Skiing at Les Trois Vallees

We've been looking forward to this ski trip since August when we packed our skis and boots into the Continental airlines flight to Paris. This past week, we enjoyed four days of great ski conditions in the French Alps. With the help of our neighbor and resident French expert, Guillaume, we set our sights on Les Trois Vallees (The 3 Valleys) selecting the Courchevel 1650 resort and valley for our home base. What are the 3 valleys? It is the largest ski domain in the world with 600 kilometers of ski trails. The valleys of Courchevel, Meribel, and Val Thorens are connected by summit reaching ski lifts.

After spending the night in Lyon and having a wonderful meal at a 100+ year old traditional French bistro near the train station, we arrived in Courchevel. The gray clouds and light snow kept the mountains hidden from us while we walked around the base.


The Village People. In from Austin, ski enthusiast Jill took the picture - merci. 

Snow Report
Connect to the BBC news page and you will read about serious snow throughout Europe over the last couple of weeks. It is safe to say that we were lucky with the snowfall. It did not impact our drive to Courchevel and left about 15+ inches (40+ cm) on the mountain. Though we did not get ultra fresh powder on the groomed runs, the snow was very nice especially just off the runs in the safe ski areas. As you can see from this picture, snow conditions were great and you could see pretty well once you went through the clouds on the lifts.


Red, White and Blue. Saulire peak at 2738 meters. 

This next picture is from the same point, looking in a different direction. We really loved the mountains here in the Savoie region of France.


Arrival point of the Telepherique (Cable car lift). 

"Skiing - Old School Style"
Technology changes impact perspectives on human challenges and the best way to perform optimally. No this is not a quote from a b-school article or textbook. I'm simply reflecting on our 2-hour advanced ski lesson on Tuesday. Barbara, our French ski instructor, evaluated our skiing technique before coaching us on improvements. In order to evaluate, Barbara would ski downhill and then have each of us ski down to her position on the mountain. I went last and did my best to display my vast expertise of skiing technique. (As everyone knows, 'you have to make it down the mountain in under 58 seconds to even be considered for the ski team'.) Joining the others next to Barbara, I was ready for my praise. Over the past several years of ski trips, I've been improving my ability to keep my skis together while carving down the mountain. Her evaluation: 'Dustin, you ski like my grandfather, not my mother, but my grandfather.' Excusez-moi? Actually, I did learn to alpine ski with my Grandpa Hindman. He skied into his seventies. Barbara explained that technology advancements in shaping alpine skis don't require skiers to keep their legs and skis tightly together. In fact, her perspective was I should widen my stance and let the skis do more of the work. My only consolation is that she said Guillaume and I were twins and had the exact same skiing technique. Well, some of her other comments really helped. Guillaume and I still prefer keeping our skis close together. Dr. Carey King - you ski like Barbara's great grandfather but I still give you a 10 on your skiing technique. If you can get down the mountain in under 58 seconds, then you are on the ski team.

One of the great things about Les Trois Vallees is the opportunity to do some glacier skiing in the Val Thorens valley. They have two glacier ski access points but only the Col lift and Glacier de Chaviere was open. The other glacier point was closed due to avalanche risk. Sub-freezing temperatures and fairly high winds made the lift ride less than enjoyable. The view of the glacier and the excellent, soft powder coming down the face of the glacier made it more than worthwhile. If you can't tell, I'm super cold mildly wishing I had not removed my gloves to snap photos of the glacier. C'est la vie.


Don't ski on this part of the glacier unless you enjoy hidden crevasses. 

Sunny Days
We were fortunate to have three nice days of mountain sunshine and moderate temperatures. It made the trails visible and the breaks enjoyable. If I could whistle on this blog, I would do it now...


Ski babe catching some rays near the Creux meeting point. 

Outdoor ski lunches in the sun are always fun. All seven of us met for lunch on Wednesday at La Casserole. The French call it vin chaud, the English call it mulled wine and Americans call it hot, spiced wine. Frankly, what matters is that hot, spiced wine is a must for any break in the alps. C'est tres tres bon.


A rare sight, Gemma with the trail map...planning.