A Week in the French Alps: Part 1

Hello from the Alps!


Matthew and I are spending a week in the French Alps. We are staying in a town called Les Houches, which is just 6 km from the Chamonix valley. We are with two other American families at an amazing chalet. I am going to go ahead and give a quick plug for Hannah and Richard, owners of Alpine Ski and Golf. They offer both catered and self-catered chalets. We are staying in Chalet Petit-Bechar, a catered chalet, which means that Hannah and Richard make breakfast for us every morning, put out an afternoon tea with various scones or cakes, and serve a three-course dinner 6 of the 7 nights. Needless to say, we are all already spoiled rotten! The chalet sleeps 14 people, and at first it was just the Page family and us that were going. Another room was rented by a couple from Scotland that knew Richard from school. The Tucker family decided to join us, so we have a full house!

The view from right outside our back door. It was about 7:30am and the sun was starting to come up from behind the mountain.

Since the first time I went "skiing" (I use this term loosely, because I now realize all I did that first time was sled down the hill on skis) was a week before the trip. So our first two days were spent with a private instructor through a company called Evolution 2. The price was the same for one or two people, so Matthew decided to join me to see if he could pick up any tips to make him a better and more confident skier. Our instructor was named Patrice, and ironically grew up in Clermont-Ferrand! He was phenomenal! We started out very, very basic. He explained the different parts of the ski and what each part did, then we put one ski on and had to do several exercises, then switch feet. All of this took about 25 minutes, and then we were off!...to the ski school slopes, that is. They had a "magic carpet" that took us to the top of a small slope. The first few times, Patrice went down with me, holding a pole between the two of us. After just a few runs for Matthew, Patrice sent him off to a chair lift to go down something a little more challenging. He and I stayed to practice my snow-plow technique and turning. Patrice's English is very good, and he has a slight British accent mixed in with his French accent, which made his instructions quite humorous to listen to! He was so encouraging when he saw the fear on my face, and he would say, "Eats okay Dolll-ing ("darling"), take big breath, ree-lax... smile... and here we go Dolll-ing!".

Heading up the Magic Carpet the very first time!
Patrice guiding me down the first time.

After about two hours, my ankle was screaming for a break from the ski boot, so he took off to do some harder runs with Matthew. Patrice and I finished up our lesson with a few more runs down the bunny slope.

Matthew and Patrice.

Tuesday, I graduated to a "real" slope. And I am proud to say that I did not fall one time getting off the chair lift! Nor did I run into any of the hundreds of little ski school kids that were always congregated right at the end of the chair lift slope. I consider this a huge accomplishment, since my biggest fear was crashing into some helpless little kid! After skiing all morning, I headed back to the chalet for some lunch, and Matthew stayed out with Scott and Bene.

By Wednesday, my body was pretty tired and sore. There were muscles I had never used before, not to mention all of the falling that I had done for 2 days straight. And of course one of my big wipe-outs on Monday (that included taking-out a snowboarder with me!), or the time on Tuesday when I unsuccessfully snow-plowed my way straight into an orange fence and completely tangled myself, my skis, and my poles in the mesh...did not help the soreness. I decided to have a quiet morning in the chalet, while the more adept skiers hit the slopes once more.

Wednesday afternoon, Matthew and I drove into Chamonix to go dog sledding. Since my birthday is at the end of February, going dog sledding was what I asked to do for my birthday. Hannah at Alpine Ski and Golf, hooked us up again (she is also the one that arranged for our ski lessons, daycare for Jen and Bene's kids at a ski school/daycare, and a babysitter for the little ones!). Wednesday afternoon, Matthew and I drove to the other end of Chamonix and up the mountain to Le Tour. We met up with a small group, had a very quick explanation of how to lean with the sled, slow down the sled, and what to do when the sled turned over...

My sled!
Matthew and his "team"

And off we went! We basically made huge 'S' trails through this big open field on the side of a hill. When we got to the bottom, we had to make our way back up the hill. My sled was the last one, and it was obvious my dogs were tired after a day of pulling tourists! If the trail went uphill at all (and even some flat spots), I had to help push the sled with one leg. Sometimes, it took me getting off completely, holding the bar, and running behind! Because it had been snowing non-stop since Tuesday night, sometimes when I stepped off to push, I would sink into the snow up to my thigh! The dogs don't sink in, so they keep going and you have to hold on to the sled handle for dear life, while trying to climb out of the snow. One girl did lose her grip and the dogs took off, while she ran after them! I have never had to work so hard for a birthday present in my life! Even though it was less than 20 F, I was dripping with sweat by the time our hour "ride" was over. Matthew's dogs didn't fair much better. He was a good sport, but after we were finished he said, "I thought we were coming to be pulled by dogs, I didn't know I was paying to walk dogs!". It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to go dog sledding in the Alps, and definitely a birthday present I will always remember!

The field where we went dog sledding.
The dogs!