On our drive to the airport to drop of Jess’ parents we realised that you do in fact need a Vignette on Austrian motorways, previously we’d thought that it was only required for Switzerland. A Vignette is basically road tax that allows you to use the faster arterial roads in the country, similar but much cheaper than the UK tax. As we’d been driving around Austria for about a week, Mark panicked thinking that there could be a big fine coming in the post, so before leaving the Innsbruck airport he dropped by the police station to ask what would be the best thing to do. They directed him to a local newsagent where we could pickup various durations on the Vignette, for which we opted for 10 days. The policeman that helped seemed quite chuffed that we had got away without paying for one so far, and informed Mark that the only time you get fined is when you are caught by the officials that hide in wait on some of the junctions leaving the tolled roads. After a pat on the back and a ‘well done’ from the policeman, we made our way to Zell am See for some lakeside parking for a change of scenery. We arrived at the Seecamp campsite in the late afternoon and setup for the evening. The weather and scenery were great and after sundown we relaxed and got stuck into our next boxset, Downton Abbey, while drinking our replenished stocks of Tetley tea.

The next day was another chilled one and the most exciting thing we did was get some clothes washing done in-between more movies and boxsets. It was the first bedding wash of the trip and we were staggered how the thing didn’t walk to a washing machine itself in plain protest before now!

After settling up the campsite bill, 68 Euro for the two nights, we drove to nearby Kaprun.

We skied the Kaprun-Kitzsteinhorn area on advice of the locals as having the best conditions at the present time. The piste ski area is an average size (41km) and we managed to get around the best of it in a few hours, this said, the off-piste is great fun and it was easy to seek out some untracked powder and couloirs to smash our legs back into condition after the previous lazy days. It’s shocking how a few days of not skiing has an effect on muscle memory and strength! We called it a day by mid afternoon and made our way back to Maggie via the lifts to the carpark.

That evening we drove to a small campsite 14km away from Kitzbuhel and bedded down for the evening.

After a random conversation with the campsite owner on whether we thought that the UK should leave the EU, we got on the road and headed to Kitzbuhel. Despite getting out and organised relatively early, Mark hit one of those ski pass queues where everyone either wants a long chat with the bureau staff, or they want to know every permutation of ski pass depending on numbers and days skied. It took 30 minutes to get to the front of the very short queue after Mark swapped lanes a couple of times, with the original people who were holding it all up still discussing the options with what was now, clearly irritated staff.

It’s sad to say that the piste conditions here were the worst we’ve had so far and we’re not sure why as the area seems really popular and it is geared up to be a bustling resort. The vast majority of the pistes didn’t seem to have been bashed and there was a serious amount of ice and moguls on every run, which was taking its toll on a lot of skiers and boarders trying to enjoy a days skiing. After persevering with the conditions and heading across the resort in hope of finding better conditions we gave up and took the run all the way down to the carpark, which at the lower levels was slushy but surprisingly more enjoyable to ski than the ice fields higher up.The complete reverse of how it should be!

Unfortunately, the maintenance of the pistes transcended into the resort carpark where Maggie was stuck by a series of pot holes hidden by snowfall that hadn’t been cleared from several days previous, but after fitting her snow socks and rocking around we were finally free and back on the road.

The majority of the Austrian ski areas we have visited require access via main cable cars from the valley resort, which is great if you prefer to be in a slightly warmer location and prefer not to do the sometimes dodgy climb up winding mountain roads to get to resort. However, we enjoy being high in the mountain and having the full effect of winter around us. So, craving some resort-level living, we pointed Maggie back in the direction of Italy and made our way to Cortina.

Some serious levels of snow had just starting to come down across the whole of northern Italy, so we were excited to get out and make the most of it. Leaving the snow to do it’s thing, we spent the next couple of days bumming around Cortina, trying to avoid traffic wardens and get away with free parking, and of course more Downton Abbey.

Downton, quite.

When the clear skies arrived there had been approximately 90cm of snow dumped over the three days previous. Having not skied here before and noting the avalanche risk was level 4, Mark ventured out with full avalanche gear, including ABS to check out the conditions. Jess would join early in the afternoon after a mountain of washing up and some other pink jobs.

Cortina is Italy’s ‘go to’ ski resort when it comes to fashion and being seen, with most visitors lunching in the sun rather than actually skiing. The effect of this is uncrowded skiing and relatively non-existent queues at all the lifts. Perfect for a powder day!

Mark made it up the Faloria cable car and was told that all other lifts on east side of the resort would be closed for 30 minutes due avalanche pockets still needing to be cleared. Watching the helicopter buzz around overhead and drop charges to clear the snow was pretty amazing, especially when the snow lost its grip and came tumbling down over the freshly bashed pistes below.

After a couple of hours of bouncing around Mark made it back down to meet Jess and continue skiing the afternoon. Needing to grab a quick snack, Mark opted for a vending machine stomach turning coffee, and a twix. Jess decided to hold out, a wise choice.

Skiing a circuit is essentially the way the eastern side of Cortina is set up, with a mixture of long/short runs that are all interconnected by the lift network, it feels very similar to the Sella Ronda without the rock in the middle, which coincidentally is accessible from this area for those wishing to go further afield. There are some good powder stashes to be found under the Cristallo side of the mountain, with some tricky and long tree runs that take you good distance away from the piste and terminate in the carpark near Passo tre Croci (we think). We stopped for a late lunch in Rio Gere  to admire the locals and weekend visitors doing the same, although we did look out of place in practical skiing gear within faux fur collars with matching headbands.

We finished the day descending the Faloria cable car and taking in the view, ending with us returning to Maggie to find all our traffic warden dodging and clandestine van movements had not outwitted the local traffic police.

Busted

This afternoon Jess made another failed attempt to create a Moonpig card for mothers day, as sods law with these things the mobile broadband was allowing good and steady progress until the time it came to submit and create the masterpiece, at which time Jess’ iPhone became unresponsive and the couple of hours worth of photo selection and uploading had come to a bitter end. Observing the frustrating failure of IT equipment, Mark opted for a one photo option for his Mum which was completed in around five minutes.

Feeling quite tired we didn’t fancy a long drive so we made our way to Arabba, which is part of the Sella Ronda circuit. The entire drive from Cortina is mainly high mountain roads which were starting to ice up from the warm weather during the day, with the now sub-zero outside temperature. Keeping an eye on the outside temperature we didn’t hang around getting to resort as these aren’t the sort of roads that you want to get caught on for an evening if the weather closes in.

We arrived in the nick of time at 18.57, giving us just enough time to run into the local supermarket to pick up some drinking water that we were completely out of, before the store closed at 7pm.

We woke early the next morning and while Mark went skiing for a few hours, Jess continued her determined mission of creating her mothers day card, so headed to one of the local hotels to grab a hot drink and jump on the Wifi. Regretfully giving up with the same technical hitch as the previous days, Jess headed back to Maggie where Mark was waiting. He had returned early due to the large queues of people trying to get around the full Sella Ronda circuit, which was making for dangerously crowded skiing. After a ham sandwich and a cup of Tetley’s finest, we began the long 190km journey to Madonna di Campiglio. After a turbulent drive over the Dolomites, we arrived at our destination and around 9pm, a mere 5 hours after leaving Arabba. Luckily for us we found a decently secluded parking spot outside of town, skipped dinner and crashed for the evening amidst a blizzard outside.

