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squiz
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Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3070
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13th March 2015
Skiing: Massif Hirmentaz – Les Haberes - France Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: 45.40 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 32.03 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Thursday 12th March – a.m. relax and sort van out :) p.m. shopping,
diesel, wifi :(
We had a bit of a fiddly day really, gloriously sunny and spent morning
having lie in and doing exercises then the bloomin new Yoga mat blew down
the snowy embankment and came to rest on a tree by the water’s edge!
Thought it was unreachable but I did manage to get it back with only wet
feet to show later in the morning:) We had a sort out and a clean up then
left our lovely La Chevrerie and drove down to Thonon along the Gorge where
me and Rob white water rafted years ago. We only went down because we
needed a shop and diesel and it was a shame really because something so
simple turned into being quite a pain!! We started off going to the huge
Cora complex to get diesel at a decent price but the section we were in had
no 24 hour card machines and you had to go through the barrier by the kiosk
to pay – this is no problem and we have done it hundreds of times
but……. They didn’t take a credit card!!! You had to go the other
side of the garage to use the 24 hour machines and this kiosk only took
cash so Mag had to get out and go over to the Mall and get some money out
of the hole in the wall – which we never do!!! Anyway we got that sorted
and moved on to Lidl to do the shop for the week so we can head off to the
wilderness again! Drove down to the lake and ate our lunch then stopped at
the MacDonalds on the outskirts of town to use the wifi. At last we were
back on the road back up to the mountains and drove across the lovely
Valley verte to have a look at our next small ski resort. Habere Poche,
Hirmentaz and Les Moulles form the Les Heberes area and it all looks quite
promising for tomorrow so we took our pick of the best place to park up for
the night and plumbed for a parking place for a ski lift up to the slopes
which is mid-way between Habere Poche and Hirmentaz. Its not so lovely as
La Chevriere which is actually only a few miles away but there are lots of
birds in the trees to spot:)
Rob texted – he is off to Norway with Ben to Snow kite for the
weekend:)
Friday 13th March – ski ***** sunny – Massif Hirmentaz – Les Haberes
32.03 n. miles and 45.4 knots
We made a fairly early start and were up on the Frastaz lift - which is
only just across the car park from where we are parked – at about 9.30.
We paid 50 euros for an adult and senior pass with insurance. It is a
great place with a surprising 50km of piste and we still can’t believe
how good the snow is when it is so sunny although it is a little cooler
today. We set off from the top of our lift and went over to the Hirmentaz
slopes then straight down to the tiny village of Les Mouilles. The slopes
between these two places were great and then when you went up to the ones
above Hirmentaz they were even better. Amazing views from the top of good
old Mont Blanc as well as the slopes above La Chevrerie, the Roc d’Enfer
and the Rocher de La Motte we walked to on Sunday. Had lunch on a table a
little away from the main view point picnic area but could still hear the
only English voices on the slopes – two middle aged blokes virtually
shouting their way through a go pro video of one of them falling down a
slope which was roped off! “Here is Gaz, sponsored by Red Bull and Go
Pro” blah blah!! They came past us shouting nice place for a picnic but
we pretended to be French and ignored them!! The majority of people up
here today are school children having lessons with a ski instructor with a
teacher/helper following on behind to catch the stragglers – what a great
time they have. Saw an American family taking their 4 small children (all
under 4 I should think) up and down the slopes and lifts to the very top
– don’t know how they managed it, it looked impossible to us but very
cute! There were quite a few pensioners too including some walking up.
This afternoon we came down and explored the Habere Poche slopes which were
a bit hard at the top but lovely at the bottom. Back over to Hirmentaz
where the snow had gone a bit sticky but also icy – presume it’s
because its melted and frozen again. We went to the top and walked up to a
little hut to have snack of banana and chocolate bar then down and back
over to our car park. We got back about 4 so we were out over 6 hours and
did nearly 37 miles. As we were having our cuppa and looking at the birds
with the binoculars a lady stopped her car and came to give us a leaflet
inviting us to a gig with live bands at one of the bars in town! Think we
will give it a miss but never been asked to a party over here before!!
photo gallery
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