Hey fellow Bloggers,

Followers of 'Snow trippin' have been getting in touch asking if everything is alright with us both as we haven't blogged for a while.

Well, Fe's mum hasn't been in the best of health since Christmas then come February following many scans she was diagnosed with cancer. This made us being away in France pretty tough so we cut our season short and headed for home.  We returned to the UK on the 1st March and with much sadness Fe's mum died 3 days later. We feel so lucky that we made the right decisions when we did for us to come home, as for all of us to be together for Fe's mums last moments was something special for all of us.

We will, in time, once our heads are a little straighter, like to finish 'Snow Trippin'.  As we think as a dedicated follower, Fe's mum wouldn't have wanted it any other way!

Here's to kinder happier days. R.I.P Nicky.

Dave & Fe. x

The Lurgy

We are now on round two of the dreaded seasonnaire lurgy.  We had a fresh supply of drugs sent from home and are already half way through the stash.  We are both coughing as if we smoke more than Dot Cotton.  Some colleagues have given up and headed down to see Dr Al and got on the antibiotics, keen to save €100 and let nature take its course we are sticking it out.  Our morning routine consists of plonking a effervescent Vit C tablet in water, a few drops if echinacea, 2 teaspoons of cough medicine and 2 max strength paracetamols - and that's before our morning drink of ginger, honey & lemon.

Flying solo

Half term = kids, lots of them! The resort is now jam packed with the little blighters. We have 3 families so 6 adults and 6 kids, all lovely so not so bad, but why so many questions?

The Siberian cold snap has subsided, thank goodness. And the snow is back! It's been around two weeks since we had a major dump of snow. And since then it has simply been too cold to snow properly.  The low temperatures kept the pistes in good condition although they were becoming a little icy in places and the easy access off-piste was tracked out. So this recent new fall - up to 10cm higher up - was very welcome.

Alas Fe had to make a quick dash home to see her mum which left me flying solo.  With 3 families in the chalet it wasn't going to be easy.  Normally our day off is spent lazing in bed but with Fe placed on the early morning bus to Gevena I was off for first tracks.  A beautiful morning with not a soul around, bliss.

20th Anniversary

No not us (that's next month), the Winter Olympics were held in Albertville & Val d'Isere in 1992 and today marked the 20th anniversary of the occasion. Planned festivities included an open ski race down the Bellevarde Face piste, retracing the Olympic run not to mention the parties, DJ's, fireworks and a light show in the evening.

The Games took place between the 8th and 23rd February and during the Games the German team won most medals, with a total of 10 gold medals, 10 silver and 6 bronze.  Curling, although part of the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, made a come-back as part of the 1992 games and have become a regular appearance ever since.

Maison Moris

Opened back in December this very old stone house became a very little museum to tell the story of a mountain village before and after it became a world class ski resort. After passing it many times we finally, on this bitterly cold day, decided to poke our heads into the 'Val D'isere museum'.  The building, one of the oldest in Val d’Isere, is aptly named  “Maison Moris”. It's partly inhabited by a family and partly museum.  It was pretty small but perfectly formed, real interesting with some great photos and artifacts going back years telling the story of all things mountain sport geared. This old house has a very interesting frontage with 2 front doors, one above the other, so when the snow stacks up, as it tends to, people can enter the house using the top door or bottom door. .. less tiring than clearing a path to the lower door.  Nice!

Cry wolf

Breaking Val news....A local ski instructor has just spotted a wolf whilst out in the mountains near Val d'Isere.  The wolf was seen near the Pont Sant Charles, just 2km from the resort. The instructor did not manage to take any photos but watched the animal for some time through a pair of binoculars. He reported his sighting to the Vanoise National Park, who are now following up the details to confirm the presence of wolves in the area.

Wolves are becoming more prevalent in the French Alps, with many farmers lobbying for the right to be able to shoot them to protect their flocks.  However, organisations such as the Vanoise National Park are looking into ways in which wolves can be reintroduced into areas that were previously their natural habitat, without being a danger to people or life stock.  Wonder if we will come across any whilst out sliding?

Chevril Dam

Every week, whilst on the way to Bourg to do our weekly shop, we've been passing the Chevril Dam.  Today as we were many bookings down we had the time and chance to stop and take a closure look. The whole reservoir was totally frozen back right up to the monster dam.  The original village of Tignes was in this very spot within Isère the valley directly below Val d'Isere. After the second world war, France needed utilities, electricity mainly, and it was decided to build a hydro-electric dam within the Isère valley. Whilst this was a great achievement for French engineering and was for the greater good of France, it resulted that the old village of Tignes was sadly drowned! The dam was completed and the village was totally submerged in 1952. A replica of the original church was created in Tignes les Boisses. Once every 10 years the lake behind the dam (Lac du Chevril) is drained for maintenance work and the remains of the old village becomes visible.

The dam was painted with a fresco of Hercules in 1989 with the help of eight mountain climbers. The fresco is considered one of the largest in the world. The portrait of Hercules was added and funded by private corporations interested in boosting the Olympic appeal during the winter games of 1992 which took place in nearby Albertville, Fran.

When you ski the Sache piste run above Tignes you and rewarded with a fantastic view right across this area which really highlights the impact of how the dam has changed the look of the valley head.