Cross stitch is a dangerous sport!

The next days weather continued to be miserable so it was declared a ‘no-ski-day’, which did allow for Jess to concentrate on her favourite task of nailing the mothers day card, which would need to be completed before 4pm to meet the next day delivery deadline. Using the laptop this time and burning tonnes more data, the original template Jess wanted to use had suddenly become unavailable on the website. Not wanting to admit defeat to the machines in charge of this debacle, she regretfully opted for a card with a single photo. Due to the ‘no-ski-day’ status we did manage one accomplishment, to get through our last segment of season 5 and the whole of season 6 of Downton Abbey, leaving only one remaining boxset, the full James Bond collection.

The weatherman got it wrong the following morning, as when we pulled up the blinds it was a perfectly clear day, so we got busy with breakfast and headed straight out. Bit of a mad dash for the public toilets near the skipass office this morning, this was due to the fact we hadn’t been able to empty the onboard toilet as we were saving cash and wild camping for a few days. Jess led this mission with Mark following closely behind.

As we wanted to get over to the Aosta side of Italy next to take advantage of the recent fresh snowfall, we purchased a 4 hour skipass so that we could break up the pending long journey with a stop at Lake Garda, which is in the middle from a driving time perspective, but not distance.

We headed up the mountain for what seemed like ages and disembarked 800 metres of ascent later, opting for the top station rather than the mid-way point. We took a couple of blues all the way down to the bottom (60 & 66), at which point Mark decided to have a ham roll in the Jumper bar as his porridge 90 minutes earlier hadn’t really hit the spot, then to the other side of the mountain! While playing around in the powder at the side of the piste, Jess made a slow motion sideways stack which was quickly followed up with a courtesy snow spray from Mark, almost completely burying Jess in the white stuff.

After a few more runs and realising that our passes wouldn’t get us any further in the lift system we made our may back to our first bubble, where we shared it with the smelliest man in Europe, who, preceded to shut the window as he entered the lift. Mark made the excuse of being too hot and asked it to be opened again, much to his annoyance. Now, given that we’re living in a motorhome traveling the Alps and grabbing showers every few days (with baby wipes in-between) before smells are totally obvious to us, we found it outstanding that we had shared a lift with somebody who had clearly made a conscious effort to ‘out-smell’ his fellow lift companions. This was the skiing equivalent of being trapped with a fart in an elevator! To smell like that through full ski gear really takes commitment.

After several minutes of breathing into the collars of our jackets, this time choosing to disembark at the mid station, we were finally free to gulp fresh mountain air and regain full consciousness before continuing our skiing feeling slightly woozy from the whole ordeal.

Our final runs of the day were spent mainly off-piste, where Jess attempted to make her first ‘gap’ of a boulevard nestled below a natural kicker, which would give enough ‘air’ to clear the jump by a few feet. Unfortunately having a minor confidence lapse, she was leaning too far back and landed painfully too short pulling a shoulder muscle in the process. This time, concerned at this stack (as it wasn’t one to follow-up with a snow-spraying), Mark thrashed around in the deep powder attempting to come to Jess’ rescue shouting “are you hurt”. In the time it took Mark to wade through the snow, the main bulk of the pain had dissipated and Jess was back on her feet, massaging the area of the pain. Not wanting to push our luck, we called it a day and made it back into the town centre to pickup a postcard for the wall of cash.

We arrived at Lake Garda for 6pm and made the most of sundown before heading out for some fodder at a nearby restaurant in Sirmione. The next day would be the remainder of the jaunt over into the Aosta Valley.

We pulled into the Arrivals at Innsbruck airport just as Jess’ parents, Reeva and Paul, were walking out of the main terminal. Perfect.

Excited, having not seen the parents for several weeks, there were prolonged hugs all round. We bundled them into the van with the luggage, which mostly consisted of essentials we had run out of i.e more box sets and Tetley tea bags,  and made our way to Mayrhofen.

On arrival into the town we swung by the hotel they were staying at to get them checked in, before parking Maggie in a campsite we had found 1.5km out of town.

On our way to the centre of Mayrhofen,  we stopped to grab a postcard for the wall of cash* in back in the van, at which point Mark spotted some authentic Lederhosen. Needing to fulfil a lifetime ambition of owning a full set, he made a beeline for the shop to get fitted out. After several minutes of laughter at Mark’s Clark Griswold impersonation, he settled on the shorts, checkered shirt and a hat to match. The shop owner threw in a pair of socks as a good will gesture to complete the ensemble. Armed with this new clobber, we will finally be able to host Bavarian night in style back home, complete with an outdoor screening of The Sound of Music and National Lampoons Vacation for friends and family.

Stopping for some goulash soup in Wine & More, we ended the meal with some B52’s to warm us up. Realising after a mouthful of pure alcohol the drink needed to be lit, hence the matches, we encountered several attempts, burnt fingers, and a match dropped directly into the shot, we eventually downed the shots and immediately felt a lot warmer.

With this sudden burst of energy, we decided it would be a good idea to book a late afternoon parapente session to finish the afternoon off, but unfortunately we were too late and in retrospect this may have been a good thing.

After booking our evening meal, we all headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night. Needing to take advantage of the facilities here, Mark made use of the shower which he was greatly in need of, and Jess was grateful for too.

On the way to the restaurant we dropped by Bruckenstadl, a lively apres bar and club close to the centre of town. The usual eurobeat cheese and classic tunes were pumping out to a more than up for it crowd of Austrians, all still clad in full ski gear despite it being well into the evening. Out of the countries we’ve visited, the Austrians definitely top the list for party party, with not a miserable face in sight or a whiff of pending alterations you sometimes see at other lively resorts. After a couple of bouts of running man and a full routine of YMCA, we made our leave and went for our meal.

Wirtshaus zum Griena is an authentic Austrian restaurant 10 minutes walk away from the main centre. It is an old farm outbuilding which could still be in full operation at first glance. Inside is pretty rustic with plenty of cow bells, and other farming paraphernalia, strewn across all the beams and wooden walls surrounding the tables and benches. Meat, meat, meat and sauerkraut is a plenty on the menu, so this may not be the place for vegetarians or those wanting a ‘light’ dinner. The food was superb and perfect to soak up an afternoons worth of boozing and catching up on gossip from ‘back home’.

Would you like some hay with your starter?

With heavy stomachs and eyes, we all headed home to our respective beds to get some rest before our upcoming ski day.

Waking early the next morning, we made our way to the hotel to scoff some free breakfast that the parents had managed to blag for us. Although we were still fairly full from the previous evenings meat fest, having a breakfast made for us and sitting down in comfortably spacious surroundings was a real treat!

