Portes du Soleil--March 11, 2007

Uncle Matty's hangover remedy 231 - elevation and exertion of course.

Saturday we had the pleasure of joining a couple of Steve's French classmates for a social gathering. In a room where the the crowd included three Americans, two Czechs, two Venezuelans and a Spaniard (not to mention our hosts young son, Santiago, who happened to be born in Scotland), the two constants was good conversation and good wine. Before we knew it, we were staring down the barrel of 4am, not normally a problem except that we had to catch an 8:30 bus out to France for our last ski day of the year. Oops.

Not to say it wasn't worth it - heck, finding out that Tichy is the Czech word for "quiet" was alone enough to make it worth it. But after a very short nap, we dragged our exhausted bodies out of bed and marched the three blocks to the bus pick-up. I'd tell you more about the bus trip, but we just slept clean through the drive.

Flash forward two hours and we're at the back of a tour bus heading up a winding mountain road. Stomach contents were kept in check, but just barely.

Was it worth it - absolutely. Portes du Soleil is an Alpine area crossing the French-Swiss border south of Lake Geneva, with the resort areas all well over 1500 meters. Arrival at the base of the telecable was near immediately followed by a couple of much needed cups of coffee, getting us to about 50%, which is about as good as we were going to get that day. Nonetheless, 50% was all we needed to have our best ski day of the year.

Avoraiz, the are we focused on, can only be described as a ski village built at the edge of a cliff - not one ounce of hyperbole in that statement either. Some of the lodging is no more that 10 feet away from a 500 foot drop. Just breathtaking natural presence, and nerve wracking for the skier who may not be in total control.

Conditions were perfect - piles of powder under a blue sky. We spent the day cruising along the long trails, mixing in periodic snacks (of the greasy variety) and drinks (of the caffeinated variety).

Apologies for not having any pictures, but not really. Today was a day for us to share, and one that through sleepy eyes and headaches, we'll never forget.