Not Many People Know That 3.

On the last day of a skiing holiday in Espace Killy (Val d'Isere & Tignes) there are some things that have to be done:

1. Ski Le Face: A superb black (hardest category) run: Accomplished without mishap.

2. Ski Santons: A delightful blue (easy run) into the heart of Val d'Isere: Executed with ease.

3. Ski the Grand Motte Glacier: Negative. The lifts and runs were closed.

4. Party at La Folie Douce: Oh yes!
La Folie Douce is a restaurant, bar, at the top of the gondola lift from La Daille.
It is difficult to describe accurately the atmosphere, but where else could you see Michael Jackson, a penguin, a banana, a nun, a pink pig, Tigger and a couple of dragons dancing on the tables to amazing live music outside on the terrace, on a freezing cold afternoon, along with a couple of hundred other revellers in ski boots?

I took some super fun images, but I was also intrigued by the effect of the light of the setting sun on the skiers, as they came over the skyline. So I've posted this rather than the partying.

It was only when I got home that I noticed the ethereal ghostly effects.

Research has led me to believe this is known as 'Differential scattering cross section - and of course 'Not many people know that.' So I will explain.

The skiers caused a fine cloud of snow/ ice particles to rise into the air, and the sunlight behind them causes their shadows to be cast on the cloud of particles. It's a bit of an optical illusion, because we expect the shadow to be cast on the ground. So there you have it - a bunch of physics - and not many people know that.