As we had already been on a family ski holiday together at the start of the year, our aim for today was mainly to spend time together, as opposed to hammering it round the mountain ‘fitting it all in’ before the parents departure the next day. Later in the afternoon and due to the weather closing in, we decided to introduce them to an another authentic Austrian export, schnapps. Reeva seemed to take to it really well, with no issue in going back for seconds and helping Jess with hers, while Paul on the other hand would clearly prefer to have a pint in his hand, as his schnapps face resembled a child being forced to eat their brussel spouts at Christmas.

Schnapps 🙂

Needless to say, everyones skiing ability improved in the afternoon.

After a relatively tame family-fun evening of good food and conversation, we waved the parents off at their hotel and Jess and Mark made the 1.5km trek back to Maggie.

Wanting to make the most of our final morning together, we took a detour via the Olympic bobsleigh course just outside of Innsbruck. We were hoping to have a turn for ourselves but unfortunately it was closed as several Olympic teams were training. We spent some time watching these nutcases hurl themselves down the track, which was interluded by the Italian team taking at pretty spectacular crash, which once it looked as if there were no injuries, we didn’t feel so bad about laughing at their misfortune.

After an all too short, great couple of days, we said our goodbyes at the airport and made our way back into the mountains to continue our journey.

Jess’ default co-pilot position

*The wall of cash is where we pin all of the spent ski passes, post cards and other tut we collect along the way.

Heading out of Livigno and back into Switzerland Jess had definitely lost her cool and was about to lose it as we’d picked up one too many bottles of spirits on our duty free shop. We passed through the border unstopped, despite Jess looking like a guilty mule smuggling drugs over the Mexican/US border.

On our way to Mayrhofen to meet Jess’ parents we decided to drop into Ischgl, as Mark had been there with the boys the previous year and had enjoyed the skiing and lively Après. Unfortunately camper parking is hard to come by and not well advertised, so we opted for a small parking area we had seen by chance advertised from the main round leading out of Ischgl towards Mathon.

Action shot for someone!

On a previous food shop we’d picked all the ingredients to make a casserole using the slow cooker we decided to bring on the trip. After 90 minutes of Jess’ prep we decided to get the slow cooker going throughout the night and the next day we would warm it through after skiing. Mark found what he thought to be the kettle lead for the slow cooker, which turned out to be for something else entirely, probably a PC or an actual kettle. After a further 60 minutes of trying to retrofit the cable by unscrewing the cooker fixture and shaving the cable with a Stanley blade, we gave up and cooked the meat off for that evenings meal instead. We now effectively own a £100 casserole dish as its the only salvageable part of the entire setup.

The next morning we picked up Mark’s skis which we had put in for a service and adjustment, then dropped Maggie off at a camper park we found on the internet that was a little closer to town. This site is usually a paddock for the rest of the year, but in the winter they allow motorhome parking with an electric hookup for 15 Euro a night.  We were going to catch the bus to the main ski area, but decided to ski down the cross country track and hook a right into town instead. Although Mark was convinced he knew the area well after skiing here the previous year, he managed to get disorientated on several occasions, this disorientation was to continue well into the evening when after skiing we managed several loops of Ischgl trying to find a particular bar and restaurant area Mark wanted to show Jess.

Ischgl seems to go from one extreme to the other, from very fancy high-end hotels and restaurants to what resembles a village social club, with not much in-between. Due to the high prices, we chose the latter option, although a bottle of wine was still 30 Euro minimum. As smoking indoors is allowed in many bars in Austria, we had to make a quick exit form this bar in particular, as we were sat very near a couple of chain smokers, and breathing was becoming a task! We crossed the road into Wine & More for some Riesling, schnapps and antipasti, and were shocked to find out that the food was 20 Euro per person, rather than for the platter.

Waking up in the morning we noticed that we had been unplugged from the electric and took this as our cue to leave. As it was early in the morning we were lucky enough to find a suitable spot for Maggie in the main car park by the lift, before all the other cars arrived for the day. First thing in the morning the queue for the main lift is chaotic with no system for the pile up, taking about 25 minutes, with a capacity of 28 people per lift.  Once we got up the mountain, we realised that our experience of getting on the first lift would set the tone for the rest of day. Due to the amount of people on the slopes around the Idalp area, we mainly stuck to the valley runs for the rest of the day, apart from dropping into Samnaun in the afternoon. On the way back over to Idalp, Jess was stopped after getting off the lift, by what seemed to be your average man in ski gear, asking her to open her backpack. The confused look on her face prompted him to eventually pull out his badge. Unbeknown to her at the time, she had just left a duty free area and he was there to check people weren’t exceeding their limits, and was sporadically checking people with backpacks. Hers however, was full with a bottle of water, a beanie, a shovel, a probe and a transceiver, so she was allowed to carry on and catch up with Mark who was oblivious.

That afternoon we made the 45km journey to St Anton, where a new campsite had opened in Arlberg since our last visit. We had a night of camping luxury with our own private bath house- complete with heating, shower, toilet, sink and separate washing up facilities. This was by far the best shower we’d had all trip. Despite being told the prices on our arrival, when we were ready to leave the following morning, they whacked on an extra 10 Euro for the ‘final clean down’, coming to a whopping 61 Euro for one night’s stay, and another 10 Euro if you want to stay past midday!

Due to the weather conditions and the fact we had both skied St Anton quite extensively previously, we decided against skiing today and chose to head for Germany as it was only a short detour on our way to Innsbruck. Desperate for a Launderette as Mark had run out of clean boxers two days ago, we arrived in Garmisch and made the ‘waschsalon’ our first stop. Whilst we had 3 full washing machines on the go, we wandered up the road to the local shops and bought ourselves our ‘Willkommen’ sign for Maggie and a cowbell! As there is no room in the van to dry our clothes, everything goes in the tumble drier and we have resigned ourselves to that fact that all our clothes will have shrunk/misshapen by the time we go home.

Searching for overnight parking with easy access to the slopes, we came across the ‘Wankbahn’ car park, where several motorhomes had set up for the night, but the lift was closed for maintenance and only had access to walking trails anyway, so we continued our search until we found the cheapest, most popular camping location, Erlebnis Zugspitze. That evening and after Mark had stopped chuckling like a child, we chose to catch the hourly bus into town, as we were a few kilometres out, but as we couldn’t find the bus stop (it was slightly round a bend) the bus went whizzing past and left us standing there staring at it’s lights fading into the distance. Although disappointing as it was about 8pm and we didn’t want to wait another hour for the bus, we stumbled upon the Schmölzer Wirt restaurant that was probably a lot nicer than any we would’ve found in the centre, with the added bonus of avoiding a taxi fare home. Although the meal was delicious and we had a very enjoyable evening all in all, unfortunately for us a young family arrived with two small children who screamed, threw cutlery, bashed plates and cried the whole way through our meal- and they were sat within touching distance. We wouldn’t normally mind if we’d had an earlier sitting, but eating at about 9pm usually means you avoid tantrums from 1 and 3 year olds. Immediately after finishing our last mouthful, we took our wine through to finish in the far more peaceful bar, and tried out the local schnapps.

The weather the next morning was wet and the freezing level was at around 2000 metres, so we decided to do some rambling at the local gorge instead of ski.

