segunda-feira, maio 19, 2008
sábado, maio 03, 2008
sexta-feira, maio 02, 2008
terça-feira, abril 01, 2008
Les Magnifique Trois Vallés March 07
Last year me and Paulo went to Les 3 Vallés, making Val Thorens our base.
This (on the left) was our hotel choice. A studio apartment in Tourotel.
The location was perfect, with ski-in ski-out to and from the front door...
The space itself.... well, lets say it was very very cozy! : )
but who´s complaining when you have this outside!!!
we simply could not resist going straight down, all the way to the bottom...
the fact that you don't have to catch any kind of crowded lift in the morning, makes any (most possible) little morning delay become nothing
more than just that. Saving you from those long stressful minutes that occur you have a single(or a few) lifts, in early rush hours.
That can be a problem on the french Alps during some periods of the season.
Having to say though, that in case of bad weather you can get easily “trapped” with no points of reference (trees for example,) due to poor visibility.
Which maybe would´t happen in lower Méribel... but one cant have it all! : )
Oh well...! Then again, what do I know... it was sunny all week long!!!!
You can see Val Thorens down the valley.
Almost 6 minutes of non-stop downhill just to get home, because there are more 5 kms to go if you want to reach the bottom lift.
On the way down...the way up. On the right funitel Péclet.
Still frames from the movie.
You can see the top bay of the lift edging the north face.
Val Thorens with the Massif du Mont Blanc rising behind Col de la Chambre and Mont Vallon.
Every 10 minutes, 150 people are unloaded on a steel bridge hanging from the abyss.
Well, the bright side is...otherwise I would´t climb it...!!!
From left to right (Northwest to Southeast);
Saint Martin de Belleville(down the green valley), Les Menuires, Val Thorens and the Breche de Rosaël to access Val de Orelle:
What comes up must come down...
Arriving Val Thorens.... now to La Chambre, rising behind it.
Rosaël, Caron, Pointe da le Masse, the lift Bruiere2 from Les Menuires and behind Paulo, (in black) Mont Blanc.
Also bellow him , one endless ride until Meribél Mottaret 1750Mts.
We are now in Meribél territory!
Again Mont Vallon on the left, and at the center top is la Chambre, where the piste started .
From there you can ride around 11kms of piste to reach this lift to Saulire 2738Mts.
with La Vizelle top lift, Le Roc Merlet 2734Mts and Les Aguilles du Fruit peak 3051Mts on the right.
This is all off piste!!! not a single one!!! Unforgettable!
Which can be also fun, as long as you aprés-ski hard.enough.! ; )
Periodic time-checks are advised... Time flys, and you´ll want to ride everything you see!
You can see the arrival point of Cime du Caron´s lift next to the left hand side of the chair. When they work properly that is... Le Massif du Mont Blanc is at the center, and practically all the Les Menuires slopes. This was on the hotel lobby and almost took us another rent! An amazing scenery waits you at the top. The trail on the right invites you to freeride the Glacier du Bouchet all the way to Val d´Orelle.
Or you can take the single piste to reach Pointe du Bouchet 3384mts. The resort´s summit.
How I love these wonders of modern engineering..!
Val dÓrelle view from Pointe du Bouchet.
On the back Glacier du Bouchet again from Pointe du Bouchet. One way lane...down! heheh!
This is the end of the freeride valley (Glacier du Bouchet ) that you take on through that off piste trail in Pte du Thorens (some pictures above), if you are to take this single chair lift (rosaël) that sends you back to Val Thorens.
All the lifts used were fast and efficient...well, except one!
This is what happens when you add spare-time and too much sun in my head.... I start to see things!
We have passed at least 20 minutes stopped or trying to start in this one... shit happens! Being a warm sunny day, it wasn´t really a problem. But in bad weather conditions, for shure it would´t be a very pleasant experience!
Another caffeine break at Pointe de la Masse2804mts. With Val Thorens at right side and Les Aguilles du Peclet,
On our back the choice was another all freeride valley back to Orelle. At the far center the Dolomites rise in pale blue.
It was an irresistable tentation... unfortunately there was no time left for freeride discoveries, at least not to the "wrong side" of the valley. ; )
more caffeine...
When the light allows it, there´s nothing like a good zoom to “glue” things up! That´s one big fu***** mountain....! Je voudrai un Mont Blanc avec beaucoup du chantillly, s´il vous plet!
Off we go...!
Chilling on the door step of the apartment, waiting for the sunset was undoubtedly one of the high points of the day.
And I assure you it worths all the chilling you can take to wait until the very end of it...!
This is indeed a place to return to... as soon as possible!
And last but not least, one has to have a nightly entertainment!
See ya...
The end.