a visitor in the mountains

Nic came to visit with Dolly his dog which was a great surprise.  The original plan was that he was going to spend a few days here and then continue on into Spain to visit friends for the rest of the week.  At the last minute plans changed and he was here for a swift day and a half.  We crammed a whole lot in.

The first afternoon, after one of Marks amazing thai curries we headed out in the mist to walk to Pla d’Adet, the view wasn’t there just thick cloud. Along the path, evidence of several avalanches, one of which had caught several walkers the week before, It worried me slightly that they weren’t over and I didn’t fancy being someone else winched to safety by helicopter in a dramatic rescue.  We arrived safely and I waved to one of the bus drivers that I know as we walked into the village,  he stopped the bus and we got an impromptu lift home.  

DAY 2

The weather was sunny but threatening a bit of snow so we took the dog for a good walk on a route that I have been meaning to do for ages.  I always decide that skiing is a better idea but with a dog a walk was a must.  We checked with the girl in the ticket office who said that there were no rules forbidding dogs on the station, so we went.

Up in the ‘eggs’  which felt odd without ski equipment and then down on a chair lift, towards the lake.  There was a grumpy attendant who wasn’t at all sure that a dog should be allowed but we went, ignoring his protestations. We held the dog tight and I discovered why everyone looks frozen when they take that lift down the hill, it catches a cruelly cold wind. Half way to the lake we crossed an area of  ski slope to get to the next lift, Dolly was so excited, running round in huge circles, surprising everyone there, it isn’t often that you see a dog in the middle of a ski resort, miles from habitation.

She got the hang quickly and snuggled between us on the second descent.  The scenery was beautiful, the trees sparkling with a slight dusting of snow and their trunks glowing orange from the sunlight reflected back from the snow.  Slowly, the huge dam and lake came into view, the water level low and completely covered in snow.  It is always a surprise to see the water levels so low but then, most of the water is still stuck on the mountains as snow.  It’ll be full to overflowing when it all melts this year.

More surprised faces and comments from folk passing in the other direction and when we arrived at the bottom.  It’s a weird sensation descending and alighting a ski lift without skis, Dolly didn’t think so, leaping off at the right moment and knowing exactly where to go.

We set off, not sure how far we were going to walk.  The lake looked huge and there was an enormous amount of snow everywhere.  The track was evident only by following the tracks of others and not by any of the usual markers.  We made good progress and soon decided to go right the way round the lake.  We discussed cutting of the far end but decided it would be too dangerous as there was no way of knowing how deep the snow was or if the ice would support our weight.  Dolly was in her element, tracking scents and chasing and destroying the countless sticks that we threw for her.  Boundless energy.

Nic and I caught up on news since I stayed last autumn, discussed plans for the future and bandied about ideas for his land and making ends meet.  He’s started a bee keeping course and is excited about getting his first hive.  We explored an old shelter with a vaulted stone ceiling and theorised about winter trekking in the mountains.

Ancient shepherds huts and shelters were visible deep in the snow, and a bridge that we crossed had a good six feet of snow across its top, making it feel rather fragile and unsafe.  It was great to be outside in the elements away from the crowds and in complete silence.  I no longer notice how noisy the ski station is, but in contrast all there was to hear was the occasional bird in the stillness of the winter landscape.  Pictures are always easier than words, so here is where we were:

We had a true mountain lunch of Tartiflet at little refuge by the dam before heading back.  Dolly was much more independent on the lifts, commanding her own chair when possible and fascinated by looking out over the slopes, skiers and landscape.  The lift attendants surprised and happy to see her so confident on the return journey.

A flying visit needed a bit of calm so we headed to the thermal baths of Balnéa for a soak.  It’s a hit with all the guests that go and my brother absolutely loved our visit last year, so I wasn’t concerned that Nic wasn’t going to enjoy it.  Two hours of soaking, floating, steaming and sauna’ing under water music and a pile of snow to roll in, what more could one ask for?  Nothing.  

We left without a trouble in the world, clean and slightly wrinkled from the hot water and me, feeling better than I have been in a long time.  It was just what I needed after the holidays.  Nic loved it too; he continued on his journey to Spain and I came back to the chalet for the soundest nights sleep in ages.  Wonderful.

the calm after the storm

The end of the french school holidays is here accompanied by a huge sigh of relief from everyone working at the chalet.  It’s been a tough four weeks all in all.

