Sking in Snow vs. Sailing in Rain

Yesterday we had our weekly day off and enjoyed waking up a bit later and a little lie in before the curiosity as to what the guests were banging around in the kitchen got the better of me. As it turns out they the disaster zone I had been imagining was actually the ladies washing up and loading the dishwasher! We enjoyed a late breakfast as we watched the snow fall and decided on going up to Jaillet to play in the fresh snow. One advantage of where we are is that when it snows the French stay home, the kids go sledging and we get the pistes virtually to ourselves! Our road is also poorly ploughed which means the 4 minute walk to the bus stop becomes a 30 second ski!

We skied a few runs and made our way up and down a few empty red runs, playing in the fresh powder at the top, skiing like a pro on the nice soft stuff mid-way down and then dodging mud and stones in the sticky, heavy stuff at the bottom. Phil wanted a video of himself in the powder so I duly skied down to a post, took off my nice warm glove and filmed him...he stacked it in a big pile!!

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at a restaurant recommended by our guests from last week. The Chalet des Bachais is at the top of the Pertuis lift for those in Megeve and when it's quiet on the slopes it is well worth a visit. Phil and I spent 35Euros on a monster burger, a beer, a vin chaud and I had delicious goat's cheese-filled baked pastry puffs with some ham and salami and a salad. We had a nice rest from the thigh-burning runs and dried out a bit ready for the rest of the day.

Whilst sitting on a very slow and long chair lift turning into a snowman I decided that skiing whilst it's snowing is much more enjoyable to sailing in the rain. Whilst both snow and water are essential to their respective sports, it is definitely more fun to ski in snow than it is to sail in rain although both sports are probably at their most enjoyable when the sun is shining!

Today was another wet start so we decided to head down the mountain so I could purchase a helmet. I've never felt the need for one before but having reached the mature age of 30, seen enough nasty accidents (including Michael Schumacher's), and am now at the point where I can follow Phil all over the pistes and off piste and also keep up with him as well as skiing faster than him over the moguls, I've decided it would be very sensible to have one. So although I would have liked a nice fluorescent one, I've got a very comfy white Salomon one. 

I'm looking forward to some more snow overnight tonight so I can try out my helmet in the soft stuff tomorrow. So, off to cook dinner and tonight is a good one: Beetroot, pear and feta salad with toasted walnuts; Apricot and pecan-stuffed Filet Mignon with fruity couscous and romanesque (a cross breed of cauliflower and broccoli); and Lemon Tart for dessert.