The morning dawned clear & bright, crisp & clean, a cold light breeze sharpening the air as the night turned into day & frost clung, hardened & white to the wintry garden. Clouds rose from the breath like a fleeting ghost as it hit the frozen air then disappeared into nothingness.
The car sped along the motorway toward the airport, with green & brown fields & fence posts, hamlets & farms passing swiftly by, the quietness of the countryside on the distant hills gripped with morning frost, fell silent in amongst the valleys where the early winter sun hadn't penetrated.
The usual bustle at the airport was orderly as the passengers waited in their planeloads for the boarding to commence. Once in the air, the sun was blotted out through the window with the plane climbing up through the layers of thick cloud until, after passing through the last grey & white fluffy wisps, it leveled out & droned on, leaving England & crossing the Channel to pass over France with frost glistening white on the hilltops & the rivers sparkling in the morning sun, darker shadows sitting in the lower valleys & in amongst the forests.
After arriving in Chambery, not far from the French Alps, the last leg of the journey was quiet & efficient, the mountain road became steep with many tight bends that wound up toward the resort, after travelling through small towns & villages with the snow becoming thicker as the road became higher.
The first day dawned relatively bright, very cold & still, icicles had frozen into long spikes of stalactites that clung from the overhanging rooftops & snow lay thick on the balcony rail of the chalet. The sun had broken, golden, from behind the sharp tips of the alpine peaks & slowly flooded across the whiteness of the village, steam from chimneys curled into the cold morning then disappeared, as the sun crept into the day. Boots were snapped into skis & a small narrow path, thick with ice, was negotiated with more than a little trepidation. Skis shuddered & skidded down the path with the ice crackling under them, until a wider snowy path led down to the first lifts, that whisked skiers quietly up through tall pine trees growing on the lower slopes, skimming the tops & knocking the snow off that plopped to the ground. From the top, the peaks seemed endless & reached as far as eternity, with thick powdery snow piled in abundance beside the pistes & the choice of directions was similar with each one dropping off the mountainside as if there was nothing but a bottomless pit to launch into. After throwing caution to the wind, the ski edges bit the downward slope turning, the exhilaration of fighting to stay on the mountain, overcame any early nerves as the adrenalin flowed. The slopes lead down, twisting around through trees, across other pathways & through drag lifts with a line of people hanging on, keeping a straight path rising steeply in front of them. Huge cable cars, full of steaming, chattering skiers, all in different colours, clunked over the tops of the support posts & headed through the abyss with a sheer drop underneath, where ant-like skiers weaved their way down the sunny slopes.
There were many days of bright sunshine & the snow on the pistes glistened, as tiny particles blew about in a light breeze & rose up, colors sparkling like jewels in the crisp alpine air. Making another long run down that was as wide as a motorway at the top, the trees sparse & the undulations clear, small hills appeared quickly, before dropping steeply down over moguls, some high with what seemed like World War I trenches around each one. It was tiring negotiating them, the legs burned with lactic acid as the skis found a way over or round each one with increasing speed as the slope dipped frighteningly steep, almost endless, until it flattened out & joined another, leading to the next six-man chair lift.
The days ended with shadows lengthening, the air becoming colder as the sun dipped behind the tops of the mountains. The bars & restaurants halfway down the slopes, smelling of spiced wine & schnapps, glowed in the late afternoon light, warm & inviting. They quickly filled & people danced on the benches, danced on the crowded floor as the live music played & the waiters held trays aloft, laden with beer & skillfully weaved in & out the throng of skiers. Much later & dark outside, one by one skis & sticks were recovered & groups of skiers laughed their way down the slopes in the dark, the skiing fraught with hidden hazards. Negotiating lumps & bumps which seemed to go unnoticed, they meandered into the village & skiing blind in the dark with friends after an hour or two in the bars was undertaken with ungainly relish & much laughter.
It was always difficult to leave this snowy haven, with the warmth of the sun reflecting off the snow during the day, the cold biting in the mornings, until it almost froze the face, the occasional blizzard blowing horizontal, stinging the cheeks until it was impossible to see a hand in front, or the snow so thick, the skis attached to boots would disappear under the powdery depths & it was impossible to realize which way was up or down, or if they had come to a complete halt. But as the European Alps & Mont Blanc disappeared from view, it was difficult to wait another year for the winter to return.
No comments:
Post a Comment