It's a Wanaka takeover of Araches

1/ Mike & Leanne on the Cascade Run

Nothing like "peaking on the first night" as Mike would say. Last night was a big "Rugby Night"in Araches! Wales vs. France. Being Welsh, our friends Rick and Gavin were keen to be installed in the local pub to watch the game. They were also keen to meet the Bartons who were, after all, the people responsible for us being here in the first place.

The night's programme was action packed. A quick dinner of mushroom risotto with Rick & Liz, all squeezed around the tiny table in our flat, then off to Pub for boys, and to the picture theatre for the girls. Meeting up with Sue, we enjoyed an English version of "Slumdog Millionaire". What a terrific film! No wonder it won an oscar! Unfortunately, jet-lag hit Leanne and she missed most of the film. She just could not keep her eyes open. The other tricky thing was that the first part of the film is in Hindi, but the subtitles were in French. No wonder Leanne fell asleep! As the film ended, we woke a weary Leanne, Liz and I dried our eyes and went to pick up the boys from the Pub. What a mess! Wales had lost and the beer had won! Apparantly Graeme was wearing most of a jug that had been up-ended and a glazed and wobbly Mike slurred repeatedly "Wow, the beer is really strong here!!" Nothing like "peaking on the first night!" is all I can say!

Understandably, the boys were a little fragile this morning. But the beautiful warm weather and bright sunshine could not be ignored! We had to get the skis on this morning.

We have solved a mystery! For all those at home in Wanaka complaining about the summer that has never arrived - we know who stole it!! The Bartons have obviously had the sun packed in their suitcases all along!!

Mike and Leanne opened their suitcases to don their ski gear this morning, letting Wanaka's Summer escape in to France! Well done Mike and Leanne! Thanks to them, we enjoyed a completely perfect day of blue, blue sky, with no wind and mild temperatures on the slopes today.

Given the amazing weather, the plan was to show them the amazing 14 km Cascade run to Sixt. This long run is only open in good weather. Looking at the long range forecast, it looked like that there would not be another chance this week. Lots of rain and hopefully some snow!

2/ Mike surfing behind the ski-do!

It's wonderful to be sharing some of our best times with our friends. This Cascade Run is really something special. We have done it 3 times now and we never get sick of it!! But given budgetary constraints, we have not previously had lunch at the gorgeous little Chalet Gers. This time we indulged! Delicious omelettes, salad, bread, wine, all consumed while bathed in glorious warm sunshine, by a frozen lake and surrounded by snow capped peaks - does it get much better than this?

3/ G & M - It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!!

We may have slightly underestimated the full distance for this ski adventure. We skied over 25 km today. Poor Mike and Leanne, were understandably a bit tired. Leanne was also very brave suffering some seriously crucified feet from ill-fitting hire boots!! After 15 weeks of skiing pretty much every day, the aching muscles and sore feet that we endured in our first few weeks have dulled into a passing memory. We owe the Barton's our profuse apologies! The good news is that the weather forecast for tomorrow looks hideous. Leanne is secretly ecstatic.

Ski Tour #2 - Comment ca va?

1/ Skinning up to Pointe de la Rateliere

So how was Ski Tour #2? Well, words fail us!

Today we enjoyed a breathtaking tour with the head of our local guiding company - Christoph. He is a personal friend of Rick & Liz's. A mature fellow (ie, our age!!) - he was very much our kind of guide. Good sense of humour. Laid back but conservative and safety conscious - he was very much the "old" and not "bold" type of guide that we like!

Another superb sunny day with freezing overnight temperatures ensured that the snow remained light & dry. We headed west with Christoph from the top of Flaine - 2480m down into an area called the Desert de Plate. It is called this because underneath the snow it's a plateau comprised entirely of stratified rock. Unlike the alpine meadows of the other high mountain areas, it must truly resemble a desert in the summer when the snow has gone.

We headed down to the bottom of the valley, along with many other Frenchies who thought that today would be a good day to go ski touring. Fair enough! It was Saturday after all. But, that is the reality of Europe. People everywhere. However, the valley is huge and there's actually plenty of room for everyone. And of course the advantage of having a guide is that they know all the secret locations.

Christoph led us away from the people and back up again on the far western flank of the valley. From there we skinned and climbed up to a small peak - Pointe de la Ratelliere -2708m. Lunch was spent gazing out over the alps. The views from the top were incredible. To the South West, Mont Blanc and the Chamonix peaks dominated the skyline and to the west was Les Houches and in the distance Le Grave.

On the way up, we skinned through some amazing rock formations. It was like walking through a canyon or ice-seracs on a glacier. It was eerie and beautiful at the same time.

