31 December 2009

Samoens, France


So the clouds were still around, and there was a general level of precipitation going on...  rain at Morillion. As this was to be our last day, we were all keen to get out.

I hoped that higher up the rain would become snow and we would enjoy some fresh powder. We set off for the lift getting wetter than I wanted to.

However once on the chair and gaining altitude the rain turned to large snow flakes and was not so bad.

Once on the ridge even the falling snow cleared up and we joined the other expectant parties.

We started to play on the slopes back down towards Morillion, and the sun began to break through.



As we played over the morning, the slope to more and more churned, but still light fresh snow everywhere.





After lunch KT, Steph and I headed up to the high point on this side with the aim to drop down the steep off-piste all the way direct down to Les Molliets.

The top section was quite cut up, but there was plenty of fresh sections, where we could express ourselves.

From the bottom of the pistes at Les Mollets, we then took the chairs back up to the ridge and down to the apartment.

The day had turned out really well and proved we were right to take a chance, and go for the possibilities.

Tomorrow we would go back to the UK, leaving a day early to avoid the panics on the roads on Saturday with a big change over as the UK went back and France came away.

30 December 2009

Samoens, France

I am not sure what we did today ... I believe we went for a drive around as the cloud was still covering the whole of the valley.

The girls did do some sledging in what is the tennis courts in summer.

29 December 2009

Morillion, France

The clouds were down below the apartment today so there was not much enthusiasm to go out.
 But after a morning spend in doors then lunchtime brought the desire to go for a walk.. first we headed out around the complex and down the track to see what we could see ...  not a lot in the cloud, before returning via the bread shop for lunch.

Buoyed up by the success of the first walk in the afternoon we went in another direction and up into the woods... apart from avoiding the initial section which was as far as the dog walkers got we had an enjoyable stroll, but did not achieve much in terms of landmarks.

Returning to the apartment there was then a desire for some retail therapy .. and a visit to the supermarket for supplies.

The road was much clearer with the rain. And we got a better parking slot away from the other vehicles.



28 December 2009

Flaine, France

Another grey day,  so we were not keen to make an early lift, however, before mid morning I was bored and ready to go out ...

This time I wanted to get down on the Flaine side, so we bought a Grand Massif ticket we repeated the journey fro the day before, but from the high point we dropped down on the other side, to the Flaine village.

From here we cut across to the big cable car and went to the top on that side. Given the low cloud we could not see much and soon we were taking the long blue route down in a big circle. I did think about dropping down to Sixt and catching the bus back, but we erred on the slopes and and dropped back down to Flaine, before taking the Grand Vans chair back up to the ridge.

After our excursion into the other side, we then took the same route back as yesterday.

27 December 2009

Samoens, France

A late morning...  and working out where the bakery was for breakfast.

Following this we sorted out the rest of the kit from the car and dragged it all to the apartment. then we got ready for a trip tot he pistes.

We headed over to the lift stations to get an afternoon pass, and both KT and Sue complained about their boots after the short walk.  We had got the liners the wrong way around, and once that was sorted they were happy.

We took the lift to the top and then headed down and across to the next lift up to the ridge, before descending the other side and up to the highest point of this side of the area.

From here we followed the return route back the way we had come up, and back to the apartment .. a grey day, but we had used it to get a good look around.

26 December 2009

2009 Ski Trip, France

This year it was just us on our own again...  we had booked an apartment in Morillion - a concrete complex above Samoens. This purpose built collective is effectively the mid station for access to the Flaine grand area from the Samoens side.

We got up early on Boxing day morning to catch a train - we chose Eurostar as it would save us an hour on the crossing ... How wrong could we be ... we arrived in plenty of time at Folkstone, and joined the queue when called ...  as a "high" vehicle we went to the longer,  and slower queue as they checked everyone individually for height and the tickets and the number in the vehicle. Eventually we got through and called to the train .. then to stop on the down ramp ...  after half an hour we drove down one side and back up the other ...  apparently the sides of the "entrance" car had frozen solid, and we would not be able to join that train.

The train left and we got directed around the yards and strangely back to the queue for "high" vehicles to check in again ... so eventually 2 hours late we got on another train. All the float now used up.

Luckily the rest of the journey was just busy, with heavy traffic,and up to the turn off at Bourg-en-Bresse we were fine. then we joined the queue for the tunnel to the viaducts .. and lost another hour crawling up the side of the mountain. From the other side of the tunnel, as usual, it got easier through to Geneva, and so on to the turn off from the autoroute blanche that heads to Samoens, (and the Portes du Soleil and Morzine).

Upto now we were happy we could make the key pick up on time at the building in the main village.. then we joined another slow moving queue up and over the mountain to the Samoens turn off ... then in the dark we pressed into Samoens in the dark.

Time was passing as we did a quick tour trying to find the right road, before frustratingly parking up, leaving the girls in the van and Sue and I running to find the road and the shop front. Eventually with 3 mins to spare (actually there was someone being looked after as we had an extra 5 mins ) we found it down a back alley. With great relief we picked up the key and paid the deposit.

Up the road to the Morillion village, was interesting as we met snow 200m below the resort. Not knowing where to go we pulled into the car park, which was very full, and found a slot furthest away from where we wanted to be.

The apartment was on the far side of the complex looking out onto the runs (if it was clear we could see up the mountain), but would be adequate ..  slightly smaller than last year, and the girls were not happy with the bunks in the corridor.


We then humped all the gear (that we needed for breakfast and the night) from the car to the apartment in a long relay .. before collapsing in a local bar for a drink and a pizza.

Not a relaxing drive....  but we were looking forward
 to a calmer week.

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