Amazingly, after 8 days on the snow, we returned from Chatel this weekend with only a few minor bruises.

Roger’s chalet (where we stayed) is very nice indeed and location-wise it’s almost perfect. Set back from the (very quiet) main road it’s a 2 minute walk in the morning down to the Ski-Hire shop (called “Sports Evasion”), who have an awesome boot-drying machine which ensures total comfort every day. After switching footwear the base of the Linga lift is only 60 seconds away, across the road.

The snow was passable, though a little thin even on the first day, and we only had one snowfall of about 6cm in the time we were there. I recognize from this how spoiled we were last year in Courchevel when it was dumping around 12cm per day.

The other downside of going in early January (low season) is that it can be difficult to get a free-ride lesson due to low-interest. If there’s fewer than four people who want to go along, the ESF refuse to run the classes – consequently I was riding without a guide this time, which limited the off-piste potential.

Notwithstanding this we made ample use of the Port-du-Soleil skiing area, travelling through several of the nearby valleys and trying out the snowpark and halfpipe in Avoriaz.

For food we split our time between cooking and eating out – we visited the “Cutty Pub” on the first night because it was the first open place we came to. A lucky break that, because it turned out to be rather good. Over the course of the week we tried their meat fondu, the cheese fondu (with charcuterie) and the pierrade, where they bring out a plate of uncooked meats and a slab of fantastically hot granite. very nice indeed – go try it.

The Tunnel Bar was as good as it ever is (or bad, depending on your POV). We went up on Wednesday because that’s the chalet staff’s night off – so they and their guests all tend to go out or fend for themselves. In the off season this means that the village gets lively. In the high season it means that everywhere is wedged. band-du-Jour was a beatles loving duo (Sexy Sadie) who rattled off quite a few of the more popular tracks to the amusement of the crowd – worth catching if you like beer and Beatles.