"The Rock Canyons"

And the skiing? The photo of Graeme putting in a nice set of tracks pretty much answers that question. Lovely frost dried, well consolidated, boot-top powder. Great fun to ski in!!

Graeme : "completing the set"

Inevitably, there are too many photos of today! For the enthusiast - click here.

After our second descent we continued down the plateau to Chalets de Sales. A collection of small farming chalets, it is abandoned in the winter except for a 72 year old fellow named Raymond. Christoph is a friend and regularly visits with him. Raymond refuses to leave the valley in the winter. There is no road access to this area and the walk from the nearest village Sixt-Fer-a Cheval is a hard one with a roped descent down through a steep icy gorge. Or a walk up & ski down to Flaine. The mind boggles how Raymond manages to get his supplies but apparantly he skins up and over into Flaine most days!!

Passing through Chalet de Sales, the plateau ends abruptly in a narrow gorge with a sheer cliff towards its end. As we travelled through the gorge we were privileged to see Chamois and the rare Alpine Ibex ( a long horned alpine goat) grazing the steep sided gorge far above us. Christoph has the eyes of an eagle and it sometimes took us an age to find the animal he was pointing to.

4/ The Frozen Cascade de Sales

At the end of the gorge, is a sheer cliff over which a waterfall tumbles 50m to a second terrace.

Hmmmm. Interesting! It's been a while since I have done an abseil. I certainly have never had to do one with my skis and poles attached. 48m doesn't sound very high, but when you are peering over the edge of a cliff, it is still a little daunting. Again a picture is worth a thousand words, so if you'd like to see Christoph and I repel down this ice cliff click here. Graeme has made some funny commentary, so it's definitely worth a look.

Following our little dabble in mountaineering, we continued down the gorge and the wooded forest to Sixt. We struggled to follow the nimble Christoph with his tight turns. I lost count of the number of times I had to use an emergency snow plough to avoid wrapping myself around a tree or hitting a big boulder in the frozen streams we were descending!

And in typical French fashion, our adventure ended with a beer in a little mountain cabin while we waited for the free resort bus to take us back to Les Carroz. How civilised!

It was a long day - 8:30pm - 7.30pm! Great value and we are well pleased to have made Christoph's acquaintance. We hope that we'll have a few more adventures with him along the way!!

A Magic Day to Sixt-fer-de-Cheval

1/ Looking down into the Sixt village

The blue skies and picture perfect scenery really says everything - doesn't it? There is a big high pressure sitting over us at the moment and the nights are freezing but every day for the last 4 days has been "bluebird". No new snow in the forecast, but hey...you can't have everything?

2/ The hidden valley to Lac de Gur

Today we did the ski run from Flaine to Sixt-fer-de Cheval. 14 km long, it was spectacular. It's an easy blue run called the Cascades from the top of Flaine (2480m) to Sixt (about 800m). From Sixt you then pick up a free bus that takes you back to the other linked resorts, Samoen or Morillon. We were joined on our excursion by the Teste family sans Louie (their oldest boy) but with their friends, Pierre-Lui and Katrine and their 8 year old daughter who is a great friend of Camille.

About half way along there is a traditional Gite (Guesthouse) situated on a small alpine lake (Lac de Gers). If you wish, you can make a booking there for lunch and enjoy traditional Haute Savoie cuisine on the way down the run. As the Gite is slightly off the piste, there is a telephone nailed to a sign and you just call them to pick you up. They arrive with a ski-do and ropes to tow you up to the restaurant. You can also stay there the night!

The village of Sixt also has one or two ski lifts, so we think we might try a few runs there. One or 2 lifts? It will remind us of skiing in NZ!!

3/ On the way down through the forest

We joined the Teste Family for lunch after we returned to the very top of Les Carroz - a place called the Tete des Saix. Graeme and I actually joined in the conversation and uttered a few french sentences that were understood! There might be hope for us yet?

But the "Logique francais" of the day belonged to Hubert. He is keen to get some randonee (ski touring) equipment and was seeking Graeme's advice. Hubert is not a small man, immensely strong and he skis very fast and hard. Graeme tried to politely suggest that he would need to look at a "robust" set up. "Hmmm ...he said scratching his chin" "So it's like buying a mountain bike?" "How so?" Graeme asked. "Well, I was thinking about buying an ultralight bike - say 1okg but it will cost me a lot more. So I figure I should buy the 15kg model and lose 5kg in weight. Then, I win both ways: - the bike is cheaper and I'm 5 kg lighter!!....but it might be a little more difficult n'est-ce pas?"

4/ Picnic at Tete des Saix with the Teste Family.

Look carefully, Graeme captured a mandarin in midflight!!