Week Eight – Mike and Olivia

Fromage!!

We met the two excited travelers at Geneva Airport before whisking them back to our apartment via the local rental store, ‘Hurycana,’ where Thierry fitted them with skis and boots. It was so nice and refreshing to see familiar faces and catch up on the last 18 months.

On day one we skied at Le Tour and we were very impressed at how quickly Mike and Liv gained their ski legs. The evening was spent reminiscing, eating pizza, drinking beer, and celebrating Anna’s birthday.

We awoke to a white out on day two and decided to stay low and cross-country ski amongst the many tracks that amble through the trees in the valley, known locally as ‘ski de fond.’ Everyone had a great day and a tough work out, which we would all pay for with an assortment of muscle soreness later in the week.

Day three was epic, 30-40cms of fresh snow overnight and a bright blue sky at Les Grand Montet equated to a memorable days skiing. Anna and I were able to lead Mike and Liv into some very challenging ‘off-piste’ (un-groomed) runs. We were pleasantly surprised at Livs mastery of the backwards snowplough and Mikes ability to discard various items from his backpack during each tumble. We were stoked however to see them ski really well on runs which were very challenging for anyone, let alone having not skied for three years.

Day four saw a trip to Chamonix where the girls shopped and the boys feigned interest as best they could.

The sun came out on Day five and we all skied like demons at Flagere, thanks to fresh legs and perfect visibility only one fall was witnessed all day, even that was not our fault; an Irishman, who was sharing a chairlift with Anna and I, attempted to pole vault himself off the chairlift using Anna’s ski boot for traction. This led to an impromptu game of twister on the exit ramp, our flexibility did not impress the French Lift operator at all as he had to stop everything and help us from our compromising positions. Right leg, black and blue.

The next day we all said ‘au reviour’ as Mike and Liv boarded a train to Lyon, continuing their adventure. It was such a treat to have them to stay.