Busier with guests than ever before, an additional lunchtime challenge of feeding between twenty five and forty kids who arrive at 12:00 midday with their ski school instructors for a meal before our normal lunchtime restaurant service.  One, then two missing from the team rather than an extra one that we had hoped for at the beginning of the season, so four doing the work of six/seven, then on the second week some guests brought a flu virus with them that they promptly shared with everyone.  Mark the chef was laid up for 24 hours the same time as I couldn’t get out of bed for the day, I have no idea how the others managed but they did. Both Clare and Jessie were rough with colds that have gone on for ages.  I  was knocked for six and have very little recollection of the following ten days or so and a good two weeks later am starting to feel on form again, perhaps it was a good thing to have done the most challenging part of the season without much of a memory, but I think that I’d rather have been there.  

Still, guests have arrived and departed without major hitch, everyone has been fed and accommodated and enjoyed their holidays seemingly as much as usual.  Plenty of folk staying elsewhere have returned time and time again for lunches and occasionally evening meals and our Sticky Toffee Pudding is becoming famous throughout the resort.  Clare should publish a chalet cook book, it would make a small fortune, as everyone wants the Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe.  It’s a secret!

Now we have two nights with absolutely no guests. Peace and quiet, no one to look after and only a smallish pile of washing and ironing to get through.  Maybe even that will be forgotten for a couple of days.  There is enough food and drink in stock to keep us going and nothing pressing to do.  It’s not often that I relish the thought of being lazy but for the moment, I can’t wait to do nothing.  Sleep perhaps or maybe a good book, I might go out and ski for a bit if the weather is nice, but even the thought of exercise is tiring today.

A couple of days reprieve will be enough to charge the batteries.   With the knowledge that there will be fewer guests from now on and no more huge lunchtimes it’s time to enjoy the slopes again.  It’ll be good to get outside in the sunshine and fresh air again, which is the main reason that I am here.

yes, still more snow

How fast things change.  The excessive snow seems weeks ago now and the resort is back to normal.  There is still plenty of evidence on the hillsides, with bare earth and vegetation exposed by the countless avalanches and huge piles of snow along the roadsides where clearing has been necessary.  The signs on many of the pistes are buried or are poking out through the snow even though they are on poles that are a good six feet tall.  Netting safety barriers are stretched to their highest positions or in some places completely buried.  Many of the drag lift routes have been cleared so that there is enough room under the wires for them to work properly, giving the impression, in places, that one is in a corridor of snow.  The huge icicles and overhangs of snow on the chalet are beginning to melt and drop from the roof causing hazardous areas underneath, hopefully they will all be down by the time we are inundated with children next week.  It’ll be impossible to keep them away.

Chalet wise, we have a full team again, all up and running well, it’s taken a couple of weeks of additional input and encouragement to form the team but the results are well worth the effort.  Unfortunately two of the three newcomers are only staying for a shortish period of time, so we’ll be doing it all over again before too long.  Each time it gets a bit easier, though learning peoples characters and how they respond to learning/teaching methods always takes a bit of time.  Slightly disappointed that there aren’t any real skiers amongst them, I go out on my own a fair amount or occasionally find guests that are happy to have a guide from time to time.  Whatever, it’s great to get out at every available opportunity right now as the holidays are about to be upon us and then we’ll be too busy and the pistes too crowded for skiing to be so much fun.

I am still toying with the idea of trying snowboarding.  Each season I arrive here, at the start of winter, with the thought that I will donate a week or so to learning, but so far have not actually mustered the enthusiasm to spend the better part of a week arse or face down in the snow.  I have been as far as the ski hire shop to get equipped for the mission several times before turning back to get my skis and enjoying the day.  I don’t know if I shall this season, but if I do, it will be after the holidays and I have more than sufficient time to study video tutorials and get myself mentally prepared for the challenge.  But then again, it’ll depend on the day.

the usual table shot to see the depth of snow

two cars

yes, I am standing up

tree with snow and sky background

they blocked the road with snow to stop people getting caught in avalanches lower down

the only way in, and out....

amazing morning light over Saint Lary

clearing the road ..........   again

mung beans

My green fingers are keeping busy this winter too.  When I arrived, Clare and Mark came and found me in Toulouse and we visited the Asian supermarket on the way to the chalet.  Mark was in his element and would have filled the car with tasty ingredients.  They had already made a list and it was difficult to keep him on track.

