Go Big or Go Home

On Sunday, March 1, Brock hired a private guide, Francois, to take him off-piste in Val d'Isere. Brock had been ill the night before and got very little sleep but showed up. He was glad he did, because there was a big snow overnight; they had 12" - 16" of untracked bliss! I had planned to join them, but chickened out.

Brock struggled a bit, sweating hard, probably because he and Francois skied 3200 vertical feet per run in deep powder. They skied four amazing runs in 3 hours, and that was all he could do. Fatter ski's would have helped him, but he hung tough. He is glad he did it, glad he survived!

Francois said those conditions were the best they had all year. How lucky can you get to have a powder day, a bluebird sunny day, and the best day of the year all in one?! What a nice gift on the first day of March!

After Brock drank lots of water and got lots of rest, we went out for dinner, and that in itself was an adventure. It was a full-on blizzard with heavy winds. By the time we reached the restaurant, about a 15-20 minute walk from our hotel, we were covered in snow and soaked to the skin! Same thing getting back to the hotel. I'll never forget that walk!

From here we pack up and head to Chamonix! We had a great time in Val d'Isere, meeting skiers from around the world including Turkey, England, Thailand, Chile, and more. So far we found skiing in France to be among the best in Europe and surprisingly less pretentious than Swiss ski resorts. We have had an easy time getting around in France because most people speak English.

We thought our hotel was excellent. The hot tub and sauna were nice amenities on the floor we were staying on. Their dinners were good, it was a good, quiet location on the main drag across from a ski shop and grocery store, and we very much appreciated the underground parking. Also, they would do a bagful of laundry for us every day for 20 Euros, which was a great deal! We got lots of exercise walking to town and enjoyed the shopping and dining in town as well. All in all, it was a great stop for us on our trip!