We dropped Maggie off at the main carpark and started the 1.5km walk up the winding road to the entrance of the gorge. Not expecting much, we were surprised at the magnitude of the rock height and rushing water in such a unassuming location. We then walked the length of the gorge through winding tunnels and exposed balconies which ended in a vast open area that resembled walking through the Narnia wardrobe. Not satisfied with the 4k trek, we decided to continue and climb up to come over the top of the gorge and make our way back down the opposite side. We climbed for what seemed like an age, with a few people passing us in the opposite direction (no one following our route) so we came to the conclusion that we had in fact stumbled on the 3.5 hour trail back to the gorge entrance, rather than the 30 min option we thought that we were on track for completing. After some bold choices and perseverance through a newly forming blizzard, we made if back to the gorge entrance, and scoffed some goulash soup in the restaurant adjacent.

With one more night to kill before picking up Jess’ parents from Innsbruck, we decided to drop in to Kuhtai to see if we could catch any of The Jump live. The production looked impressive from a little distance, but when you get closer, it all seemed to be a bit of a shambles. We saw first hand how the production staff treated the locals who they had employed for security, and actually felt embarrassed to be British at times. We have however enjoyed the show in the past, so we stuck around until the end. After all, we had filled a flask of hot chocolate to see us through an hour of standing out in the cold and we didn’t want to waste it by going home too soon!

Next stop, Innsbruck, to grab the parents…

After haemorrhaging a bit more cash that we planned in Switzerland over the previous week, we decided to head to Livigno, Italy. We love skiing Italy for many reasons with the added bonus that it is a lot cheaper for everything.

The Wiki bit…

Livigno enjoys a special tax status as a duty-free area. Italian VAT is not paid. Although tax advantages for Livigno were recorded as far back as the sixteenth century, the current tax exemption was first introduced by the Austrian Empire around 1840. It was then confirmed by the Kingdom of Italy around 1910, then by the Italian Republic and the European Economic Community in 1960. Although no VAT is paid, income taxes are, thus Livigno cannot be considered as a tax haven.

The justification for such a status is the difficulty in reaching Livigno during winter, and the centuries-long history of poverty in the region. The various states wanted to ensure people would have an incentive to live in the area (so that they could claim it territorially). At the same time, the tax revenue from Livigno would have been negligible.

We finalised our pink and blue jobs before attempting to leave the campsite at Rinerhorn. Maggie had frozen to the ground due to the on/off freeze/thaw weather we had experienced while we were here. It took several attempts and different ideas for around 45 minutes to free Magster from the camping ground’s ice grip on her tyres. Had she made friends while we were night skiing and didn’t want to leave? There were some good looking  eligible motorhomes suspiciously close to our location, and she seemed very reluctant to leave.

Anyway, the winning combo to get us out of this pickle was snow socks, snow chains, a shovel and plenty of grit provided by a nice German couple who had arrived that morning and park next to us.

The journey to Livigno from Davos is around 75km and in involved a car train and a toll tunnel. While on the car train we decided to take luncheon, this was quite unsuccessful and rushed as we didn’t know how long the passage would take. (we’re enjoying the Downton Abbey box set as we pen this blog, hmm quite).

As the train gathered speed we could hear crashes of ice being blown off the roof, each crash behind us was met with us both pulling a silly face and looking at each other, you know, the one you pull when something bad happens that you can’t control, like dropping a bowl.

The Vignette…

…needs to be visible!

We alighted the other end and immediately noticed a the car that was parked behind us on the train flashing its headlights and signally us to pull over. Expecting the worst, we reluctantly pulled over thinking we would to be confronted with an irate car owner, we were surprised to see a friendly old couple who made no issue of the ice smashing into their newly purchased car, they just wanted to see if there was any damage with us present, and blamed the weather conditions for the ice and that we couldn’t be expected to clear it from the roof before driving.

After confirming there was no damage to their car we drove on, with the couple still driving behind us. A few kilometres down the road we made a left turn and the couple beeped their horn and waved us on our way as they continued straight.

On arriving at the Livigno customs control there was a green light to enter the tunnel, but unsure of the system, Mark decided to pull over and check with the custom officials. We were told to just drive on, by which time the light had turned red.

After 15 minutes waiting it was green to go, with the queue stacked up behind us, Maggie’s wheels refused to take sufficient grip to get us up the ice gradient and into the tunnel. With hazard lights engaged, the long queue of traffic behind us piled into the tunnel. With the traffic behind us clear, we rolled Maggie backwards down the hill with all custom officials watching, and took an ambitious ‘run-up’. Some high revs and sideways slipping later, the tyres took grip on the snow free tarmac and we juddered into the tunnel.

We arrived at the campsite at 4pm and Jess wrote in her diary while Mark faffed with the Wifi, followed by the skis in the garage – he does love a faff!

Later that evening we walked into town for a few drinks and dinner at a small pizzeria at the edge of town. On the way home Mark decided to play a game of ‘snow dunk’ which involves pushing the opponent continuously into the snow each time they regain balance. When we arrived back at Maggie the door keys that were missing and we had to retrace our steps to find them. Luckily they were found at a snow dunk location Jess had imprinted on the way home!

The next morning the skies were clear so while Mark left for first lifts, Jess hung back and got stuck into finishing the end of ‘Little Girl Gone’, a book she had been reading before picking up and consequently getting hooked on ‘Into Thin Air’ (Mark’s book). On the hill it was empty and it felt almost criminal carving up the obsessively pisted runs across the north facing mountains. Mark went on to make lunch friends with a flock of birds that managed to con a bowl of croutons that were destined for his soup as he sat there feeding them like a scene out of Mary Poppins. Mark returned back to Maggie early afternoon and we decided, due to the reduced cost in the area, to take the backcountry skis into town to have the bindings moved. After a hike around the town we were unable to find a ski shop that were able to perform this due to the width of the skis.

That night we pushed the boat out and dined in a locally recommended restaurant, Paprika. An amazing three course meal with champagne and a few after-dinner Disaronnos came to 150 Euro, result! We made our way home and while en route a second round of ‘snow dunk’ was called, but this time all keys were stowed before the game commenced.

When we arrived home we continued the competition with a game of frustration, with the loser having to perform a forfeit. Mark lost and was charged with performing a lap of Maggie barefoot in his pants. On Mark’s bundled return through the door, he trapped his thumb resulting in a nasty (almost to the bone, in his words) cut. It was obviously cold outside too! We took this as a sign to go to bed and sleep it off.

Hungover. We managed to crawl down the ladder by late morning to make a revolting brunch of ‘Porc Cassoulet’ and bread, not sure what we were thinking, but we just about stomached the bread. We ended up climbing back up the ladder into bed to finish watching Antman which we had started a few days prior. Mark had a little ‘Nana Nap’ before we decided it would be best to get some fresh air and take a walk into town for some supplies from the local shop. After filling both our backpacks with carbs and comforting snacks, our hangovers had worsened and we decided the best cure would be to grab a takeaway pizza to eat in the comfort of Maggie. Actually, we picked up one pizza each and a calzone to share for a starter! Needless to say, we didn’t finish it all and most of the pizzas ended up at the bottom of the fridge. At the end of our incredibly lazy day we somehow managed to stream The Lovely Bones on the campsite wifi before we both drifted off into unsurprisingly disturbed sleeps.

