Ski lessons in Verbier

Kent had a look at the weather yesterday and decided that he might just tale advantage of our proximity to Italy to nip over the boarder for some skiing, some sunshine and some very pleasant Italian cuisine. So he got to the sunny weather before it got to us here in Verbier and judging by the photos they had a rather nice lunch while they were there…

• Tanning weather or cloudy today? The forecasts say sunny but the view from the window says cloudy & the webcams agree. We'll see… G #
• Skiing over in Italy & had sunshine all morning – if you've been in the cloud in Verbier check our blog later to see what you've missed… K #
• Kent might be the smuggest man in the world right now, but we've finally got the sun here too… G http://bit.ly/df9BbY #

Yup, we skied around in the snow and cloud for a few hours this morning wondering what exactly John Kettley and the boys at the MET office were on about, then at about midday the sun broke through and it’s all nice and sunny again. As predicted. So that means we can stop feeling quite so jealous about Kenta sitting down to a rather nice lunch in Italy in the sunshine…

• Champex Lac was no bone in the fish today, very nice with no people and perfectly groomed slopes. Lunch at Cafe des alpes, Orsiere…..K #
• Be careful out there – avalanches all over the place. Plant Ski have just published this. G http://www.planetski.eu/news/1415 #
• So the forecasts say snow in the early hours of tomorrow followed by sunshine. And they all seem to agree. There must be a catch… G #

• What a bizarre day – really heavy snow all morning, cloud so thick you couldn't see the tips of your skis, & now everyone's sunbathing… G #

Isn’t it funny how you can plan a big day on the hill and then when you get a day off instead of going on a massive trip you simply end up taking it easy?

Well Toby and I had a day off so planned a day skiing with some friends. We even started using all the usual names of ski areas to persuade ourselves we were serious – Col des Mouche, Catwalk, Stairway, Barry’s Bowl, etc.

The light was a bit dodgy so we decided on “a quick break” to see if it improved and nipped into the new bar  at Col des Gentianes with some of the Swiss guys, but we just ended up having a chat with the slightly crazy French barman (using our very best French much to his the amusement of the Swissies) and then kidded our selves we were just waiting for the girls to join us an that we weren’t just wussing out…

• Got the day off and about to head up. Think we'll be using the words "amazing", "epic" and "stunning" a lot later… G #
• Managed one entire run and stopped at the new bar at Col Des Gentianes for a drink. Risky… G #
• We, we seem to have discovered the most enthusiastic batman in Switzerland. G #
• A great afternoon in Verbier up high…. G http://bit.ly/d0LjFi #

• The big dump is finally here and more to come. Be very careful up there. Fresh snow and a lot of wind makes it very avalanche dangerous….K #
• An epic day up there – loads of fresh snow all day but some howling wind. Amazing fun, if a little deep for Saskia (aged 4)… G #
• Want to know what the conditions look like here in snowy Verbier? Well have a squiz at this… G http://bit.ly/cGdTYm #

Yup, after a rather spring-like feel to the last few weeks we’ve suddenly been plunged into winter. OK it’s not been super cold but it’s been chucking it down. There was a foot or so of fresh (if windblown) snow on the piste and it was dumping most of the day. When the clouds broke it revealed a rather good looking Verbier…

It has taken a couple of day for all of us to get over the controversy of leg 3 of the inter ski school bowling contest. But it mornings like this that can only put a smile on your face…! Toby