First days in Morzine

Sun 3 Jan

The neighbours who left the day after we got here had mainly had rain over New Year and were not very happy. We are very lucky as there was snow the day before we arrived and after a wonderful first day on the slopes on Sunday it then snowed all night so we awoke on Monday to fresh powder everywhere. Two of our first week’s party are beginner snowboarders and I debated whether to learn to snowboard with them however I want to perfect my skiing first. I may decide to give it a go in week four.

Adam and I collect Kate from the train station on Sunday evening. She has been skiing in Chamonix the week before. She is very jammy, leaving one heap of powder for another and she is buzzing from her deep powder off-piste runs.

Dinner tonight is TWO shepherd’s pies (a meat and veggie version) made by Dan.

Mon 4 Jan

One of our beginner snowboarders breaks his cruciate ligament during his class and is stretchered off the mountain. Sadly that is the end of his holiday and he must wait for an earlier flight home to be arranged. Luckily he got his travel insurance just before he left the UK and is covered for his medical bills and repatriation.

We tend to meet for lunch every day at Changabangs which does a bargain House burger for 5€ and yummy curly fries for 4€. By day two though we are taking our own sandwiches and sharing curly fries as the euro exchange rate means that a pound pretty much equals a euro now.

Today was a really fun day of pure powder madness. My skiing is still a bit all over the place as I still have to find my ski legs, but we have a lot of fun.

Dinner tonight, cooked by me, is my favourite Courgette Pasta (grated courgette, onion, garlic, red chilli, penne pasta, butter and parmesan – adapted from a Carluccio dish). Sadly the meal does not meet the approval of Adam who believes it is too watery. Shame, as he’ll be eating it a lot over the next few weeks!


Tue 5 Jan

Today should have been a lot more fun in the powder however we head up Fornet where there is a lot of off piste around the snowcross park however I end up constantly losing my skis. After 30 minutes looking for my ski the third time it happens I decide to stick to the piste and book myself a powder lesson the next time it snows.

Dinner tonight is Butternut Squash & Feta Risotto made by Kate, with the added taste of burnt rice. It is an interesting combination which, against all odds, works! One ruined pan though …


Wed 6 Jan

The morning in Avoriaz is heavy with fog and visibility is only a couple of metres. so Kate, Dan and I head over to Switzerland. We go above the clouds and see a fully circular rainbow. The morning is glorious with empty pistes which have been perfectly groomed. I practice my carving and start to regain my ski legs. However we do end up in a part of Switzerland where the only chairlift back to France isn’t working so we end up on a bus to Les Crosets to catch a different lift back to Avoriaz which adds about 40 minutes of non-skiing onto our journey.

Tonight’s dinner is a delicious fish pie cooked by Adam and Joel.

Thur 7 Jan

Major lie-in and then a relaxing morning cooking a Leek and Chickpea soup before heading to the slopes around lunchtime.

Finally my skiing seems to be coming together. I feel like a skier again!

Didn’t ski for long as I misjudged the weather and it was very cold, so I head back to the chalet after an hour and a half. Finally manage to start writing this blog.

We were going to go out for dinner and drinks but have postponed this to tomorrow night once we get some recommendations on where to eat.

Eat soup for dinner as do some of the others, the rest eat leftovers (fish pie, mince etc).

Carina is supposed to be flying out tonight but her flight has been cancelled due to the adverse weather in England. We hope she’ll be able to come out on Friday instead.