At the beginning of this week we eventually spotted our opportunity, and ventured upon a two day ski tour up inside the amazing and beautiful Vanoise National Park.
We stayed overnight in a mountain refuge before an early morning start up La Grande Casse, a towering mountain with a huge steep glacier visible from many miles away. This was our way of celebrating the end of the winter and spring together. We were both in the environment that we love, skiing in the high mountains.
During the trip we spoke about how good our winter had been. We spoke about the great snow conditions, and also about how much we loved our jobs as instructors. It's always good to communicate with colleagues and learn from each others experiences.
For the record we didn't quite reach the peak at 3,850 meters, however an amazing experience for us both all the same. It has to be said that crampons attached to our boots were used more than skins under our skis for safety going up.I leave Méribel on Friday to return back to England for the summer. There is plenty for me to look forward to. For a start I haven't seen my wife for over three weeks. Plus I'm really excited about catching up with my family again, to see how much my nephews and nieces have grown, and also friends who I haven't seen since I left the UK November last year.
At the end of next week, I will pick up 'Noddy' my new little BSM car, when I shall start straight away with a new batch of learner drivers. Back to teaching again, in a very different environment, but enjoyable in a different way. I'm aiming for a high pass rate for my learners again this summer, but also without any crashes this year, wish me luck !?!
Hopefully I will see some of you over the summer, but especially again back in Méribel next winter. I hope you have all enjoyed reading my blog this winter, and I wish you all an amazing summer wherever you are.Martin
PS, Over the winter I often crave for fine English food and drink. So this weekend I will probably dive into fish and chips with mushy peas, washed down with proper beer, fine English ale. How big will my belly expand after such delights?








No sunset because of clouds, plenty of spring flowers to trample over, but the bonus of the evening was bumping into this young Chevreuil. Being part of the deer family means tha




Before each ski tour many questions are asked, how much physical effort is required, how many hours will it take, what might the snow be like, what are the dangers, will the risk assessment be accurate ?

For the record, the snow was awesome due to a sudden drop of temperature. It took the usual eight hours for the round trip from Méribel. The high risk of crevasses on the glacier was always evident and reminded us to be cautious.
Once the main part of the descent was completed we stopped next to the Refuge du Saut for our picnic. After which we had to continue down to Mottaret, via Lac du Tueda.




The warmer weather of the last couple of weeks has been relentless, without fresh snow, but at least most nights the pistes have been freezing well. The snow on the lower pistes are thinning, and wild spring flowers are popping up all over the place. If you know where to go and at what time of the day, you can make the best of the conditions. Which is what Caroline and I did for our couple of sessions over the weekend.







The other day we experienced the staggering effect of a thick sea of cloud splitting the mountain in half. The first photo is of Arthur at the top of Saulire, with the sea of cloud below him. Speaking of Arthur, my goodness is he improving this week, what with skiing down steep reds and carving on greens and blues. Most days his parents meet up with us which enables Arthur to show off his skills. It's great for me to be able to see how proud they are of him.



The weather today improved greatly, which allowed me to make the most of the quiet pistes, and to again appreciate the scenery. I caught up with Rick who kindly took some photos of me enjoying the fresh conditions. 

Our friend Phil G from Nottingham was on holiday over there. We drove over with our flask of strong coffee, a bag of pastries and a rendezvous at the bottom of a chairlift. What a great day, awesome weather although very cold; great snow, plus a naughty lunch of burger and chips. We even risked skiing down the 'Face' black piste which hosted many of the World Championship races last month, note the scaffolding for the spectactor stands in the photo above. I've never skied on such an awful piste for years: it was steep and very very icy. We even competed in our own version of 'The World Side-Slipping Championships', because there was no other option to side-slip however much we tried to turn effectively.


We both benefited from great weather to be able to work in such environments. To be honest, last week was amazing. Day after day of bright Spring sunshine, without the snow being too affected, with my favourite sunsets to boot. This picture was taken looking down the valley with the Brides-les-Bains bubble in the foreground. 






I can't deny that I love the photos that Harriet took of me wearing my new goggles. I just love the reflections of the mountains and weather, and of course the photographer as well.

This week I've had the pleasure of teaching complete beginners, where we've all experienced various emotions and sensations. On Thursday for the first time ever the team skied on the fabled fresh stuff, brilliant reactions all round and endless smiles. They all said that it was much more enjoyable skiing than on 'normal' snow, even though the visibility had dropped.
