the Ecrins Massif.
And the Vanoise National Park
Mont Blanc dominates the northern skyline. Standing high and proud as the highest mountain in Europe should.
Skiing is also thirsty work, especially after a laborious trip to the supermarket. Our favourite little bar.
And it’d resident dog, who, if you’re lucky will drop a piece of chewed unpleasantness on your shoe.
The rocky peaks at the summit of Saulire and entrance to some seriously steep and scary runs.
THO enjoying the sunny slopes
And yours truly smiling through the pain.
The view out over the glaciers from the summit of Mont Vallon, one of the highest points in the area.
And looking north towards Lyon and Geneva.
Mont Vallon itself.
Late afternoon light.
More eating, this time in the apartment.
Thats Val Thorens in the left of shot, highest resort in the area and in Europe.
View south from the summit of La Masse
MM preparing for run home at the end of the day.
THO from the same spot, different day.
Towards the end of the week we had another, above the clouds, morning.
Skiing just above it and then through it was spellbinding.
Me and MM taking it all in.
Stunning pink Alpenglow from the Apartment balcony
We were really winning on the weather front if not on the fresh snow one.
Our final day and yet another sensational clear blue sky day.
The peaks of Saulire.
And one the World Cup runs that started the day after we left.
And so the trip came to a close. Just one more gluttonous extravaganza in the great little hotel in Annecy.
Flight home enhanced by some great views. Lake Geneva.
High Alpine peaks above the lake and the clouds.
A fitting end to a great trip.
Homeward bound with views over the Severn Estuary and its two bridges as we approach Bristol Airport.
And finally back home with the family as the sun sets on another memorable trip.
Onwards to the main point of the holiday – the skiing.
To say it brought huge smiles to our faces to be back out on the snow, under blue skies after the past couple of years is an understatement
We had mixed fortunes with the weather and conditions.
We normally “ask” for a some regular dumps of fresh snow to give us nice powder to play in.
This year we had pretty much none other than a couple, of very light overnight dustings.
In fact I don’t think there had been very much in the way of snow for a month or so.
On the flipside the weather had been cold for that period so what snow there was on-piste was in really good condition and made for some superb long (and very fast) cruises down the mountain.
And to cap it off, the weather was pretty much perfect. Other than a couple of brief spells of poor visibility, it was cold enough to keep things fresh and crisp without being so cold it becomes unpleasant and no warm spells or rain.
In addition we had some superb atmospheric days of cloud inversions and dramatic effects that really topped things off.
A couple of shots of the duo now referred to as “The Minchinhampton Brothers” – as always a nickname rooted in something nobody else would find amusing but we did (Surname Minchin combined with a place in the Cotswolds they have no connection with called Minchinhampton).
And this is the newest member of our group, Minchinhampton Jr – or MJ as I’ll refer to him here
He’s been through a tough few years battling the big “C” and we’ve not seen him for a while so we were well pleased he wanted to join us. Considering what he’s been through he was in remarkably good shape and it was great to have an extra team player.
Combined with the fact he’s a very funny and interesting chap it really made the trip memorable, if fact my favourite of all my many skiing trips.
As he’s a boarder, I seem to have a load of photos of him lying on the snow, so here’s one of him in action.
And here’s one of THO in action.
That Boarder pose!
Uncle Fester.
Classic ski views.
Classic Burger!
Minchinhampton Snr – or MS or MM if your prefer that older moniker.
The Combe de Saulire.
Descending Mont Vallon
Just before possibly the narrowest and iciest bit of slope I’ve ever tried ski down.
Preparation for it….
Recovery afterwards.
The fabulous “4th Valley” of the Three Valley’s ski area.
A shot of the Aiguille de Fruit on our usual run home to the apartment at the end of the day.
Chilly start on our last morning
But with stunning clouds and weather effects.
MJ looking cool.
Final lunch at our favourite bar, the Cafe del Mott.
The trip drew to close with a stunning and clear last afternoon.
Hearts were sinking a little as the skiing came to a close.
