Val Thorens Snow Report: 4th April 2013

The morning started with a group ski towards Meribel - temperatures had seriously dropped overnight so we had some very icy runs first thing. We dropped down to Raffort through the trees which is normally a great track but was not the nicest that early in the day. One of my guests narrowly avoided a collision with one of the trees which provided quite a bit of amusement for the rest of us.

From there it was over to Val Thorens for a birthday lunch at Face West with complementary champagne, why thank you! The sun stayed most of the day as ordered with the clouds just coming in as we headed back home. It looked very dramatic clinging onto the top of the mountains. There was a storm forecast overnight which did not arrive but when we woke the following day, it was pretty cloudy so people were not too eager to head out. With all the kids booked into ski school for 9.15am there was no hanging about and everyone was glad they had made it up there early as it was easy to get up above the clouds for some good skiing. The sun did eventually burn the clouds away and it was a great day.

Everything seemed to come together this week with my skiing progress. I think I finally relaxed and stopped worrying about the two planks on my feet. The skiing has been fantastic all week.

The whole week has been leading up to Wednesday which was race day. There is a seasonnaire race several times a season in St Martin. The rules are that you must have a team of four including; at least one girl, one boy, one skier, one snowboarder. Fancy dress is optional for most people but compulsory here at Green Mountain Chalets. I thought the team might be in with a chance to win if I did not participate as I am way too slow. So, we had Team Afro who put in a good performance but unfortunately came in second place to a German team from Val Thorens. Everyone who participated had a great time and gave it their all, with claims of the fastest skiing they have ever done and a whole lot of leg burn.

I have had some guests staying this week who were our first ever guests. It is nice to end with them as our last guests of this season four years later. It is also great seeing the progress in their skiing abilities. They were both beginners when they first came to stay in 2009 and are now flying, especially Jake who used to have a few teary moments when he was first attempting to ski and now I cannot even keep up with him.

There is a very similar forecast for the rest of the week to last - light snow and cloud lower down but the sun can be reached in the higher points of the resort. The snow is still great and as always for this time of year the snow just gets heavy and slushy at the bottom. People seem to either love or hate slushy snow. For those that are not keen it is sometimes worth calling it a day at the lift station and getting the lift down to the bottom to save tired legs and prevent injury.

Only a few days left in resort now for me so this will be my last report for this season. I am going to miss the snow and mountains as I head back to the UK for the summer. Lots of well deserved relaxation is coming my way along with prep for season five.

So, see you next season......here's hoping it's as good as this one!