Ep 92 The World’s Speediest Ladies are in Town.

Good morning Val d’Isère

Yesterday’s weather was better

Than expected…

Or at least it was less cloudy in Tignes….

I wasn’t on Solaise or le Fornet.

Today meteoblue says it will be sunny

BBC is predicting some clouds

And Forecast 7 says overcast with clouds…

So take your pick !

maximum temperature of plus one

And minimum minus six

there will be an easterly wind

With gust of up to forty kilometres per hour

At times

So don’t forget

Some face protection

Or you may get chilly on a chairlift.

Have you tried the Face this week

Bravo !

Pretty solid and blue

After last weekend’s

World Cup races.

Now the focus is

On the la Daille side of our

Beloved Bellevarde.

The OK piste

Named after two of our champions

Henri Orieller and Jean Claude Killy

Rather than OK

As in ‘fine’

The World’s fastest ladies

Will be training today and tomorrow

Before Saturday’s Downhill

And Sunday’s Super G.

Speedy Stars, including Lindsey Vonn

Have already been spotted

Out and about in our town…

The World Cup men

Are racing downhill in

Val Gardena

Today

There are eight Flying Frenchmen

But no Brits for us to cheer on.

Are you travelling today ?

Leave plenty of time…

The farmers are out doing their

Road blocking routine….

On one such day

I spent nine hours

Taking a friend from Val to

Lyon airport….

We didn’t even get as far as

Chambery….

Eventually got off the autoroute

Had some soggy chips

And

Went back to Val….

Her plane had long flown….

If you are holidaying in the Three Valleys

A way to avoid Saturday Traffic

Or windy mountain roads

Is to fly to Courchevel

…..

The Highest airport in Europe.

Better if you are a frequent rather than nervous flier….

The tarmac is

At the MOST

a

Fifth

The length of a normal runway…

And

On an 18.7 degree slope……

To get that clear in your mind….

No American highway can be steeper than 9 degrees……..

So the feeling of charging up hill on take off

Or rolling downhill on landing

Is actually

True.

What surprises me

Is that it is

Apparently

A cheap ish way to get from Geneva.

If you are bored with skiing

They also have a flying school..

When we look

Across our snowy domain

It is hard to believe what is

Happening this week

in the Dolomites

Hell on the slopes….

Severe congestion…

Hour-long queues….

Many runs are closed due to lack of snow

It is too warm for making artificial snow

Chaos

Calls for refunds

Climate change is again blamed….

The largest glacier in the Dolomites

Has lost more than eighty percent of its surface area

Since 18 88

And could disappear completely

By 20 40

There was a bad accident

On near Chambery

On Sunday morning.

A vehicle veered off the road

Down an embankment

And into a stream.

The driver fled

A 27-year-old man was found

Dead

In the boot of the car…

2 passengers were seriously injured

And 3 were treated for minor injuries.

The driver has been arrested

An investigation launched

Questions include

why a man was travelling in the boot.

Oooh this sounds tempting…..

If you have always dreamed of heliskiing in Alaska…

And work in

Any capacity in the

Outdoor or snow Industry….

Including freelancing

SEABA

Alaska’s longest running heliski operator

Has a new program

For you…

All inclusive

Seven-day heliskiing

At a

SPECIAL price….

I have put the link for the

simple

Application process in the episode description

And more information on the

Special Offers I have Spied page.

Disclaimer…..

Heliskiing is not traditionally cheap

So even the special price

May be more than a season in Val…

Don’t know that for SURE

Just have my suspicions !

If you go through the application process

Let me know !
 

UN International migrants day….

Someone who has chosen to leave their own country

To seek a better life in a different country….

Sounds like me..

And an awful lot of other people in Val !

Did you just come for

One season…

Then another….

Then the third was going to be THE LAST

Until winter rolled around again…

Something very addictive about Val !

The skiing

The mountains

The people

The lifestyle.

This migration lark was a lot easier

before Brexit…

British friends are surprised

When I tell them

It will not be very easy for their

adult children

To get a working visa,

Which can take months,

Even to work in a chalet or bar

For one winter.

Luckily Doodles and I

All have EU passports….

Off to enjoy skiing on good snow

Quiet slopes…

Might take a peek at the

Downhill training at La Daille…

Have a horrible feeling my

Peace is going to be disturbed

By the Christmas Holiday crowds

From this weekend….