But spirits were still high, leaving us with some great memories.
These last two photos just sum up the whole trip for me. They aren’t of mountains or snow or indeed skiing. What they recall is laughter and the general feeling of easy going happiness. Having the extra person along really made for a great trip and we’re hoping that MJ can become a regular member. I’ve almost certainly had trips with better skiing but I don’t recall a trip that was this much fun. As I put the post together its made me realise just how important the company is on any holiday and how I miss my ski buddies right now. We are already planning next years trip!
Let me take you away from all the grey skies, rain, floods and mud in the UK. First week of February is ski week for me and my ski buddies and we were back in our usual resort, The Three Valleys in France and our usual apartment in Mottaret.
The weather let us down again this year. We had very mild temperatures and 24 hours of rain over the first few days. We even had to spend a whole day indoors – skiing in the rain is no fun at all. After the rain the temperatures dropped, the wet snow froze solid and the fresh snow we had just blew off the top leaving icy slopes behind for the rest of the week.
We managed to stay positive by regular visits to our local and very friendly bar for a few beers.
We had a decent half day on the Monday before more snow arrived.
This was the view from the apartment on the Tuesday.
Time to practice Avalanche rescue in the slopes outside the apartment. You bury a Transceiver in the snow and take it in turns trying to find it.
Despite the fact you can’t bury it very deep and its pretty obvious roughly where it is, it’s much, much harder than it looks. Its a vital skill that we should really practice every year but often don’t.
Whilst the skiing wasn’t as good as in previous years at least the weather was much better in the second half of the week.
No fresh powder to play in but the area is huge and its always good to travel around on skis and just enjoy the crisp, clear, cold mountain air.
Hopefully the photos give you a little bit of lift. They are working for me!
My favourite view across to Mont Blanc.
Plenty of laughs.
Seriously huge amounts of food consumed.
A really great trip with good company and always highlight of my holiday year.
The trip home provided almost as much excitement as the skiing. We flew home in the middle of storm Ciara. Me and UF flew into Liverpool and it was a very bouncy affair indeed. I’m pretty good at handling bumpy flights but this one had me a little anxious, palms sweating. I’ve never felt an aircraft lurch so dramatically before. The Pilot was a star. He gave us regular updates and seemed completely unruffled – at least his tone was! Despite the wind the landing was close to perfect and he earned his round of applause from the Passengers. THO only just made it into Bristol. MM didn’t make it to Birmingham at all. His flight was turned back to Geneva and he had to make it home by train over two days!
Just in case any of you are pining for a taste of winter, deep snow and blue skies let me fix that for you. A few photos and tales my my ski trip to the French Alps a few weeks back with some gratuitous food and beer pictures thrown in.
This was the view from the balcony on our second full morning.
Took a while to reach this point after some travel hassle. We do this same trip every year and its normally gone without a hitch. This year we all faced delays and cancellations and losses. Me and THO had our outbound flight cancelled (ironically due to snow in the UK) and had to fly out the next day from a different airport (that flight itself was over an hour late). MM had his flight from Copenhagen cancelled and UF only just made it. Instead of all arriving in Geneva at the same time on Friday we arrived in 3 stages across 24 hours adding to the grief with transfers and car hire. And as final gesture EasyJet and its partners lost UFs bags for a few days!
Despite all this we only lost one rather foggy day of skiing and the rest of the week was a cracker. Fresh, deep snow and abundant blue skies, cold enough to keep the snow light and fluffy, not so cold as to be unpleasant.
Magnificent conditions and views.
And the company of like minded souls (although this is MM and he’s a bit mad!)
Probably the best day over in the quiet far reaches of Courcheval 1650.
Fabulous weather and some awesome untracked powder runs.
Skiing is energetic and much intake of food is required.
Haven’t really got the hang of selfies and the ability to smile at the camera – I was happy, honest.
Beer is not essential but it would be rude not to.
After lunch we took on the off piste route down into the Vallee D’Arval. Its down the valley to the snow covered lake in the photo below.
