Les Arcs: Alpine Avenue

Today it snowed (and snowed some more...).
The little camera struggled somewhat with the falling snow: it rendered it rather like noise, but this still looks more atmospheric in large. To be fair, the little camera experienced some quite extreme conditions today: it snowed all day and was very cold, and I still skied with it in my hand quite a bit; the camera has been nuzzling some (iron powder) hand-warmers since coming in from our day out, and seems to be holding up OK.

My mother and I went over to Les Arcs today: La Plagne and Les Arcs joined their ski areas in December 2003 to form the larger Paradiski linked ski system, with the two separate ski areas linked by the impressive Vanoise Express cable car. The Vanoise Express is a double decker cable car that can carry 200 people at once and travels the 1,800m across the Peisey-Nancroix valley without any supporting pylons! It was the biggest, longest, and fastest cable car in the world when it was constructed in 2003, although it no longer holds the record for the longest span between towers. I would worry about its span had I not seen the cables and towers involved in the lift's operation: they look reassuringly over-engineered!

I'm glad that La Plagne is our home ski area because it seems more varied and beautiful, but it is nice to have Les Arcs as an alternative (and we tend to go for one day each holiday). Today was fun: the visibility was shocking, but the snow was fantastic, and we covered a lot of ground and had a blast. The pistes through the forests (in both ski areas) are very beautiful. I took no pictures this morning on account of the conditions, but took quite a few pictures in the afternoon. I took what would (on another day) have been landscape pictures with my mother in the foreground, but it just looks like my mother in front of a white background because of the snow and cloud. ("At least I tried"). The forest pictures, however, worked more satisfyingly, and I think they convey the peaceful atmosphere quite well.

I am very much missing everyone else's journals: I'm sorry for not visiting and commenting, but the wi-fi here really is bad and loading new pages is very slow. I look forward to catching up on my return!