Saturday, March 14, 2009

100m or less in hill fog patches

I was dreaming that I was having a lie in this morning, til my alarm went off at quarter to seven. Then I remembered that I haven't had a morning off for nearly 3 weeks! soon, soon ..... should get two days off this coming week to make up! 
Grim weather at the beginning of last week, still decided to go on a little outing, and for some mad reason got on the chairlift that I have always avoided due to the off putting signage! 'Piste difficile' only for 'Bons Skieurs' - not me shurely. Wondered why there was no one else on it -then got off at a bleak spot on a ridge in a howling gale 

Where is everyone else?

Oh, it was also snowing really hard, and visibility was poor to nonexistent. Would that be 100m or less then? (perhaps it is only me who remembers Met-Man Mooney). Pottered around for a while, looking at my map and trying to decide which way to go. It's such a crazy thing to be doing, I mean it was seriously cold up there, gale force winds, if you were on a mountain in Scotland you'd have spare clothes, food, survival bag etc etc and of course a trusty flask, Bill! but to be up there alone with no emergency supplies seems mad. You can tell I still haven't quite 'got' this skiing thing. And everyone else apart from me is wearing fashion clothing, where the fur trim and how good you look seem to be the most important factors (better go shopping methinks .... praps that's where I am going wrong).
This seemed like the best way down - I quite like it when you can't see how steep the slope is... it helps me over my little vertigo problem.

Ended up having quite an exhilarating time, found a whole new area, a lovely snowy bowl, with just no people at all, wonder why Chatel is not such a popular resort. Spose it just could have been the weather. It's pretty wintry still.

Looking back down to Chatel, on the last piste leading back down to the chalet. I have to drop off the edge of it at just the right place to traverse across back to the chalet, if I am not brave enough and go too low it is a real slog across the field. Too high and it is too steep and deep and I keep trying to turn and chickening out til I run out of slope altogether...

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