After much anticipation we've been very lucky to have our good mates Bev and Nat from Oz come and stay with us for the past week in our apartment. It was great to hang out and catch up on whats been going on back at home and relive the good times of old. It was awesome to see that after being away for almost 6 months, hanging out with good mates is just as good as ever.
Team photo in the cable car
Unfortunately there had been a serious drought of snow here in Les Arcs for about 3 weeks, so while we were both stoked to have Nat and Bev staying, we were a little sad that we couldn't show them the mountain in its true white covered form. Particularly as the snow had been so good for them on their previous stop-off with Helen and Warnsey in Fernie, Canada. That all changed a day after the guys' arrival as we were greeted by not one, but three arctic fronts which dumped almost a meter of snow and ensured that we would have plenty of white fluffy stuff to play in for the next week. Unfortunately the first dump of snow coincided with Evan's first dump of gastro! This saw the Bevinator having to make countless rushed journeys up and down the ladder from his bed in the loft down to the bathroom. But like the trooper he is Bev was back in true form a day later, just in time to catch some of the best skiing sessions of the season..
The skiing was fantastic and we managed to squeeze in quite a few runs in between work shifts, despite the large school holiday crowds. To escape the holiday makers we took to the off piste and did one particularly epic back country run down to a local village called Nancroix. The run ended up being a bit more off the beaten track than expected thanks to Gav's wayward directions, but after a bit of bush bashing in waist deep powder we popped out in a clearing to find over a km of relatively untracked powder all the way into town with no-one in sight (very nice!). We also got a bit lucky and managed to be one of the first ones to ride a perfectly unpisted black trail just after it was opened. The feeling of looking back up the hill to see just your tracks and those of your mates is a pretty good one! (for more details see Bev's blog).
After watching plenty of the winter Olympics on TV we decided we'd have a go at a bit of cross country skiing. Lets just say its tougher than it looks! Those ski's are mighty thin and having a handle on traditional skiing doesn't really help. Having said that it was still an absolute hoot. The scenery was pretty special and everyone seemed to get plenty of entertainment watching me stack it countless times on the downhill sections. Bev and Nat were naturals at it and left Em and I for dust most of the time. Better watch out for them in Smiggins Holes 2014!
And to top the week off, Bev took the plunge.... and did a bit of paragliding.... oh yeah and he asked Nat to be his wife! Great news and gives us a pretty good excuse to come back to Oz at least for a holiday some time this year. So all in all a pretty awesome week!
Plan Peisey by night
View from the top
Em and Nat having a rest in the trees
Nat busting through the powder
Gav getting a bit of air
The boys soaking up the powder
Bushbashing through trees on the way to Nancroix
On the way to Nancroix
Bev making relatively new tracks after a hike up the Grand Col
The lobster pots
Bev and nat getting into the cross country skiing
Very appropriate!
All photos courtesy of Ev and Nat, apologies for any repetitions from their blogs!
Em with a real birds eye view!
