A week in the Portes du Soleil

Morzine, France Ski Trip Mar 2008

Check out the photos

Don your long-johns, put the Jagermeister on ice, as its time to hit the slopes! This year we were off to the French Alps to ski the Portes du Soleil - a mega resort (actually a group of interconnecting ones) that are spread over the French and Swiss sides of Alps. We had rented a fully catered chalet in Morzine, situated in the valley between the Resorts of Avoriaz and Les Gets.

We arrived early on Saturday and threw the bags into the chalet. They didn't quite seem ready for us so we went into Morzine to grab some lunch and explore the village. It was cute, and had everything we need. It was funny though as it seemed like the village of eternal Christmas, decorations still hung on the streets, in shop windows and outside peoples houses. Even saw a few Christmas trees twinkling away.

The gang arrived later that afternoon. The 10 person A-team consisted of:
Mirjam and myself
Dan and Fiona
Carl Skipworth (my mate from Perth)
Manuela Niederburger (Mirjam's best friend)
Amy and Ollie (Work colleauge of Dan)
Helen and Nick (NZ bro and sis team - Helen works with Fiona).

We had a great time together - everyone got along really well. The chalet was really good - everyone had their own room and ensuite, and the chalet staff did all the cooking and cleaning. We had a cooked breakfast each morning ready for us as we climbed out of bed, coffee and fresh baked cakes in the afternoon, and 4 course dinner in the evenings. I thought perhaps this week of physical exertion would see me lose a few kilos - nope, constantly stuffed like a turkey.

Kate and Don, our chalet staff, were really good. Kate was from Adelaide, and at only 21 was an amazing chef. She was responsible for the restaurant quality meals we had each night - such as escargot, tartiflette and tiramisu. Don was from South Africa and did a great job with the breakfasts and keeping the hot tub up and running for us.

The first couple of days was great weather - sunny and cold enough to keep the snow together. We had a few good days on the slopes - put in some extra hours out there as there was so much to explore. After the first day, i collapsed in the hot tub and knew that the i was going to hurt the next morning.

And hurt i did. I wasn't sure I'd even be able to get back on the snow board when i woke in the morning. In fact, i struggled to even get out of the shower. Every muscle ached, an ache that didn't seem to go away until about mid-week. And by that time, the weather came in! Wednesday it rained heavily, visibility was shot and the snowboarding became water skiing. We could only manage about 3 hours in the morning before we were soaked head to toe and freezing to the bone. It worked out ok as we got back to chalet for some lunch and give those muscles a break. And so the the Jagermeister was opened early that day my friends.

Wednesday night was the chalet staff's night off - so we went to an authentic French/Swiss restaurant and enjoyed some local delicacies. I had a meat fondue with Dan, and Mirjam went back to her roots and enjoyed a cheese fondue. The night ended with schnapps from some a cheery guy in the restaurant whose only job seemed to be that of going table to table and providing complimentary schnapps from a huge bottle with a pear growing in it. And it gave me a terrible headache the next morning.

We took a ski tour on the Wednesday. One of the staff at the other chalet owned by the same people, took us for the afternoon around the resort. Was really cool to be shown around and not think about where you needed to go - just ski/board and enjoy the ride. He took us to a part of the resort we had never been to and we felt like we were never going to get back. But we did eventually, and it was a really fun day with some full on skiing and boarding.

The last day the sun returned, and since snow became mushy after a few hours in the morning, we took a long lunch and tucked into a few beers over the lunch and worked on my ski tan.

Then it was all over just as the muscles were getting used to it. I would have loved another week there (if there was better snow), as the resort was excellent and so much ski-able acreage to explore. Check it out next time you are thinking of a ski trip to France.

Cheers

Steve

Winter 2008 in Sakhalin

Can the ocean freeze? Yes.

Remarkably fast i thought! The first photo is taken at end of January 2008, the second only a month later, same spot. It was solid frozen we could walk on the water (didn't want to push it too far - you wouldn't last long if you fell in!)

I had the pleasure of spending 6 weeks in January and February 2008 on site in Sakhalin. It was the depth of winter. A chilly 30 degrees below zero, and when the wind picks up, it hurts. It was a busy rotation, but i managed to make the most of the remoteness and the abundant snow and get out and about on cross-country ski's at lunch times for some exercise. It was really cool to go off into the forest, with nothing but nature around. I couldn't help worry about skiing along and fall into a bear's den though.



The forest is very beautiful around the site. With no other development for a few hundred clicks from us, it is very much pristine forest. The snow is great too, very dry powder which makes stacking it off your skis quite fun. The sun generally shines, and even though its so cold, being dry cold means you don't really notice it if you have some good layers on. I actually enjoyed being outdoors, and worked up quite a sweat on the skis. Follow the link for some photos...

Winter 2008 at OPF

I had a training course in Yuzhno for a day, which gave me an escape from prison OPF, and managed to catch up with Fabs for dinner. We went to a Japanese restaurant and had a good Tepenyaki meal.

But as always, i was dying to get home. I had to do 6 weeks away this rotation and i was exhausted. Plus i was looking forward to our ski trip to France and Easter in Switzerland.

Steve