Amazing route away from the lifts and more deep untracked powder to play in.
Looking back at our own tracks
THO had done this before and was a little disingenuous is stating there was a “bit of flat stuff to exit the valley”. For that read a couple of miles of skating and walking in the sunshine. It was well worth it though!
An evening shot while on our way to do the shopping.
Shopping is a tedious activity at the best of times. We’ve discovered the best way to dull the pain is with a beer in a very friendly and convivial bar around the corner from the supermarket. We went shopping quite often.
Look closely at the photos below and you can see the zip wire cables that cross well over 1,000 feet above the valley.
Its been here a few years but this is the first time I’ve seen it in use. Here’s someone giving it a go, not sure I’d want to!
We’ve had a few leans snow years but this year was superb. Its rare to see the area looking this white.
Evening shot of the Aiguille de Fruit from the balcony.
Not every day was blue sky.
More off-piste fun off the back of Mont Vallon. Utterly horrid at the top, superb at the bottom.
Off-piste skiing is hard work, more food was required. My second favourite eating place this one at Cafe del Mott (don’t remember the name of the best one but it was good)
Our last night saw a superb show of pink Alpenglow from the balcony.
And one final day of skiing through to the last lift before a rather more trouble free journey home.
Superb trip with great mates. Hope I’ve not been too smug. I hear winter may be returning to the UK soon 🙂
January brings my little treat of a week-long trip to the Alps for some skiing.
After a couple of years of less than perfect snow conditions this year was set to be a good one. Tonnes of snow right down to the lowest levels, cold sunny days with a top up of snow forecast for midweek. What could be better
Not having the flu for the entire time I was out there would have been better. Instead of being out every day I had to try to catch a few hours when I felt well enough to crawl out of bed. For the first few days this was pretty much all the skiing I saw – the view from the apartment balcony
It probably wasn’t the best idea to head out into -19C cold dry air with flu but I had to try
I managed a few half days in the first half of the week.
My friends were the best, they never complained about sharing a flat with a seriously sad and ill-looking mate and were saintly in the way they encouraged me to head out, kept my spirits up and did all the shopping and cooking
There are worse places to be ill I suppose and many, many people worse off than me so I put a brave face on things, savoured the great skiing that I did manage and accepted the long lay ups in bed to recover. Good company and many laughs still made it a great week
On the last two days I managed to summon enough energy to ski all day. I paid for it in the evenings but the conditions were superb and as you can see the views magnificent
The classic view of Mont Blanc to the north, showing just how much bigger than the rest of the Alps it is
Some wonderful cloud inversions in the Isere valley
And over towards the Ecrins
I normally take videos but this year it was as much as I could manage just to get out.
As I was trying to keep my exertion to a minimum I was skiing much more in control and strangely felt I was skiing better than I ever have done
It would be easy to look back and be frustrated at how things turned out. seeing the photos now, makes me think of all the good days and half days I enjoyed rather than any regret for the days I missed.
I think I paid a hefty price with my health though. One week after coming back and I’m still not fully recovered although I’m hoping I’ve now seen the back of it. Today has been my first day without painkillers, headaches and a hacking cough. Time to plan some summer holidays in the sun
End of January means my annual ski trip treat. Just a long weekend this year as TJS wanted to try it but can’t take a week out of college so I thought it a bit harsh to go for the full week while he stayed home.