We skied the afternoon the next day after grabbing a quick sushi lunch in town. The Livigno skiing area is spit into two parts which now includes dedicated freeride off-piste, which was previously banned for several years. Both sides of the valley now have great balance and spit of long wide pistes vs off-piste terrain which we explored, making our way through the trees and back to the doorstep of the campsite.

After four nights at Camping Permont (80 Euro, including electric and all the facilities) we decided to move back to Austria in the run-up to meeting Jess’ parents in Mayhofen, but not before stocking up on duty free booze and thrashing around on rental skidoos…

#skiclubphotos #ski #powder #powpow #pow #freeride #skilife #frozenontheinside #motorhomeski

We woke up and got out early, taking the taxi shuttle option from outside the campsite up to the Zermatt parking station at a cost of 7 CHF each. The main lift area is around around 10 minutes walk from the drop off point.

When we arrived at the ticket office there was an array of red LEDs that lit up the piste/lift information board next to the entrance, a large crowd staring directly at it as if a sermon was being delivered. The report from the top of the mountain was 90km/h gusting winds. After 10 minutes of deliberating whether it was ‘worth it’, we decided to bite the bullet and purchase lift passes in the hope that the wind would die down and more lifts would open. We purchased our tickets and made our way to the funicular queue to be met with a mass of people coming in our direction spouting “Kaputt”. Having the feeling that it was going to be ‘one of those days’, Jess blagged a full refund which required much persuasive conversation with the Kasse staff and the management, as the mountain was technically open to ski albeit impractical due to the, now, volume of people making a dash to alternative lifts to ski the hand full of runs that were open.

Computer said “no”

Zermatt is pretty out there when it comes to lift pass cost, the highest we’ve had so far at a wallet emptying 168 CHF for 2 adult passes for the day. Clearly we felt bad about taking income away from the local resort, so we decided to use the cash for an early lunch and several drinks chilling in local bars on our route back to the taxi rank.

Taxi for two

Even though we didn’t ski Zermatt, there was plenty to do in the town. The main street through the centre has a great Alpine feel and bars and restaurants cater for most budgets, but you will have to search if you’re looking for a cheap and easy lunch. The top of the main street near the church seems to be the cheapest area for food and drink.

Zermatt main street

Being in the best possible form arriving back at our basecamp, it was decided that it was the perfect time to find a suitable gradient to get on the bum boards. 15 minutes of wading/falling in thigh deep white stuff, we found what looked like the perfect slope for fun time bum boarding. What resulted was a technique that resembled two dogs dragging themselves across a carpet in order illuminate an ‘itch’. The gradient wasn’t sufficient, and the snow was  too deep. Slightly disappointed, Jess started to make her way back to Maggie, but not before telling Mark to come down from a shed rooftop, where he was attempting to find a steeper launching platform. Freezing cold and soaking wet, we called it a night and spent the evening warming up in the van.

As with the previous day, the weather made for difficult skiing conditions in which it was likely that the majority of Zermatt would be closed for another day. After a lazy hangover morning we checked the weather reports in search for better conditions to travel towards. Davos and Klosters looked like a viable option as there was heavy snow then sunshine forecast for in a couple of days. We set out for Andermatt to catch the car train which would take us almost directly onto the other side of the mountain cutting out a few hours of driving. We arrived at the terminal to find that the train only runs three times a day and must be booked over the phone before boarding.

That night we found a good parking area next to the town ice rink and close to town (5 CHF for 24 hours of parking). While searching for a spot to settle, we drove the circuit of the town a couple of times where we were met with the locals all dressed up in various costumes and fancy dress and all in high spirits and mainly shouting and waving at us as we passed through. As tempting as it was to venture out and see what the local festival was all about, we decided to have an early night to guarantee making the car train the next morning.

The next morning we called the car train company to book our crossing to be told that Maggie was too big and they could only take vehicles up to 2.5 metres high. Conscience of Maggie’s feelings at being told that she is too large, we confronted her and assured yet that we would all have a lovely drive and take in the countryside taking the long route round to Davos. On our way out of Andermatt we decided to drop into the local tourism office to ensure we take the right route, as the route we were planning to take was one of two mountain passes over the top of the Andermatt range. Lucky we checked, as one pass was closed and the other would have been doable but a serious risk if we were to be met with bad weather or a slide of snow onto the road, so instead we chose the 200km-ish box around the mountains in order to arrive safely. During the summer months and when it is not closed, the Oberpass is less than 10km, but these type of pass road closures are quite common during the winter months for good reason. On a previous trip out to the Alps we remember arriving at a pass that had just been closed and the locals had to rescue people from stranded cars where the weather had suddenly closed in.

After a what seemed like an endless drive with a couple of safety stops due to wind (outside, not inside the Maggie) we arrived in Davos. Driving up to and through the town is stunning during the evening, the buildings and lights make the place seem grand and give of an impression of a busy and lively area to be in. Unfortunately for us, and as we saw the lights and fun disappear behind us, we were forced to stay in what was the closest camping ground to Davos, which was a few Kilometres away in Rinerhorn. As it was late in the evening we set up for the evening a did some well needed washing before the wash bag walked itself to the washing machines.

The weather was looking quite reasonable the next morning so we skied the Jakobshorn area after catching a short bus journey away from our camp. It was still incredibly windy so we kept in the trees and shaded areas as to avoid the worst of it. After our first Goulash soup of the trip, we decided not to ski the afternoon as the weather was closing in and it had begun to snow heavily.

After propping up the bar for the afternoon, we made our way back to Rinerhorn for an early dinner. We jumped on the train back rather than take the hike through the slightly confusing bus system. When we arrived back in Rinerhorn the pistes were lit up and the main cable car was running, night skiing was on our doorstep! Slightly inebriated, we agreed that night skiing was the best option and we could skip dinner and celebrate in the conveniently placed bar at the bottom of the slope afterwards. Needless to say it was the best and fastest we’d ever skied, or so we believed. The great thing about night skiing here, which is different to most resorts, is that the run down is one long and winding run that takes you all the way down, rather than the standard wide and straight runs you see at some of the larger resorts. It is also open until 23:00 which a lot later than most we’ve seen so far. There is also a dedicated sledge run, separated from the ski run, which we didn’t get the chance to try out but it looked like fun from the faces and screams we heard.

Nightskiing!!!

You can just make out Maggie on the left

Blue sky’s!!!

The next morning we jumped on the bus to Davos Bahnof, where we caught the train to Klosters. This train journey couldn’t be more different than the normal daily commute into London, the scenery is amazing as it winds through the 15 minute journey into the main skiing area, and not one delay or ‘unexplained by the driver’ random stop in the middle of nowhere for failing signals, despite the cold weather conditions and leaves on the tracks.

We arrived at Klosters Platz just in time to pick up the slightly cheaper 11.30 ski pass, where we boarded the gondola up the mountain. Being a clear day we didn’t make a defined choice to ski a route, instead we just skied and got on lifts as and when we felt like we wanted to go in a different direction. One of the ways that we most enjoy skiing is by not even carrying a piste map and just seeing where we end up. These days are usually a combination of on and off-piste skiing, which have sometimes left us with a difficult couloir, road or brook/river to negotiate.

