Yeeeeee... hah! We are back on the snow again! Although shadows of our former selves we managed to survive most of the day at Les Grand Montets ("LGM").
We had enrolled in the free safety briefing offered with our Chamonix Pass. The briefing involved some introductory information about the RECCO system and the use of personal transceivers. We were then taken by a Chamonix mountain guide for a tour of LGM. But it was also a day of "Kiwi Connections". Firstly, the lady running the course, was none other than Claudia Riegler, the champion NZ Slalom skier and we also met up with Johnny Benson's sister-in-law, Laura.
Graeme and I had always been quite sceptical of the RECCO avalanche victim recovery system. Given the size and weight of the detection equipment (several kilos and about the size of a car battery) we thought that the RECCO System was pretty lame. It seemed to us that by the time the Ski Patrol brought the cumbersome equipment to the location, valuable time would be lost and its only use was for body recovery (and we don't mean alive & kicking!). But today, the Ski Patrol showed us the "latest" system. The detection unit is only 1kg and about 20cm2 in size. In the Chamonix valley all the patrollers carry this new system in their kit. They showed us how it operated and we were well impressed.
After a short practice with our transceivers we were assigned Eric, the french mountain guide who took us for a quick educational tour of LGM off-piste. We suspect that Eric, was rather keen on the semaphore code or he was a calisthenic instructor in a former life!! Before commencing our run down the mountain he made us perform all manner of complicated arm waving exercises. Ostensibly it was to help us warm up. But I am suspicious! I think he actually had a bet with his fellow guides that he could get a bunch of people to perform the "YMCA dance" at the top of with telecabine! Tragically I wasn't quick enough to capture it on film, but it certainly stopped the passing skiers for a moment or two.
We ended up liking Eric immensely. He had a good command of the english language and a cheeky sense of humour! He interspersed our ski down with useful snippets of information about the Chamonix valley and the current snow conditions.
After lunch, Graeme wisely found a warm spot in the cafe to chill while Laura and I went for a long run from the top of LGM. Laura was a great guide and found some lovely soft pockets of snow. We had a good swap of Scottish/NZ news and we look forward to meeting her husband - JB's brother, Pete.
So what's the reference to Glen Plake? And who is Glen Plake? For those who don't know, quickly take a look at this link http://www.glenplake.net/ to get some background.
This morning we rode the cable car with an old bloke who was sporting a "Mohawk" haircut. Now, it's not everyday that you see a man in his 60's with a Mohawk. Graeme was just impressed that the man still had enough of his own hair and it was located in the middle of his head to make such a haircut possible!! I was determined to get a photo. Truthfully, I wanted to go up and talk to him and find out his story, but a certain party pooper wouldn't let me! Can you imagine? ...How anyone would think I was going to cause an embarrassment - Moi??? I just wanted to know if he was related to Glen Plake (the famous extreme skier) or if he was just a fan? Fair question I thought? Unfortunately "GP's Dad" proved remarkably difficult to secretly photograph. My attempts to crawl under the cafe tables and hide behind the pillars proved spectacularly unsuccessful. Finally, after many attempts I was able to catch him coming down from the cable car. Unfortunately it's not the close up that I wanted, but look carefully and you'll see a man who is not afraid to try new things....at any age. Rock on "GP's Dad!"
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