Skiing in the French Alps

We had an awesome vacation in the French Alps. It was wonderful to be amidst the mountains and in the snow! We drove (about 10 hours) to the Mont Blanc area and stayed the first 2 nights at the top of the ski area Mt. d'Arbois in a little chalet. This was quite an experience. The only way to get there is by the gondola. The views were breathtaking(below is a view from our room.) The first day was sunny and the next day we awoke to the sound of snow cats grooming the trails and fresh snow! It continued to snow that day and at one point, it was white out conditions. The girls did great skiing and Chris and I even got to ski a few mogul runs with fresh powder! As we sent the girls down the side run and we took the mogul run, we turned to each other and said, "Are we really at this point in parenting?" Granted we could see them the whole time, but they loved thier independance as much as we did!

For the second half of the week we drove a little bit north to the Chatel area. This is the most picutresque area! Beautiful mountains with chalets dotting the landscape. A cute town with cobbled streets and wonderful bakeries. There are several ski areas all connected here and we were able to ski in France and Switzerland on the same day! The girls got a kick out of this. The first day was great and the second day was very windy and snowy. Parts of the ski areas were shut down due to avalanches. I can't even describe how windy it was at the top. We spent most of the day on the Ski Cross run. The girls couldn't get enough of it. Riding the pomalift was also a highlight. I think they enjoyed that as much as skiing. Of course we had our issues of falling off and getting off too early.

We had heard many stories of what skiing was like in Europe, so we were excited to experience it. Each ski area is fairly small, but is connected to several other ski areas by ski runs or gondolas. The lift ticket works at all of them. You don't feel as though you are skiing at different ski areas. There are different villages at the bases of each area. The areas we were at are at lower elevations, and a couple times it was raining at the base and snowing at the top! I would liken it to skiing at a larger Colorado ski area like Vail, but with spring skiing conditions. I understand this type of snow is customary here. Would I travel to Europe to ski? No. (I would go visit Amsterdam-hint hint.) Skiing in Colorado is much better. But, we had a fabuous time and look forward to going again next year.

We were reminded of a comment years ago from one of Chris' work associates who lived in Switzerland. We were living in Colorado at the time and planning our first trip to Europe with our friends. Chris asked him if he had recommendations on where to possibly ski. His comment, "Why would you do that? You live in Colorado with some of the best skiing in the world." (I really wish you could hear Chris say this-the accent only adds to the comment.) So, those of you who live in Colorado, do not take what you have for granted!