Our mountain guide, Nico met us at the hotel at 8:45 a.m. Our plan to ski In the Chamonix area has changed due to the lack of snow. The areas that are being skied are very icy or very extreme and require skiers who really know how to ski off-piste and have NO FEAR. There is a run called the Vallee Blanche that requires you to go up onto cable cars to about 14,000 feet. From the top you have to walk across a narrow (about 4 feet wide) path for about 175 yards. There is no railing and the drop on either side is a sheer drop off of about a 1,000 feet. Not for the timid and our guide has told us there are even tiimes he will not walk this to ski the Vallee Blanche. The areas where we could ski have terrible snow conditions at the moment....very, very icy and we've been advised not to ski in these areas. In fact, we saw Margaret from NYC who we met with her husband Joe on our first day at breakfast...asked about their ski day and she confirmed that La Brevent and La Flegere had terribly icy conditions. They went over to Les Grands Montets to ski...she saw the terrain and told Joe she was not going to ski here. This is one of the most difficult ski area in Chamonix. Joe an expert skier, on his run down fell at the bottom and tore his ACL's in both knees!! We are learning that Chamonix is a mountain to be respected. Courmayeur was sounding better and better.
On the drive to the Italian side you go through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which is about 7 miles long. Once over the other side a beautiful, quaint village appears in the
valley...Courmayeur! Nico, a Chamonix native, has been a mountain guide for 10 years with the ESF...Ecole de Ski France. It was great to be able to ski with him on the mountain as he knew the kind of skiing we wanted and we did not have to worry about looking at a trail map. Kind of like having a caddy in Scotland! Courmayeur is a beautiful ski area...the Italian Alps create a stunning backdrop to the valley below. Couldn't have been a nicer day...blue skies, perfect temp and groomed slopes! Stopped to have lunch on the mountain at 1 pm at La Maison Vielle...wonderful Italian cuisine. At the end of the day Nico asked if we would like to go visit the village of Courmayeur, which we did. Narrow winding stone streets with many high couture type of shops. Stopped to have a drink at a wonderful bar where there were tons of après skiers serving a wonderful buffet of Italian antipasti. All in all, it was a super day of skiing with our great guide Nico...learned a lot about the life of a mountain guide and life in Chamonix. We've arranged to have him ski with us on Thursday and Friday as well.
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