After lunch we hopped onto the Schiferbahn bubble back to the top to ski onwards.

Lunch with a view

‘Man’ portions cost more

Although the sun was shining the afternoon was bitterly cold with a windchill of around -15C, so not long afterwards we grabbed a hot chocolate and warmed up before heading back to Maggie to via the train to watch newly downloaded film ‘Straight outta Compton’, where Mark reminisced his teenage years of watching Boys in the Hood and playing basketball in oversized clothing.

The night train home

After a lively week with ski friends, we packed up shop and got back on the road. Resuming our ethos of following the weather and snow we chose Argentiere – Chamonix, as reports showed a pending 100cm + of snow on its way to the legendary world renowned skiing Mecca. From there we would then choose Switzerland or Italy as the next country to ski.

En-route we decided to drop by Montchavin to ski a day with one of Mark’s old school friend from Germany. Since visiting the area (Paradiski) at the beginning of the trip, we were relieved to see that the number of open lifts and piste conditions had improved. We also found a decent ‘Caravaneige’ at the bottom of Montchavin village, which we would recommend as a base rather than the overpriced Aire in La Plagne. Click here for previous blog on La Plagne. Although slightly more expensive, Montchavin has all the facilities you’d expect and the WC is only 20 metres from the camping area – well worth the extra euros.

Conditions were much better

The walk into town is pretty tough in full ski gear and the location of the lift pass office isn’t obvious or near any access lifts. It is located on the main road in the village street to the right of the bars and restaurants, not near the piste/lifts as you would expect.

We met with Matt, Fran and Harvey who were all boarding and made our ascent. Even though the conditions had improved significantly, skiing was tricky and within 30 minutes Mark ventured off-piste resulting in a full face plant and an audible clicking from a twisted knee. Roars of laugher were all that could be heard from a very pleased Matt after seeing his old friend give it the ‘big-un’ and become royally undone in the process. After 10 minutes of searching Mark was reunited with his buried skis.

Mark is down there somewhere, look for the take off and landing!

Diddums

Needless to say the rest of the ski day was completed with caution, but not before ruining ourselves getting down a couple of mogul heavy black runs – Great fun but totally exhausting.

We all finished the day, without further injury, at the 3 Glaciers hotel back in Montchavin where we stumbled upon a pair of signed Candide Thovex Faction skis on display, unfortunately they were secured to the wall!

Candide’s

Our skis being waxed in Maggie

Sitting it out

On the way to Chamonix, Maggie received her first well earned wash! The next few days were spent relaxing in the town centre and enjoying the Freeride World Tour, sitting out the weather until conditions improved. The first night we arrived in Chamonix we held camp at the free ‘Aire de la Fontaine’ on the Les Houches side of the town, 10 minutes drive from Chamonix centre. This Aire simply has parking and toilets and is very secluded from the main carriage road into the centre.

Having laid low for a couple of days, we were starting to get cabin fever so we decided to venture up to Argentiere and make use of the free camper parking behind the main car park at the foot of the Grands Montets ski area. The conditions were overcast and the piste conditions were of average quality which made for difficult skiing, but we persevered. In addition to the standard lift pass for this area, there is a second access lift that needs to be purchased if you want to get all the way to the glacier. We’re not sure why this confusing separation is not made more clear when purchasing the standard lift pass before ascending, but we were definitely caught out after queuing for about 20 minutes! As it was a flat light day we decided not to spend the extra 14 Euro to make this lift journey, and it was the right decision as shortly after the lift closed due to high winds.

Blue skies and POWder…

We drove back to the Chamonix main road to park up so that we were closer to the Apres action for the weekend. But not before Mark headed out for a few hours ‘lone ski’ and apparently had the ‘BEST DAY EVER’ bouncing off-piste. He got some good footage which resulted in a short film of his morning, and he was over the moon when he returned to Maggie.

Jess had a productive  morning tidying the van and washing up (pink jobs), managing to drop a sharp knife on her foot and break a bowl. The sun was out in full force today so we took a walk down to to the town and stopped for wine at the outdoor bar opposite ‘Irish Coffee’. Wanting to spam the family while we are away with another avenue of media and contact, we setup a ‘WhatsApp’ group and proceeded to chat and bombard them with photos using the Wifi we jumped on.

DCIM100GOPROG0010196.

Realising the adult competition of the Freeride Tour was actually today, and not as we had previously thought of it being the following day, we watched the award ceremony quite disappointed that we’d missed the actual event on the mountain. After a couple more drinks, half of which Jess managed to throw down an American mans jacket, we found somewhere for dinner where Jess her the first Tartiflette of the season! The restaurant seemed to sit all English people upstairs and out of the way in the same area, but we all ended up laughing amongst ourselves about the portion size of the Raclettes and whether they would be able to ask for a doggy bag.

On leaving the restaurant we found Jess a new backpack which we had to abandon as it was too large to fit in Maggie…

Even though there are campsites in the Chamonix area, we preferred to make use of the free carparks and road lay-bys without any issues or being moved on by the police. There is a large community of ‘long stayers’ and an abundance of motorhomes visible throughout the area –  Maybe this is why the local police don’t hassle people to move on, as it would be a full time job doing so.

Moving on

Having missed the adult freeride competition we decided to move on to Zermatt in Switzerland, rather than heading to Italy next. The nearest campsite to our chosen destination was in Randa, which originally seemed a long way off from being able to ski Zermatt.

When we arrived we soon realised that access to Zermatt was only possible by taxi, train or bus, and  it would be impossible to take Maggie into the village area. The transport systems in Switzerland are generally reliable and the Swiss train network is especially good and in abundance. Before settling in for the evening we drove to a local shop to top up on supplies before heading back to the campsite to plan our route up to ski Zermatt in the morning.

Now, there are certain foods that should be avoided in close proximity living quarters, the foodstuff at the top of this list is fish. The pungent nature of this food, coupled with the inability to leave windows and doors open in subzero temperatures for prolonged periods of time, means that the odour will linger for many hours and eventually make you feel sick. Top tip – don’t eat fish unless its warm outside!

#skiclubphotos #inthesnow #powder #motorhomeski #skilife #frozenintheinside

Three Valleys – 23/01 – 30/01

We mooched around Aix-Les-Bain for around 60 minutes before deciding on settling in the car park of a closed holiday camp, a quick check around the car park with the trusty mag light ensured we were in a safe and secluded location. Mark returned from the reccie looking quite shocked as our arrival had awoken some ducks in a neighbouring stream to the location-  Mark: “that scared the sh*t out of me, I thought I was getting jumped”. Needless to say the ducks didn’t take further offence and left us to a peaceful sleep for the evening.

The next morning we arrived at Grenoble to meet our next instalment of ‘Ski Friends’, Jess’ cousin Kirsty and Mark’s friends Dean, Tom, Tom, Rob and Christian.

