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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2884 |
20th March 2015 Skiing: La Chapelle d’Abondance – Torgen - France Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: 40.64 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 25.10 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 20th March – ski *** sunny periods La Chapelle d’Abondance – Torgen 40.64 knots -25.10 n. miles and 5 hours out We were up very early so no rush for the first bubble up at 8.50. We were waiting!! Have to say we were rather disappointed with the pistes at Chapelle d’Abondance:( The piste basher wins NO prizes! There were 4” ridges like steps all along the piste first thing and I fell and lost a ski on the first run and nearly lost the end off my camera too! They are losing the snow very fast and the only half decent pistes were over beyond Torgan in Switzerland and on the few La Chatel pistes reachable on our lift pass. We had bought 5 hours for 51 euros which makes it the most expensive we have bought this holiday and the worst!! We felt a bit ripped off because you can’t see any of the pistes until you get up on the bubble when it is too late! It would have been better if there had been a reduction in price to reflect the poor pistes. We have never skied on totally brown snow before either. It was hard work battling with the hard packed snow in some places and soft rucked up snow in others. There were also no loos! Although the snow was better on the Swiss side it was spoilt by drag lifts and short runs. There were quite a few birds first thing and the cliffs where we stopped for the first half of our lunch were lovely. The views were spoiled by low hazy clouds although it was sunny and blue when we set out. We had the second part of our lunch sitting on the Chapelle d’Abondance slopes on the bank of a small stream nearing the end of our 5 hours. It was a relief to make it back to the bubble and get back to the van. After a cuppa we packed up and drove up to Chatel to have a look. It is a really big and busy place and we were glad we had stopped in Chapelle. We stopped at an Intermarche just for cake but ended up being intrigued by a massive local Abondance cheese for 108 euros on offer!! We bought a tiny sliver for 3 euros just to try and ate it with crackers when we got back to the car park we were in last night. We did try to move on to a Lake but the road was blocked with snow so we came back here – enjoyed watching families on the cross country again:) photo gallery here Saturday 21st March – Relax, sight see, travelling – rain and a little snow. It rained in the night and was very cloudy this morning but we had planned a relaxed day anyway so we stayed in bed reading for ages. When we got up we spent a while watching the cross country skiers who’s ages ranged from 2 to about 70:) One little family with two girls aged about 4 and 2 set out with good intentions – the 4 year old was absolutely loving it and had a great style of skiing already but the 2 year old wasn’t playing at all and sat down on the piste and wouldn’t move. It was very entertaining to watch but must have been driving the parents mad!! We had a very late lunch time breakfast then packed up and moved on just as it started to pour with rain. We had decided to return to Praz de Lys to make the most of our last few days. Hopefully the weather will improve and we will be able to walk tomorrow and ski on Monday. It is a nice drive back through the valley of Abondance and up the Morzine road running along the River Dranse. We stopped at a Carrefour on the way and bought a bargain roti chicken for lunch/tea. We parked up in the car park we had seen at the bottom of the Haute Fleury lift when we were here the other day. By the time we had got here it was snowing and continued into the evening giving the trees a good coating but it is raining again now. Checked the weather on my phone and it is supposed to be cloudy with a little sun tomorrow and sunny on Monday which will suit our plans really well:) We texted Lee Hurrell who is going into Les Arcs 1950 with Will, Neil and Linda today. They skied today and it is snowing over there too. We came to Praz de Lys over Sommand because it is nearer and the access to the Lift pass and lifts is easier than our beloved Roche Pallud! |
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