SERRE CHEVALIER

It wasn't looking good. Our flight went well, the hire car was OK and we'd managed to find our hotel without getting lost. Then it all started to go wrong. It was pouring down with rain when we got out of the car, all the shops were shut for lunch and we were tired and hungry. The 4 of us (now soaking wet and slightly miserable) checked into our hotel and realized that we'd have to share 2 double beds, in what can only be described as the most depressing hotel room I've ever been in. The prospect of living in this dump for a week would have been enough to persuade me to drive straight back to Turin and jump on the next flight home.

Lee looking seriously good.

Needless to say, we decided to leave the hotel and find somewhere else. We wandered into the tourist information office and explained to the very helpful (English speaking) woman behind the desk that we needed somewhere to live. She instantly started looking through books and jabbering away on the phone before telling us that a lady would meet us by the church in 15 minutes to show us an apartment. A bit strange we thought, but we waited anyway. Sure enough, a diminutive French woman dutifully appeared and shuffled off to show us the apartment. The moment we walked through the door we knew our luck had changed for the better. The place was a palace. Better than where I live and a complete bargain at 2400 FF for the week (£10 per person per night, $15 US). Things were looking up.

Our (not so) humble abode.

Absolutely soaking wet, we went to buy our lift passes, still concerned about the effects that the torrential rain would be having on the snowpack. Of course we'd never been to Serre Chevalier before and didn't know what to expect at the top of the mountain, so all sorts of thoughts go through your head, "At least we've got that great apartment if there's no snow". The moment we entered the lift pass office however, our whole week suddenly changed for the better and the most epic holiday of my life was about to begin. "There's 80 cm of fresh at the top and it's coming down fast" yelled Lee.

Over the next 6 days, 5 foot of snow fell, providing us with 5 outstanding powder days and some of the strangest weather conditions I've ever encountered. During the day it would sometimes reach 18 or 19 degrees celsius on the valley floor, making the final run of the day pretty slushy. As a rule, it seemed to cloud over and snow during the night and the morning, then steadily clear by lunchtime before baking us with sunshine sending the avalanche risk soaring on certain (sun facing) slopes. Avalanche risk was high all week: The report graded it as 4 for every day except one when it dropped to 3. This obviously affected our choice of route (up and down) on several occasions, but didn't really affect the trip in any other way. By the time that we left there was 5 metres of snow at the top and the lifties had to dig out a trench in the snow for the top chairlift to go through.

A rare picture of Josh on a groomed run

It's the sort of holiday weather you dream about all summer long. Long warm bluebird days in endless virgin powder, then overnight the powder gods hit the "reset" button. Every morning we choked down our breakfast and raced to the lift so we could be on the slopes before anyone else, knowing that this sort of weather is a rare thing. Continues on next page.