Val Thorens Snow Report: 21st March 2013

There was no need to go far and wide across the Three Valleys as the snow was amazing everywhere. I ended up just boarding fairly local and playing around in all the powdery sections to the edge of the piste. The conditions were great and whilst I do not like to complain, it was really hard work in all that powder! I am not that competent off piste and spent a lot of time rolling around but as the sun was out it was not the worst place to have a rest.

On Wednesday I attempted to make first lifts with one of my guests. We did not quite make it but were only a few minutes behind. It is really strange in the Alps - back home 9am seems really early but out here I always feel late arriving at 9.10am for the lifts. That is 10mins wasted!

So, we headed up bright and early and were certainly rewarded for our efforts. The pistes were deserted and after days of snowfall the piste bashing team had had time to get the pistes into superb condition.

An old favorite for many, we headed straight to Jerusalem and were the first people down. What a treat! I am not one for snowboarder jargon and rarely talk about ‘bluebird’ or ‘pow pow’ but this piste was total corduroy. We had sad faces for about a minute as we made our way down the hard chopped up first section. Then out of nowhere stretched pure corduroy piste! Totally deserted, a pretty special moment of the season.

Whilst we were tempted to do it again we thought we had better adventure elsewhere. The cloud had started to come in and we hoped we could get above it by getting up top in Val Thorens. The pistes were really quiet the whole way and even hit more corduroy once again in Val Thorens – totally unheard of in my experience.

The sun had indeed started to peek out and we made the mistake of stopping for a coffee to warm up. It had got pretty chilly on the way over and I needed to re-layer. Unfortunately whilst we were sipping our coffee (and dipping a Twix in, a little morning pick me up!) the cloud and snow came in once again.

The initial plan to head up Cime Caron was scrapped and we ventured up Boismint hoping for some gentle runs down. We did not even make the whole run down before stopping for another coffee and a plan re-think. I had told my guest about Chez Pepe Nicolas and she was keen to find out how to ski there. A quick look at the map (something I have not done for a while) and we opted for Tetras linking up with boulevard cumin. This did indeed meet the track for the restaurant but a short walk was required. We convinced ourselves it was part of the adventure and headed up the track. Once at the top we entered the restaurant to be questioned whether we had reserved, we had not. The owners obviously saw the desperation on our faces and promptly took to work setting up a table for us outside with sheepskin rug and heater. It was absolutely perfect. Once again, I can fully recommend this place - it is a real alpine experience.

I had to leave my guest to make her own way back down whilst I dashed over to Tignes to catch some of the X Games and more Misguided Fools mustachio mayhem. A long and tiring day, great to be squeezing everything out of my last few weeks of the season.

The sun is shining today and the Three Valleys could not look more beautiful. Unfortunately for me it is shopping day, very badly timed.

There is always tomorrow though, that snow is not going anywhere just yet.....