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Member#: 7874 Location: Registered: 23-08-2008 Diary Entries: 0
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27th March 2014
Skiing: Les 7 Laux Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered:
Thursday 27th March – skiing ***** Sunny :)
Woke to clear, blue skies and some sun! Cloud in the valley like cotton
wool. We just had to go up again at Pipay Les 7 Laux:) We got a morning
pass (59 euros for us both) which runs from 9 until 2 so 5 hours to enjoy
all the runs we loved yesterday and actually see where we were going! We
were waiting for the lift to open at 9 and were on the third chair:) We
had two of the best runs we have ever had down the empty, brand spanky
newly pisted red run called Matura – perfect piste, perfect snow (no ice
at all), perfect slope for the whole of its very long length and not a sole
in sight. The lift man even had some banter in English:) We tore
ourselves away and went down some cracking reds into Le Pleynet (which is
amazingly 50 miles away by road!!!) and came back on the green run all the
way to Prapantel. We went up to the red ridge called Clapierre which we so
wanted to see in clear weather when we went over it yesterday – it was
beautiful:) We were worried as some cloud was coming up from the valley
but it was only thin and had past by the time we got up there. We spent
the rest of the morning up and down the lifts at Prapantel and at about 12
we went up the TS Pouta lift to 2400m - the resorts highest point and the
starting point to a huge area of Black runs and off piste. The view at the
top was stunning and I decided to give the right hand side a go (the
Jasse). The only way to start off from the top was a narrow path up from
the side of the piste. As soon as I rounded the corner after about 100m I
realised my mistake!!! To get to the powder bowl you had to ski 200m + of
narrow path with a sheer drop to the right!!! I should have turned back, my
heart was in my mouth as one mistake would mean no coming back!!!!!! (this
is not being over dramatic it was very very scary!!) I made it about half
way before getting too much speed up and falling! After realising I
hadn’t plummeted to my death I saw that I had lost a ski and it was 3 or
4 metres below me on a steep slope. If I tried to slide down to get it I
was going to be in big trouble. Then my guardian angel arrived on a mono
ski. I take back all I have ever said about mono-skiers as he managed to
throw me my ski back after two attempts!!! He then made me feel even better
by telling me that we were on the ‘forbidden entrance’!!! Not a good
place for me to be. I just managed to get my ski back on on the narrow
path and then made it to the powder. Although steep I managed to get all
the way back to meet Mag at the bottom of what we now call the Death Lift
– this was originally because it was a very fast chair and came round and
swacked Mag on both calves! Painful! But after my near death experience it
now has a double meaning. Fantastic experience – I think!! While I was
doing this Mag was obliviously going down the very steep and partly
unpisted red and back down to the town and back up the big lift to ski down
and meet me just as I finished my epic journey! There was a practice
rescue going on too and a rescue helicopter was putting up loads of powder
trying to find somewhere to land! We see it all! We skied down to the
bottom together and then on the way back up we decided that I would meet
Mag down in Le Pleynet and that now with a taste for the dangerous I would
give the black Vallons du Pra a go – starting again from the 2400 death
lift and ending up at Le Pleynet at 1450. Although the run in was hard it
was nowhere near as difficult as my last adventure! The run was steep
powder and then a long wooded path. Fantastic. Sadly an injured girl had
to be taken down the black in a blood wagon! Terrible for her and she had
only just started the run too:( but they are amazing skiers to watch! Mag
had a great time going up the lifts and down the pistes she hadn’t done
yet including Les Oursiers which takes you up very high so she could look
down on where I was skiing off piste (somewhere!) and also saw a speed
skier up there and watched him get ready to take off but then get wrapped
round the blue run poles! Amazingly we did meet up – we had arranged to
meet at 1 but it was nearer half past by the time I got there and Mag had
gone up and done the border cross instead of waiting at the bottom:) We
came back over to Pipay and did our favourite red run Matura down to the
lift for one more go. The lovely lift man said he would let us have one
more go even if it was after 2 but we didn’t take him up on his kind
offer because by the time we got to the top and started to come down again
the cloud had come right in and was very very thick. So instead of going
up again for our freebie we went back to the van for lunch. 5 hours solid
of hectic skiing – it was magic:) We really love this place and will
definitely come back. We packed up and left because we really thought that
if we stayed we would want to go again tomorrow and we are knackered! On
the way out we detoured to Prapantel to buy a t-shirt with the Les 7 Laux
on and the progress of evolution through gorillas turning into a jumping
skier:) We saw them the other day and just had to have one as a souvenir!
We set off down the mountain to find somewhere to park for tonight and
ended up travelling a lot further than we wanted (around 50 miles to the
road where you turn off to Le Pleynet ironically!) but there was nowhere to
stop. So we have come up to the ski resort of Le Collet d’Allevard and
the car park of a tiny little drag lift satellite area called Pre Rond. We
are both exhausted! There was a lovely sun set and after a coffee felt
human again so went to take photos. We had shop bought cheapo lasagne for
tea:)
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