"Der are two rules for dis run - don't hit de trees, don't hit de rocks and God Bless." (Lionel - the crazy Frenchman guide). The weather gods had promised a semi-clear day but when Jen peaked out the window first thing in the morning, a blanket covered all the surrounds - fortunately as the morning wore on this lifted and clear skies beckoned us (Jen, Cynthia and I + some other conference go'ers) to the hill for a guided off-piste half day with Lionel on Le Grand Montet. Lionel is an English-speaking Francophone who grew up in Chamonix and knows these mountains like the back of his hand. He wasn't one to mince words and picked up on skiing technique inadequacies quickly. Jen copped it after her first run on planks for a couple years - "Jenn-ifer - you stick behind me - you lean too far forward..." She eventually remedied her skiing and won his confidence. He had some wonderful contextual comments which are difficult to share in a blog - but try to imagine a Frenchman raising his voice to our group to "Rock'n'roll", "Allez and God Bless", " You go any fur-der der and I hope you have a parachute - you go 300 meters down", "No Guts no glory God Bless." The skiing/riding was amazing with wind-crusted but soft untarnished snow for a good portion of the run - heaven to a snowboarder (unfortunately there was only one of us!) The vistas were absolutely stunning and we indeed felt blessed to be out here in this amazing area of the world. Meanwhile on Les Planards the kids were improving there skiing skills and Piper did her first Poma Lift ride without a hitch - her Morfar and Mormor were gaga with pride. Given the bright skies we decided to do the L'Aguille Du Midi (Middle Needle) in the afternoon with the whole clan. To get to this 'needle', built atop a 3842 m peak, you have to take a cable car up the mountain. Once to the platforms you can venture to different 'terrases' for viewing of the surrounding Alps- it was breath-taking both literally (due to the altitude and steps) and figuratively. Piper naturally fell asleep and did her best impression of a dead weight for most of our ventures around the terrases, waking just before the descent to catch some of the views. After an hour and half enjoying the views we headed down the mountain to prep for dinner and my evening session on more dermoscopy/biopsies and some skin repair review. Morfar cooked up an amazing boullabaise for dinner and we feasted. The weather is supposed to go downhill today so we may have a shortened day on the slopes and have to hit the town for a wander, a pint or glass de vin chaud (hot wine), build snowmen/women or have a swim instead?
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