Courchevel Apres Ski Report: 22nd March 2013

It was with this in mind that we decided this week it was time for a visit to the refuge. Located above the valley of Les Avals in Moriond in a secluded spot under the crest of a hill is an unmanned hut, which houses walkers in the summer and ski tourers in the winter. It’s of simple design with one long bottom bunk and one long top bunk which apparently officially sleeps 14, although many more have been known to squeeze in. We normally manage a few refuge visits a season but with this year’s heavy snowfall it’s not always been easily reachable and we’ve been hesitant to miss early morning powder stashes that a hut visit might mean.

With visiting friends this week and a close friend with many seasons under her belt desperate to make her hut debut after many failed attempts at rounding up the troops, it was on! So on Wednesday 16 of us loaded our bags with an array of meats and cheeses and as much alcohol as we could carry and set off, catching last lifts to the top. Typically, after so much planning, the conditions weren’t exactly in our favour. Just before we embarked the clouds closed in and it began to snow heavily. There was a clear mix of excitement and trepidation among our group which peaked when we reached the top of the Roc Merlet chair where you drop in. It did not look good.

With heavy snowfall all week and some strong winds the face which we would need to traverse was clearly heavily wind affected and had had some big slides already. The rising spring temperatures and recent dumps have led to a spate of avalanche incidents across the Alps this week with sadly a few deaths. Not keen to join the statistics we took the difficult decision to abort our mission.

What would 16 disappointed refuge goers, with enough cheese, gin and whisky to drown a small army do now? We’d create our own refuge of course! It had to be authentic though to set the scene. So it was on this line of thinking that all 16 of us piled back to our small apartment precariously balancing 16 sets of skis and boots in our hallway, before delayering and huddling in our under-sized living room in our thermals.

Using candle light to illuminate the scene we fired up our fondue set and cracked open the spirits. Several bottles of spirit and half a pound of cheese later it all gets a bit blurry but in the absence of a real hut visit it was a decent alternative. The only downside though was with everyone heading home sometime around midnight rather than bunking down in the communal beds we were left with something resembling a warzone the following morning. Who knew that our game of hungry hippos with the Maltesers following perhaps the fourth bottle of spirits would create such a mess?!?

Back in resort we’re gearing up for Le Ski’s 30th Anniversary bash which is taking place this evening in the Salle de Moriond. I’m a little anxious of being able to fulfil the criteria of 'Dress to Impress' with my season’s rags so I might have to get creative…Earlier this week we also enjoyed their race day, complete with retro ski gear and by all accounts it’s been a great week, with staff and guests from across the era joining in the fun.

Then coming up next week we’ve got Huck Cancer’s Race Day which is taking place on the Stade in Moriond with BBQ and drinks. So if you’re heading out this weekend and want to join the fun then pack some retro clobber and come along on Thursday from 11.30.

We’ll see you there!