Hotel Bel Horizon Val-Thorens

hello everyone!

so we got to London at 5PM on Saturday, jumped on a coach and went to France. We got there around 11.30AM on Sunday and just chilled out for the rest of the day, were a bit dead from the coach journey. there wasn't any snow when we got there.... got a bit drunk in the chalet in the evening but couldn't go out as nowhere was open!

Monday we got up and it had snowed overnight and it hasn't stopped since! started training, got uniform etc ...

... because we were due to go down to a hotel in the town for a meal, and a quiz night, so just cecked out facebook. Derek was off chatting to Team Diesel Head, and ended up getting the shewee that all the female team members had been promised.

The hotel was in walking distance, and we walked down with the Landyprikkers, who were enjoying themselves immensely. They had a great time on the Stelvio Pass ...

J 4/ Auberge de la Nova - col de la Seigne - mont Fortin - col Chécroui

Mercredi 2 Septembre, au petit matin, nous passons le village des Glaciers, jusqu'au refuge des Mottets. Le temps a subitement changé avec un gros orage pendant la nuit, et durant toute la journée nous n'avons pas pu voir la chaine du Mont Blanc et les majestueuses Grandes Jorasses.

On commence par une montée de 700 m jusqu'au ...

... in again) then, when you think you are on top, there is an elevator to take.
Now this in one crazy destination! At 3807 meters above sea level you can imagine the feeling. It was cold and sunny. There were quite a few crazy ice / rock climbers up there for us to watch when we weren't gawking at the view. It is amazing the engineering that went in to providing public access to the area. There are tunnels through the mountain so you can access ...

... season here, but can imagine some excellent biking and festivals. Sometimes the Tour de France even comes through! I am going to keep this posting short because we've spent most of our time exploring the mountains and I think you might enjoy some photos more than a bunch of chatter. I will let you know that we drove the length of the valley, along which are several small villages. The older houses are made with stone and you can see some of the interesting roofs here. We ...

... tepposet ja hissit oli kiinni. Yöllä oli satanut vissiin kunnolla vettä aika korkealle asti ja tuuli kovaa. Otettiin auto alle ja nokka kohti Lödöä. Se oli oikeestaan tosi hyvä ratkaisu, koska ei olla tällä kaudella käyty siellä kertaakaan laskeen ja Graven kausareilla tosiaan saadaan siellä ilmaiset liput. Löydettiin jopa parit pyydaseinät Lödöstä ja muutamat rinnelaskut mutta hienoin löytö oli kyllä After! Viisi vuotta pörrätty siellä afterinetsintäprojektissa ja ...

... on a mission to see Mont Blanc. Caught the telecabine up to Les Grandes Platiers at 2,480m (Garth not happy at all - very quiet thinking through the mechanics of the cable car system) where the light was unbelievable. Really bright even with sunglasses on. Unfortunately though Mont Blanc remained stubbornly covered in cloud. Went to Sallanches in the afternoon in case the cloud had lifted enough to get a view of the famous mountain but as it hadn't, we had fun ...

... deck chairs out the front which were spread all over the mountain.

Meribel village was also hosting a mini jazz festival, each cafe's outdoor seating was packed, a few places had bands playing and everyone was kicking back in ski pants and t-shirts having a lazy afternoon beer - it's one of my favourite times of the season after doing the hard yards in January, Feburary and March.

http://www.valthorens.com//site/home/wi nter-108-2.html Ooooo I had so much fun this week! I headed to France with my mate Aimee, her boyfriend Steve and there mates, Scotty, Meg, Chev and Cliff. We flew in to Chambray Airport in France and caught a transfer bus to It was so great to get back out on the snow for the week after four odd years although we didn't just fill our days with just ...

Together again! Our reunion went just as planned as Holly was waiting behind the glass as I walked into the Geneva airport baggage claim. The big long hug that followed was very memorable. By happenstance our friend/landlord, Colin, who we are renting our apartment from for the winter, arrived in Geneva from a trip to Norway four hours after I arrived. So long story short Holly drove Colin's car to pick the both of us at the ...