Have you ever heard those stories about pilots that are caught in cloud and lose all perspective? They can no longer tell which way is up and unless they learn to trust their instruments they fly into the side of a mountain or into the ocean or something? I never really understood this phenomenon until today. We got off the gondola at the Flegere resort and all we saw was white. We were standing in the middle of a cloud and could barely see a few feet in front of us. But since we paid for the day and had not skied this part of the mountain we decided to give it a try. Although we couldn't see it at the time, there was a chair about 50 feet in front of us and we took it further up the mountain and we thrilled when we exited the cloud and were surrounded by blue skies and white capped mount
ains. Unfortunately, our excitement didn't last long since the only way to go was back down into the cloud. There were moments when the only way I could tell which way was down was because I could just make out Colleen's bright orange helmet or Lisa's maroon jacket below me. It is the closest that I've ever come to being blind and I did not like it. After making our way back up to the top and into the sunlight once again we decided to return to the Brevant resort and see if the visibility was any better.
I will say that Brevant was better in terms of visibility since we were able to stay above the clouds, the spectacular conditions that we
experienced the day before were a thing of the past. What were once open fields of light, fluffy powder had turned hard and chunky making and the groomed runs were hard packed and slick. Rather than waste a lot of energy trying not to hurt myself, I decided to end the day early and intact. The highlight of the day was that for the first time since we arrived at Chamonix-Mont Blanc we actually were able to see Mont Blanc. Forturnately it looked exactly as it was drawn on the ski map and we were able to get some great photos (coming soon once I get a better internet connection).
Thursday was our last day in Chamonix so we decided to take the day off from snowboarding and see what other activities were available to us. After considering eliminating many we decided to take the Montenvers railway up a mountain to Mer de Glace. From the top you have stunning views of the surrounding mountains and the Chamonix valley below. After taking some photos we boarded a cable car down to the
glacier to see the Ice Grotto. This is a cave built into the glacier. They build a cave twice a year and you can see from the locations of the previous caves how far the glacier has moved in the last six months (apparently it moves 1 cm per hour). After returning to the city we spent the rest of the afternoon peaking in various shops and admiring all of the wares. Ever since we arrived in Chamonix we had talked about having fondue for dinner and since this was our last night we decided to give it a go. Colleen found a great spot for dinner on TripAdvisor so we thought we'd give it a go. It was a cute little restaurant run by an older couple that spoke very little to no english which proved difficult when they tried to explain that they serve house fondue not savoyarde fondue. She attempted to demonstrate the difference with a spoon but even after all her warnings I decided to give it a try. Turns out, I really like house fondue. It is not nearly as heavy as what we saw others eating elsewhere so if you are ever hanging out in the Alps, I suggest giving it a whirl.
Next stop, Geneva.
ains. Unfortunately, our excitement didn't last long since the only way to go was back down into the cloud. There were moments when the only way I could tell which way was down was because I could just make out Colleen's bright orange helmet or Lisa's maroon jacket below me. It is the closest that I've ever come to being blind and I did not like it. After making our way back up to the top and into the sunlight once again we decided to return to the Brevant resort and see if the visibility was any better.I will say that Brevant was better in terms of visibility since we were able to stay above the clouds, the spectacular conditions that we
experienced the day before were a thing of the past. What were once open fields of light, fluffy powder had turned hard and chunky making and the groomed runs were hard packed and slick. Rather than waste a lot of energy trying not to hurt myself, I decided to end the day early and intact. The highlight of the day was that for the first time since we arrived at Chamonix-Mont Blanc we actually were able to see Mont Blanc. Forturnately it looked exactly as it was drawn on the ski map and we were able to get some great photos (coming soon once I get a better internet connection).Thursday was our last day in Chamonix so we decided to take the day off from snowboarding and see what other activities were available to us. After considering eliminating many we decided to take the Montenvers railway up a mountain to Mer de Glace. From the top you have stunning views of the surrounding mountains and the Chamonix valley below. After taking some photos we boarded a cable car down to the
glacier to see the Ice Grotto. This is a cave built into the glacier. They build a cave twice a year and you can see from the locations of the previous caves how far the glacier has moved in the last six months (apparently it moves 1 cm per hour). After returning to the city we spent the rest of the afternoon peaking in various shops and admiring all of the wares. Ever since we arrived in Chamonix we had talked about having fondue for dinner and since this was our last night we decided to give it a go. Colleen found a great spot for dinner on TripAdvisor so we thought we'd give it a go. It was a cute little restaurant run by an older couple that spoke very little to no english which proved difficult when they tried to explain that they serve house fondue not savoyarde fondue. She attempted to demonstrate the difference with a spoon but even after all her warnings I decided to give it a try. Turns out, I really like house fondue. It is not nearly as heavy as what we saw others eating elsewhere so if you are ever hanging out in the Alps, I suggest giving it a whirl.Next stop, Geneva.
No comments:
Post a Comment