Tonight we risked the 'danger do not go out' weather warnings and headed into Val d'Isere. We had heard on the Val FM that La Fornet had been hit by an avalanche but we were unaware of how much damaged it had caused. Apparently it had completely covered the road and the exit from the valley was impossible. Even though the not on our hotel door warned of danger, we just had to get into town and see what was going on.
I was told by a friend that everywhere was closing at 9pm but we ventured out anyway. The buses weren't running and the few Land Rovers and Fiat Panda that we did encounter were spinning and struggling in the spin drift. There was no other option than to walk the 1km into town. The wind was biting and hard and the snow was falling at horrible horizontal speed. We were masked up and outfitted with goggles for the most extreme happy hour ever! The wind strengthen as we walked, after 200 metres it got worst, harder and heavy the further we got. The roads were deserted. It took us 15 minutes to get into town and our legs were soaked, the no salopettes option was a bad idea.
Once we got into Val we walked around looking for some life but everywhere was closed, my friend appeared to be right! But then we stumbled across Victors and there was life and beer flowing. It did appear that it was only the hardcore few trying to get merry, and once they appeared to be leaving around 11pm we decided to get the hell out. After another beer for the road we got our gear on and headed back into the hurricane. The wind was more intense and the snow had at least dropped another 12 inches since we'd entered the bar.
We walked past buried 4x4's, piste bashers, patrol stations under six feet of snow, and the large heads that had been sculptured on the road-a-boats, we're going to need a makeover in the morning.
Half way out of Val we were stopped by what looked like a small tow truck but it was the police. They asked me 'where we were going' and I told them 'La Daile'. The police man replied 'Impossible, it is forbidden to go to La Daile! The road is closed there is an avalanche coming. You can stay in the station, we have blankets and food.' But I said 'we have a friend in the hotel, we must go back and see if he is ok'. 'No... you will go to the station, 100 metres on the right, we will meet you there.' I was not happy, we huddled together and decided to give the cop the slip. Once he drove down the road we got onto the path and kept low as we trenched our way along the deep lying snow. We passed his flashing yellow lights and while he was ordering someone else the same instructions - we made a dash.
Over the snow plough mound effectively acting as a road blow and ran as fast as we could along the avalanche pathway. We met Frank, a French guy, also making a run for the village. The slow was blinding but we continued running towards the soft lights of La Daile. There was a great sense of elation, sticking it to the stubborn cop, even though he was doing the right thing and holding our security in the up most importance. Not only that, he didn't want to be up in the morning looking for 4 buried bodies. But screw it, we wanted our beds!! We got back to our room, ecstatic at beating the storm, and prayed for better weather come morning.
The next day was a complete right off. 5/5 Risk of avalanche, high alps warning, in affect - no skiing!!!! There were no lifts running at La Daile or Val d'Isere. The funicular's track were so covered in snow you couldn't even see the entrance to the tunnel. Controlled explosions on the mountains didn't even start until late morning, the risk was so bad. I had never experienced snow like it. Every thing was covers, except the road that had been plough all morning. Even then, the main roads out of the valley was closed until lunch. I heard word of a coach taking 5 hours to travel from Tigues to Val (12km) the night before as an avalanche on the mountain pass had directly hit a car.
With every thing closed we walked into town and looked at all the snow mounds, the ploughs were literally dumping the snow into the river. We headed into the Quiksilver cafe and order hot chocolate and Spag Bol. We sat there for an age and just chilled watching the staff working like mad dogs, flipping burgers and frying eggs! The French must hate making American surf and turf!
We killed about 3 hours in Val and then got the bus back to La Daile. By 3pm we had given up on skiing and walked out of our hotel to the supermarket only to find the lift was running - hell yeah!! We ran as fast as we could to the lockers and got on the slopes. 2 runs down from La Folie Douce and I felt like a junkie getting his fix!
Cross your skis, anything can happen if you've got dynamite!
Peace,
Dan
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