Day 4 the snow must go on !

       As predicted another good day . We knew already it was snowing all night and was likely to snow all morning and the sun wouldn't be out untill midday . So there was no rush to get out of bed there had been big soft flakes off snow falling all night and morning . great for the slopes but not so great to ski in for us ! Fantastic if your snowboarding but not so great for skiers who like their piste bashed ,( like us )

         So we got up a bit later and Ali and bob decided they would go to the ski hire shop and ask to change there carver skis for all mountain skis and try a bit of off piste in the soft snow ,just to see if things could be good for the valley Blanche ! By the time they changed their skis and got on a bus it was 10:30 ,way later than our normal but a pre made decision , we headed to a ski area on the west of the valley called brevent . It was a good choice but to be honest the best of a bad bunch because there was a huge amount of soft snow and very little visibility as the clouds were so low . I had my prescription  sun glasses on then my everyday prescription glasses on with my ski goggles over them no glasses only goggles and also no eye protection  ! But The light and conditions changed so often as we went above and below the cloud ,with some few moments in the sun it was a hard mornings ski ! Battling soft snow and poor light moments of torture and moments of joy blended together but ultimately became too much work for the team ,we all had at least one fall (some more than others ) we went for lunch at a nice restaurant called 2000mtrs and got pizza chips and coffee (well chocolate for cammy ) after lunch we decided enough was enough the clouds came in the snow turned to sleet and we finished for the day ! It was 14:00 we had decisions to make about the valley Blanche as Ali and bob were told to see how they got on with the skis because the conditions off piste at the valley Blanche were deep soft soft , 

         With all that in mind we went back to the apartment left our skis and boots and went to the cable car for the aiguille de midi. To look at the arête and conditions , this I believe is the highest cable car in Europe , and myself and bob got into a debate on cable span as I have done the sugar loaf mountain cable car and think the span between pylons is bigger there ? But All debates aside this cable car has a few records for good reason it reaches the hight of 3842mtrs with very few pylons it swings a bit and the temperature at the top today was -14 centigrade ! The new glass box was closed which was a shame ,and the clouds hid a lot of the beautifull scenery and exposure , but it was a fantastic experience , bob was in his element pointing out climbing routes the various peaks cammy was frozen and had one look at the arête for valley Blanche and said no way ! We had a group discussion and it's not happening the conditions are not right we are not prepared ! It's 15km off piste deep snow with crevices to avoid there is no safety rail,yet in place to walk over the arête so ropes and crampons required in ice and wind with your skis on your back ,Sometimes common sense prevails I'm not taking my son down there (yet ) and my buddies agree it's not for us this year ! 

      We had a great afternoon up there and we got back at the right time for our favourite apris ski . So went straight to the chambre Neuf in time for happy hour and the band to kick off,we had to leave a little early or we would miss spars closing times ,so we got out just as the people in the bar were shouting one more sing at the band and just in time to catch the spar for beers and stuff for dinner and snacks, I made a lovely salad and dressing which everyone thoroughly enjoyed we had a few beers over dinner and got changed to head out ,

  Half man half mattress (aka ail ! ) has hit the hay and not heading out myself cammy and bob went out to munsters but they had no wifi so we are here at the south bar now to end off another lovely day , tomorrow's conditions look our best yet so should be a great day tomorrow