One of the extras was a bag of Mung Beans.  It didn’t cost a fortune and is proving to be very good value for money.  Every few days I put a few into a large jam jar, leave them to soak overnight and them rinse them three times a day till they fill the jar.  This usually takes about five days, but Mark if often so involved in preparing us asian dishes whilst there aren’t too many guests, that they get used as soon as they look edible.

It’s good to see things growing here in the mountains in mid winter where there is snow everywhere albeit in a jar on the kitchen counter.  We are using the fresh shoots in stir fries and curries, a little sprinkle on side salads for the clients and apart from one over planting, there never seems to be enough.  Long live the bean sprout.

still more

Avalanches around the chalet last week 

Icicles on the washing line

Lea enjoying a forest walk

snow everywhere

where it's sheltered the snow sticks to everything, beautiful.

The latest news from the Pyrenees is that it has the number ONE resort for snow fall this year, Cauterets has over 5 metres so far, beating the number two position of Mammoth Mountain in the US of A.  Impressive for such a small mountain range and challenging for the maintenance teams here to keep the ski stations open and running.  

We’ve just had another good 48 hours of with strong winds, closing the resort for another day and the road down to the valley for fear of avalanches.  So far, close to the chalet we are OK, though they didn’t bother to clear the snow from the road, concentrating their efforts on the other side of our little valley.  

I did get an amazing day on the slopes yesterday, blizzard conditions but great fun none the less.  There was hardly anyone out and very few lifts open, but the pistes that opened were knee deep in powdery snow.  Our baker, from down in the village had a day off and asked if I fancied skiing, it was great to hit the slopes with someone new and a good skier who knows the resort well too.  We made the most of the morning, returning to the chalet for a late lunch, one of Mark’s amazing curries before heading back out to finish the day.  

I’m finally mastering the skill of skiing in new snow, it’s been an ideal season for it so far, and very different from enjoying the flat groomed surfaces that are usually there.  I got the last bus home, tired and a little achy from trying too hard just in time for a shower, change and dinner.  

Today has been entirely different,  I started at 7.30, baking croissants and sorting out breakfast for our guests, followed by an hour of ironing whilst the snow howled past the chalet.  The wind dropped, giving me the opportunity to start clearing a bit of snow.  I’ve given up trying to calculate the volume of snow that I move to any exactitude but am guessing a good 30 cubic metres each time it snows.  The wind blows and all the access paths get filled in and then the sides get higher.  It took a good two and a half hours today to clear the necessary paths and also uncover one of the cars, it ended up being a pointless exercise as the car couldn’t gain traction with it’s snow tyres and ended up remaining in it’s place outside the chalet.  My fear of not getting enough exercise is well and truly put to bed for the moment.  I’ll surely sleep well tonight.

avalanches

We waited another two days before the weather was clear enough for the helicopter to see what it was doing.  The afternoon was clear sunny and incredibly bright.  The helicopter landed on the car park, probably to pick up explosives and headed directly to a high crest above the chalet, it dropped so low all we could see was a cloud of snow billowing about for several seconds and then backed off the mountain a fair distance.  There was a tiny plume of snow/smoke followed by a boom before the whole slope of snow started to slide down the mountain.  It was all miniature and distant, but having been up there in the past, I could imagine how large the slide was.  Huge billows of snow rose up in the valley, catching the sun and causing a giant brilliant white glow for several moments.  The helicopter moved on to the next probable site and repeated the drop.  Again a plume followed by boom and another silent slide of snow, whole valleys of silent billowing movement in the distance, the scale was impressive.  It continued into the distance and out disappeared of view for a while, appearing again above the chalet but further down the valley.

They had already decided that the other side of our valley was safe enough to use the road so I took a chance to see what was going on.  I was itching to be outside and also wanted to get to the other part of the resort to say goodbye to a friend who had been staying there,  there were no busses so I thought that I would walk there.  I passed a couple of groups of official looking people in uniforms and we passed the time of day.  The helicopter was high up on the mountain doing its thing and the evidence of avalanches were clear to see in the bright snow.  Looking back above the chalet, there had been several, all small and had stopped way short of the buildings.  It looked as if the job was done.  I set off on my way down the hill taking photos and enjoying the stunning snowy scenery, the helicopter returned to the car part to pick up more explosives and passed directly overhead on its way down the valley to continue its work.  I passed the crossroads and another group of resort officials, they waved whilst watching the drama on the hillside and I continued.  A van approached, I stuck my thumb out, getting a lift from one of the local guys directly into the resort village.  On arrival we met the Gendarme who were holding up the traffic until the avalanche clearance had finished.  No one was allowed from where I had just come from........  I’ll never know if I should have been there or not, but the view had been great and I got a ring side view of avalanche clearance in action.

