Revel Cloud

Day 1 at “The ‘Stoke”, and it all started a bit rushed!

We’re here on a media pass, and there was a programme for us to follow. Breakfast at 7.30, pick up tickets at 8.15, meet guide at 8.25, board Gondola at 8.30. But that was never going to happen!

In reality … wake up at 8am, meet for breakfast at 8.30, go and tell guide we’ll be late … he picks up up from La Baguette the breakfast place at 8.50, on lift at 9. That’s not too bad to be honest …

And then to the top. Revelation Gondola, then The Stoke quad, at the summit in no time at all. And wow! Just a huge mountain. Huge in vertical, and size. And cold, very cold. Minus 16 with a freezing fog. Into the warmup hut, a run, back into the warmup hut. And then we split up. Robyn off with the kids, and the guide and I off into some advanced terrain. North Bowl and Meet Thy Neighbour. Great skiing!

But the conditions are variable … After 5.5m of snow so far this year, it hasn’t snowed for over 2 weeks, and they are down to 1 groomer to cover 1700ha! So some parts of the mountain are a little, hard … but many parts are great, especially when you’re from NZ. Ice, pah!

And yes, the temperature. Cold. Even our guide Geoff thought it was way colder than usual, and he was great. Taking breaks in the warming huts, showing the kids the best way to keep their hands warm, and constantly checking for frost nip. Yes, he truly was.

At 2 we split up, Robyn and Hannah finished for the day, so Adam and I did a few more laps unit he too was tired, and cold. Time to go. Down for a quiet afternoon in the apartment, couldn’t even motivate them into the hot pool, and then out for dinner to “The Village Idiot”, the best pizza joint in Revy. And yes, it was great.

Home. Early night. Buggered!