Jess taking full advantage of a girlie session with Kirsty

Now, due to a pre-booking earlier in the year before this trip was planned, and not to shy away from the motorhome ski experience, Mark would be spending the week in a chalet with the boys  and Jess + Kirsty would be parked nearby staying in Maggie (Mark is writing this blog!).

Mark agreed to continue his blue job duties with regular visits to Maggie. Despite a Flot Bleu being advertised as being available at our next parking spot of La Tania, the option of any amenities were in the shape of toilets and showers located in the municipal building next to the bubble lift at the base of La Tania. NO BLUE JOBS THIS WEEK, YAY. We got chatting to some long stay campers who told us that this year the local authorities had moved the location of the motorhome parking from La Praz (just down the road) to the main coach and carpark in La Tania. This made it difficult for everybody staying there to dispose of waste as this now involved a drive, which by the state of the sardine parked-in parking, these motorhomes were staying put until everything thawed out at the end of the season.

The La Tania lift with a ‘kill’ setting. Use the stairs if you don’t want to risk getting stuck or random door closures causing injury

The newly sectioned off area of this carpark is tight for space and has room for around 10 motorhomes, it was full. We parked Maggie behind some barriers at the rear of the coach area to avoid obstructing any coaches from going about their business. At 9am the next morning the police knocked on the door and told Jess that Maggie would have to leave La Tania, but after some convincing they agreed to let us stay on the condition that we moved out of the coach park. Mark was summoned to come and complete this blue job- after even more convincing on Jess’ part. On the turn of the ignition key all that could be heard was the ticking of what was clearly the effect of a dead battery. The girls, within one night, had managed to floor Maggie. Luckily, with thanks to Jess and Kirsty’s efforts and therefore redeeming themselves, they managed to enlist the help of a passing car with jump leads! It turned out, that the driver was also here in a motorhome, so was more than willing to take time out of his morning to get us going again- Thanks Jake! It took 5 of us at full strength to push Maggie slightly uphill so we could connect the leads, and then within minutes we were back in business.

Poor Maggie

Having spoken to some other residents of the motorhome fish bowl, we thought it would be fine to block them in as they were not moving again until the end of the season- problem solved!? Yet the following morning, Jess and Kirsty came to an abrupt wakening by another knock on the door. We were told to move again, this time we were told it would be fine to park in the main carpark until our departure in 5 days, oh the drama. Subsequently, each day for the rest of that week, more and more motorhomes trickled into the main car park.

With all the minor distractions out of the way, we spent the next few days enjoying the break in the weather from cloud and snow, to absolute sunshine.

Family friends back home advised us that some of their friends had recently taken over Supreme Ski, ski instruction located in the Courchevel area. Through this recommendation Mark decided to book up a ski lesson to iron out some issues he was having, as well as to pick up some new skills and pointers. Mark’s previous instructed lessons have ended in pain- 1 x dislocated knee with ESF in La Tania and 1 x broken ankle at Hemel Hempstead snow dome, yes, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD SNOW DOME!!! So naturally he was quite anxious. The 2 hours spent with Nick (Supreme Ski) were more than worth it! Within this time, Nick had managed to correct the issues Mark was concerned with and dispel previously learnt bad habits.

Nick’s instructing style was natural and within minutes it felt like skiing with a friend who actually wanted Mark to do well and improve, rather than previous instruction he’s had where it felt like a mere inconvenience to the instructor, who seemed to be just following the motions until the session was over. Huge thanks to Nick, and also to Olly who set the session up, as thanks to you guys Mark has been improving daily through your advice – We hope to share a drink with you on our way back through France!

Board game night

bored of board game night

No trip to the Three Valleys would be complete without popping into La Folie Douce…

We arrived late to catch the end of the party (due to a lost phone, don’t ask!) But in good enough time to watch all the leaving revellers attempting to ski down to the Rond Point (next bar) with skis and boards making it down the hill independently from their owners. After a trying run down in the dark, we all made it safely home, including our 2 beginners Kirsty and Tom, who we must mention did incredibly well this week!!

The Three Valleys area has something for everyone from complete beginners to more advanced skiers, and families alike. La Tania is a great base with perfect access to all of it, it has the added bonus of being more affordable than the likes of Courchevel, and with a less lively and more intimate atmosphere than Meribel. Having said this, there is still great apres to be had in Le Ski Lodge, that often goes well into the night. (We are slightly biased as Jess did a ski season here in 2012/13, and subsequently met Mark.)

If you’re looking for instruction in the Three Valleys area then get in touch with these guys. You won’t regret it…

Supreme Ski & Snowboard School Office:

L’Amoise

Rue de la Culaz

Le Praz, Courchevel, 73120

France

FR +33 (0)479 08 27 87

UK +44 (0)20 3744 1655

email info@supremeski.com

With all the best intentions of blogging on a more regular basis, other than regular check-in’s and posts on the Facebook site, it’s invariably difficult to find the essential combination for the posting of text, image and video… power and wifi! Since we last spoke we’ve covered a fair distance in desperate search of good skiing conditions. This years conditions are odd, as we keep seeing massive dumps of snow preceded by rain and warm conditions, which is making for very difficult on and off-piste skiing. It’s also making for some dangerous back country skiing which has put us off being too adventurous on decent powder days. This, coupled with the number of avalanche reports across the whole of the Alps, has prompted us to take avalanche equipment almost every time we’ve skied, even for presumed safe on-piste skiing.

After leaving the expensive Aire in La Plagne, we made our way to our next destination of La Rosiere. As we didn’t want to drive a long distance, La Rosiere seemed like a perfect choice. Although the SatNav insisted on informing us that the D1090 was closed (this will become a recurring theme) we took a risk and ignored her, hoping that it would only be the Col De Petit St Bernard that was closed, as it is most winters, which was beyond were we needed to get to anyway. After about an hour of driving up the mountain with our fingers crossed, we made it to La Rosiere without incident.

Parking is limited and is restricted for motorhomes in the town between 23:00 and 08:00, but we took a risk and parked up in the town anyway (the signposts were covered in snow, wink!).

The weather the next day was overcast and cold so we decided to do some sightseeing around the village and grab some food and drinks in the afternoon. After buying a postcard and sticker for Mark’s collection, we went for pizza and wine at a local restaurant. After dropping off the leftovers of the half eaten pizza back at Maggie, we made our way to Le Comptoir bar on the promise of wifi where we compiled the most recent blog. On the journey down to the bar Jess noticed brown skids with every step that Mark was taking, it turned out that hiding under a thin layer of snow a dog turd was lying in wait and ready to snuggle into every groove of Mark’s left snow boot. After a five minute moonwalk in deep powder, Mark managed to clear an acceptable amount of said dog turd to make it into the bar unnoticed, there was no wifi.

After our second night of sleeping in La Rosiere, we awoke to a ‘tap, tap, tap’ on the door and were greeted by a local policewoman. She informed us that as of the 2015/16 season, it was forbidden for Camping Cars to park up in the town overnight, saying that we should use the local campsite that was only about 200m down the mountain road. This didn’t really affect us as we were planning to move on after skiing anyway! We left for skiing at about 10am, bought our lift passes and walked up to the nearest chair lift. Just as Jess clicked into her ski’s, Mark laid his onto the piste and one starting sliding away- one of the brakes had fallen off!