I got to say good bye to Cecile, we’d met last summer on the donkey farm and she’d been staying in resort with a group of schoolchildren for ten days or so through work.  We hadn’t managed to ski together as she’d injured her ankle over New Year but it was good to catch up and pass the time of day.  She looked happier at the end of the visit than the start, a bit more tired but thankful that she wasn’t looking after kids for the whole season.  I can only imagine.    Hopefully we’ll cross paths again, she’s promised to come and give me a hand with the house when I get that far.  I hope she does.

The resort slowly started to reopen the following day, piste by piste, as safety barriers got adjusted and lifts de-iced.  Clare and I skid on Friday for a while, the powder was deep and soft but the visibility so poor, due to the clouds and continuing snow that we didn’t last much past lunchtime.  Exhausting after skiing on groomed slopes, I have decided to get a lesson after the next new snow to learn the techniques and make it a more enjoyable experience.  

helicopter on sunny peak in centre of photo

Yes, it really was that deep

proper snowed in

avalanches and snow slides above the chalet

on the road to Pla d'Adet

the valley of Saint Lary Soulan

too much snow

My 20 to 40 suggestion was a bit over the top for lunchtime diners, bit I did get a decent go at running the kitchen whilst mark was away.  We saw 12 diners on Saturday and 11 on Sunday.  I got to prepare a good selection of menu items, Confit de Canard with sarladaise   potatoes, burgers, braised ham, omelettes and double fried chips (home made) and salad, spaghetti carbonara, bacon tartines.  

None of them particularly difficult individually plates, but when five or six different meals have to be ready for service at the same time it becomes a bit more tricky, especially when other orders are arriving and have to be started right away, a calm, straight thinking attitude and order is needed so as not to mess anything up.  The easiest way to monitor success from the kitchen is to look at returning plates, the vast majority were completely clean, the odd uneaten lettuce leaf or remain of burger bun, nothing substantial, no rejects, I was pleased with that.   It was a good fun, challenge that I enjoyed and could cope with more at another time.  Mark can have a few  lunchtimes off later in the season and I’ll hopefully get to practice some of the remaining dishes on the menu.

I got my wish too, the mountain is more covered in snow that I have ever seen it.  So much so that we are stranded in the chalet with strict instructions not to venture outside for fear of avalanches.  It snowed sporadically to start with, then constantly for a good 48 hours.  I knew it was snowing hard when the snow ploughs ran all night without pause, that was Sunday through to Monday morning, (the ploughs pass just outside my bedroom), last night they didn’t run at all, I guess it was already deemed too dangerous on our side of the valley.

The resort remains closed for a second day and the latest news from the authorities is that a helicopter will pass by tomorrow morning to fire grenades into the snow on the high slopes.  These explode and trigger controlled avalanches that can then be dealt with before anyone ventures too near.  Hopefully they’ll give us a call and I get to witness the excitement from a safe vantage point.  Only after that has happened and the safety teams have had time to verify the station, will it reopen for skiing.

It’s weird to watch from inside, for the past couple of hours the temperature has risen a little and the snow here has changed to rain, the almost completely laden trees have dropped their charges of snow and the depth of snow on the balcony bar has diminished considerably.  Fortunately, looking up slightly we can see that it is still snowing a hundred meters or so further up the mountain.  That’ll be the change of temperature with altitude or zero isotherm.  Whilst I have been writing, the zero isotherm has dropped and it is now snowing outside, just, and the rain has been pushed further down the mountain.  Fingers crossed that it’ll continue to stay down there for a while.

spot the cars

road up to the station

picnic tables on the terrace

I've posted a similar photo several times before, but never with this much snow, I cleared the snow from round the tables 24 hours before the photo was taken!!

how does it hold on like that?

the foreground is nearly waist deep snow

another picnic table, complete with parasol that we forgot to bring in.  Can you see it in front of the tree?

Marks' moped