In truth not best skiing trip I’ve ever had. The runes were bad after a journey to the airport involving a puncture, a closure of the M1, getting the flight time wrong in my head and me making my flight with only 10 mins to spare (exaggerated a little for effect – the flight was 30 mins late so that bought me some time) There has only been two major falls of snow in the Alps this winter and slopes were amazingly bare and thin. Looks like there is plenty of snow from the photos but trust me this is bare by Alpine standards. It surprised me greatly to see such a change in the usual conditions. Perhaps global warming is to blame but my Uncle Donald in America told me that’s just a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese so it can’t be that
We did have some nice sunny days though and even if the skiing wasn’t as good as it could be it was still great fun. Clear skies and winter air is always a treat and any day spent away from work is a good one
This does of course leave more time for convivial eating and lunchtime drinking in the sun
My camera had another fit and went into strange mode for the next few pictures. Not exactly representative of the views at the time but an interesting effect
A nice sunrise before a cloudy day
It even rained on my last day – skiing in the rain is even more miserable than walking in it. I’ll leave you with my abiding memory from the trip. The Le Red Wine bar which is now my spiritual home. Gave us a decent excuse to go shopping as its next door to the supermarket. If Carlsberg (or Grimbergen in this case) did supermarkets……
Back to late January for some rather nice photos of mountains, snow, selfies and over-indulgence
For the first time I went for a whole week’s skiing when fresh snow never fell. Not great for off piste powder skiing but rather good for cruising in the sunshine and topping up the tan.
Obligatory selfie
Ski bums
Blue skies
Cold beers
And some skiing
Snow-capped peaks as far as the eye can see
A proper mans drink and a ladies tea cup
Blazing sunshine
The roof of Europe
Yet more food
And we even squeezed in a little more skiing
Mountains galore
And a slideshow with video footage thrown in for free…..
My annual ski trip to France and back to the same place as last year in Mottaret. I think we’ve found our spiritual home for our ski trips.
Some new pals this year. TBF who started skiing before I did came along for the ride. Equal measure of enjoying some time away from the day-to-day grind of mum and housewife and a love of the mountains in winter. Like me she loves the cold clear air of the high alps and the felling of warmth from a mountainous blue skies. Not entirely sure that she completely shares my passion for unsafe velocities on snow but there is hope
Also joining us was The Yorkshire Gardener. Like TBF she started skiing many years ago after spending some time in Colorado. She hasn’t been for many years but seeing as, like me, she’s approaching the half century milestone, decided to treat herself. Spending a week cooped up with me and Uncle Fester is debatable as a treat but it takes all sorts
As always we had a fabulous time. We were a little worried a few weeks before the trip. The Alps up to then had one of the worst snow seasons on record with several resorts suffering badly from a lack of snow. Even in the week before we went the slopes looked bare and rocky. Before and while we there though the weather delivered what for a skier is a perfect mix of regular snowfall intermixed with blue sky. By then end of the week there was metres of the stuff. Luckily we’d seen it coming and moved the car underground. Would have taken us a couple of hours to dig it out had we left it outdoors.
Having some new members of trip was rather nice. It was especially nice seeing TYG enjoying her first skiing for 20 odd years, it really was a special treat for her, although I’m hopeful that she’ll be able to join us on a more regular basis – she gets the croissants in the morning for a start! 🙂
TBF was less enthusiastic as she needed some lessons.
We hired a guide/instructor for a couple of days, the skilled and friendly Rab Macnab.
We split each day into a half day for TBF to try to get her up to Intermediate level and a half a day for me and UF. TBF found the learning a little frustrating but by the last day all the tips were starting to click and things were progressing nicely. Now that both our kids are older, again, I’m hoping she can join us on a more regular basis. Whilst she sometimes got a little down on herself, she improved markedly from the start of the week and I think she enjoyed the week – at least I hope she did
Me a UF had a day on-piste with Rab to help us improve our own technique. UF has had a few lessons over the years but I’ve had just one half day, having been pretty much self-taught. Rab was very generous in his praise after watching us ski but you could see the “but” coming in his assessment from a mile away. Let’s just say I still have a long way to go. Our second half day was off piste and Rab took us to some new little known corners and into one terrifyingly steep drop that we both bottled out of. It was a cracking afternoon though. Rab comes highly recommended and I think it’s a given that we’ll be seeking him out again next year
The rest of the week was a mix of blue sky and heavy snow but we got out every day for a full day which is the main thing.
A trip to remember for all the usual reasons but also this time for the different vibe we got from having some new people with us to share the fun. If only I go skiing every week 🙂
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
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