After retracing our steps for about 20 mins, we realised it must have fallen off shortly after getting our skis out the back of Maggie, as we found the brake to one side of the road where it had been placed to avoid being run over by passing traffic. After a quick stop in a local ski shop, the brake was re-attached with a larger screw as the thread had gone, and we were on our way once again. It was a fairly overcast day, however on our journey back from La Thuile to La Rosiere, we saw the most amazing cloud formation, that we could only describe as a cloud window!

In the absence of warmth, comfort and in serious need of a shower, we decided that we were well overdue our first campsite stopover. We arrived at Le Grand Bornand Camping 10 minutes after the reception closed, so we searched for a vacant spot and hooked up to the electric. After the much sought after shower in fairly decent facilities, we continued with our Game of Thrones marathon, realising how little we had left to watch!

January 21st- Our first bluebird! Due to the weather, we left the van in a hurry and headed towards the bus stop, in the hope of finding a rubbish disposal point en route. As luck would have it, 5 minutes later we were stood on a fairly crowded bus in full ski gear, with a large bag of rubbish in hand! After a fairly awkward and smelly journey for all on board, we arrived at the main ski lift and finally found somewhere suitable for the rubbish. Once there, we had a choice of 2 bubbles to take us to the top. Although neither were fully equipped for powder ski’s, we managed to choose the smaller of the two. Some shifting and fumbling later, with the help of the lift operator, we were sat very cramped in the miniature bubble with ski’s positioned around us at all angles.

In Le Grand Bornand, we found that most lifts and runs lead to or from the same area, but due to limited numbers of people skiing here, it felt more spacious than it could have done. The runs were fairly varied, but became quite icy in patches. Regardless of the recent snowfall, the resort still insisted on firing the snow canons, which left an irritating residue on your lenses each time you passed them, but at least they were focussed on prolonging the ski-ability of the resort. Wanting to take full advantage of not only the skiing but the sunshine too, we relaxed with a couple of Vin Chauds on deck chairs and a late lunch in the restaurant, before we made our way back down the mountain. The descent down was mainly off piste and almost under the first bubble we took up that morning. After avoiding many obstacles along the way, we also came across a couple of brooks that left us with no other option than to jump. Although it is usually ladies first, in situations such as these it is always safer to let the man take the lead- Mark of course obliged. Doing his best Road Runner impression, Mark attempted to make the gap, however was unfortunately faced with a backwards slide into the icy waters below. From observing his poor attempt, and doing almost the opposite, Jess executed a perfect landing on the other side of the brook. Fortunately for us, this particular campsite had a heated swimming pool, perfect to wind down in after a difficult run home. We relaxed in the pool for the evening, followed by a shower for the second day running (!) and completed our household chores of washing up and tidying Maggie to create the perfect environment to finish our Game of Thrones boxset.

The next day we began our journey towards Grenoble, deciding to stay somewhere nearer the airport as we were expecting the arrival of friends who were coming in on an early flight over from London.

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Mark & Jess

After our first shower of the trip (three days in) we headed up the mountain for a late lunch and to meet Millie and Jay. The piste conditions were good, but it was getting on the chilly side, somewhere close to -14 degrees windchill.

Due to the flat light conditions and our gut feeling, we decided to descend back to the comfort of Maggie rather than explore the open off-piste that was available and pick our next mountain destination.

The drive down to the valley was uneventful and when we hit the bottom we decided to pick up some essentials from Super U (french supermarket). The essentials comprised of water, bum boards, box wine and gin. Due to the central location of the Super U, being between the areas we’re exploring, and the fact that it had just started to snow again, we decided to make the carpark our home for the evening. Without delay, Jess got to rustling up a superb chicken supreme while I got busy doing the blue jobs* and getting Maggie tucked in for the night.

Unlike usual ski holidays, we can afford to pick and choose the days that we hit the hills. These in-between periods can become quite mundane unless you plan ahead, as mentioned on our about page, there are certain activities and life skills that we both want to attain while we’re out here, but for now our primary focus is boxsets and more specifically Game of Thrones. Now hooked on this programme, we’ve managed to get through two and half seasons into the current offering, leaving us only one and a half seasons to enjoy.

Whilst watching season one episode six, we heard the noise of roaring car engines and sloppy skidding from outside of the motorhome. Hearing this, we did what is normal in this situation, and paused the DVD to peep out of the shutters. After a discussion on the acceptable level of blind down/curtain twitching, we soon realised that a bunch of local boy racers had decided to use Maggie as the finishing post for their drifting competition. Looking out of the 5cm (blind covered) slit that we’d agreed upon, we expected to see fast and furious style cars buzzing around the motorhome. Instead, we were presented with a precession of 1.1 litre “pick the kids up from school” family cars that their parents had allowed their sons to drive for the evening. After a full hour of paused TV and curtain twitching, we decided the best thing to do for Maggie would be to pack up and move on.

Wanting to be somewhere familiar and friendly, with limited drifting capability, we scouted the guide books and websites and decided on La Plagne. Having stayed in the La Plagne Aire** previously, we made our way towards the resort.

After around an hours worth of driving, we found a truckers stop close to Moutiers that seemed drift free enough to bed down for the night and continue with our new Game of Thrones obsession.

La Plagne is perfect for beginners and intermediates given it’s natural rolling hills and casual runs down to each of the villages. Right now, due to heavy snow fall, the lifts up to the glacier remain closed, which unfortunately restricts the amount of skiing to be had. Regardless of this, the Paradiski area is large enough to entertain you for at least a full week. If you’re after something a little more challenging, then head out to Les Arcs for an additional 5 Euro (per day) on top of the standard La Plagne pass- this will give you access to the entire Paradiski area.

For motorhomes, although the parking area is in a good location and easy to get to, there isn’t much included for the price of €20 per night- the toilet is a 20 min round-trip away. Previously, we have stayed in campsites across Europe for a similar price, and this includes a local toilet, shower and washing up facilities- so much more than what we received in La Plagne. We were also charged a full day rate for an extra 3 hours in the car park, totalling €80 for 3 nights parking- a bit steep although we did have an electric hook up.

Next stop, La Rosiere…

* Blue/pink jobs – The differentiation between male and female activities performed in the motorhome. Blue jobs comprise of emptying the toilet, filling Maggie with water/fuel and all other things that involve heavy lifting (usually the toilet) and general milling around outside looking manly and busy. Pink jobs – All things inside the comfort of Maggie, including but not limited to; food preparation/serving, map reading, securing stuff that wasn’t secured before driving and leaps across the cabin whist taking hairpins up the mountain, making best use of the “sleeping chair” between locations.

** An Aire is a parking/rest area, often with useful facilities for a motorhome. i.e Fresh water, grey waste disposal (washing up/shower water), Toilet disposal and occasionally electric hook ups. In France, these facilities are sometimes referred to as a Flot Bleu.

#skiclubphotos #factioncollective #ski #powder #powpow #pow #freeride #skilife #frozenontheinside #motorhomeski