Courchevel Report
I find my ski breaks a most excellent catharsis for modern living. A weeks or so of fresh air, intense exercise and escape from the rhythm of your daily work and commute regime. Its funny how my wife always resists the trip from booking until about the third day, whereabouts she falls in love with the sport and wants to stay indefinitely - such is the dynamic of married life.
This years booking was a last-minute affair as I suspected that snow conditions could well be problematic, a cautious approach which paid off as the snow arrived very late this year, as is gradually becoming the norm as the pace of Alpine climate change slowly accelerates.
 |
awaits the tired skier at 1850. |
Bright sunlight during the day may seem ideal but as the surface melts in the noonday sun and freezes in the evening it soon becomes a sheet of ice. Add to that regular snowfalls which rapidly get pushed into mogul fields on the busy piste and you soon have some quite challenging skiing conditions.
We had a great time but couldn’t help but notice a few cracks showing. In spite of it still being high season the pistes were surprisingly quiet and the bars and restaurants doing only modest trade. Maybe it’s the exorbitant prices that keep people away but the distinct lack of piste bashing is not going to encourage people to return; many pistes were rendered impassable to the novice skier thanks to this neglect and as one instructor explained to my wife, this is entirely due to management in-fighting and incompetence rather than lack of funds. The continued [and excessive] pace of hotel developments seems optimistic but with the snow gradually retreating up the mountain and no visible investment in snow cannons, particularly around the base of the final pistes the villages may soon find themselves empty anyway.
People in Britain often complain about the deterioration of our standards of television but a dose of evening French TV is a good reminder that we still have a long way to go before we sink to French levels, which are so low they are quaintly amusing. It was interesting to note the growing pains that they are going through at the moment with the customary propensity for civil dissent; one demonstration because Sarkozy hasn’t done what he promised and another because he has. I do pity the French predicament.
Very interesting on two fronts - the gradual change to skiing conditions year by year and the second the French TV. A good read, Wolfie.
I read recently that average warming has increased in Europe more sharply than other regions due to stringent controls on particulate emissions put in place by the EU. So damned by our own efforts to clean up perhaps but I do see re-forestation as a possibility. Whilst recently walking the the Black Forest I was taken by the layer of damp fog that surrounds the mighty cedars; water vapour could be our secret weapon but is it already too late?
We were dining with friends last night and he was telling me about a friend who had called him earlier in the week from Chamonix where in spite of the season being pretty much over there had been a massive dump of snow. The restaurants and bars were all shut, nobody around but fantastic powder.
If you think French TV is bad try watching a 4 hour long incomprehensible Italian game show - comedy decorators stumbling on stage, shemale hosts and all