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Day 1 - Afternoon Session - Part 2 “This is about to get good …” - @GrilledSteezeSandwich But seriously anything would have been better than the mishaps of the morning of day 1. @Schif goes to the airbnb to rest his broken wrist and I went to try to find the group. I take the Saulire gondola up and ski the main front face of Meribel trying to locate the group. I took the Adret lift about 3-5 times because I only kind of had phone service, so it was a bit challenging to coordinate. After a few runs, I found them at Monche Bar (https://www.meribel.net/en/apidae/le-monchu-meribel/). They stopped for shots, espresso martinis, and champagne - so I joined them for a shot and champagne. We took one lift together then we heard the sounds of Folie Douche in Meribel so we made our way over around 4pm. At Folie, we had apérol spritz and pitchers of beer. We danced on tables and sang our hearts out for about an hour. In the gang was Amy who I brought to Jeff's preseason party maybe 2 (?) years ago, B&S who lives in London, L&D who lives in Philly near us (maybe we'll bring them to blue sometime), and S who lives in Atlanta. It was a fun group. Folie Douche closes at 5pm so we shut it down. Then skiied over to Round Point which was wild. There was a line to get in so instead, we headed back to the house. Just as we got in, it started to rain and continued throughout the night. We were reading that it was snowing at higher elevations, so fingers crossed. We ate tacos with the gang at the house. Played some games. And went to bed hoping tomorrow would be even better.

The Commute to France Friday: 2:30pm ET we drove from Philly to Newark. The flight took off around 7pm. Saturday: Arrived at the airbnb around 6pm france time (about 1pm ET). The group stopped at a grocery store and bought an absurd amount of food. We also spotted this vending machine of cheese in Moutiers, France. We hit lots of traffic so we had to take some side roads to avoid the traffic. We later learned that there's a ton of Saturday traffic because more rentals go from Sat-Sat. Thought the humor of PASR might like this destination sign. The Airbnb The house was lovely but had European quirks. • Pro: It was the penthouse with a gorg view, walking distance to the town & slopes, and also on a bus route • Con: a weird bathtub/shower situation, slopped roofs that made some of the rooms feel small We went to dinner for pizza and wine. We headed to bed with the goal to be on the snow as early as possible.

In December, @Schif and I were at a friend’s house and got invited to a planned ski trip. There were 8 people total (including us) on this trip. The dates, airbnb, and the bulk of the trip were already planned so we really just went with the flow for the most part. This was our first time traveling with so many people - we had to fold into what the majority of the group was doing. We had a great time (with a few blips). But if we were to do it again - we would do 5-6 ski days and ski longer. It was awesome. THE SIZE OF THE 3 VALLEES The 3 Vallees claims to be larger than the top 5 largest resorts in North America — combined. The mountain’s main resorts are Meribel, Val Thorens, and Corchevelle. There are something like 151 ski lifts and 364 trails. It was bonkers. There were so many different types of gondolas and chairs. SKIING IN THE FRENCH ALPS SOUNDS BOUGIE. WAS IT EXPENSIVE? I’ve seen some videos about how skiing in Europe is cheaper, so I’ll drop our major expenses below in case anyone else is considering. All prices are per person. 4 ski days at 3 Valleys: $142 Flight from EWR with 1 checked bag: $760 Shared car rental in France: $93 Airbnb with the group, in town (5 days/4 nights): $308 / $77 per person per night Brides-les-Bain Hotel for 1 night: $52 I left off things like airport parking and food because they would vary by person and exist whether you fly to Jackson Hole or France. Generally, I thought the on-mountain drinks were cheaper than in the US. Shots, champagne, and pitchers of beer did seem cheaper in France though. A pitcher of beer was about $20-35 depending on the bar. I remember paying $16-20 for a beer in the back bowl of Vail. So yes - ski tickets, lodging, and booze were cheaper but the transportation costs made it about on par with skiing in the US. Optional expense. More on this later…. • Emergency medical visit for a broken wrist. It included x-ray, custom cast, opium, and anti-inflammatory: approx $350

They are saying bumps on Razors.

Hell is filled with lawyers.

I do like the forest…

Ski Day 1 - @Schif and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 7:15am: Woke up! Grabbed some fruit and granola bars and strolled to the lifts. 8:30am: We scan the QR code and grabbed our ski passes 9:00am: We're in the first 5 gondola cabins heading up to the mountain. We took the Saulire 1+2 gondola up. The rest of the group was slooooow moving so it was just @Schif and I. So we talked about meeting up later for apres. While at the top, we dipped towards Corchevelle. The runs were looooong and the grooming was beautiful. It was mostly cloudy with the sun peaking out occasionally. I think we took Creux or Marmottes down to Roc Mugnier. At the top of Roc Mugnier lift, we decided to do that area again because it was so fun. The trails were for the most part empty. I got one of the Insta360 camera. I'm not sharing to show off my sick medoicre skiing ability but really posting the video to show how empty the trails were. This all sounds amazing. Why is this such a negative nancy title? [dunnnn dunnnnn dunnnn] Mike caught an edge and fell hard. He sat there for a moment then slowly got up. As he was just starting to move going hella slow, a small 8-year-old French girl hit his snowboard from behind and brought him to his knees. I was behind him so I skied down to the chaos. Side Note: I'm not sure how he manages to avoid the PA ski resort chaos, but somehow in the French alps with 4 other people on a ski trail - there was a collison. @Schif had crazy pain in his wrist. So we tried to find some sort of ski patrol. We went up the Roc Mugnier lift again and then skied to the bottom hoping to find a medic center. We didn’t find it. Instead, we luckily shared a gondola with an Italian doctor. Mike was just going to push through it but the Italian doctor suggested it might be fractured. I speak French - kind of - so we stopped at patrol near the top of Signal and they told us where the medic center is. We ended up taking about 5 lifts to to get back to Meribel and skiied down the front. But wait - THERES MORE We skied down Mauduit and it was lovely at the top. The trail got more slushly as our eleivation decreased though. Then all of the sudden - it got very thin. Like east coast thin. Like closing day at Bleu thin. Then it became a dirt trail and we had to take off our skis. There was not a single sign closing the trail. We watched a few people do the same thing. I took off my atomic skis and started to stroll down. I stumble a bit. My ski goes flying. I butt-slide through mud and slush trying to dig in my heels to stop. Mike fortunately watched my ski as if it was a golf ball going the distance. Mike’s wrist is starting to swell very large. His fingers were swelling and there was a ping pong size ball on his wrist -- so he’s going slower. We retrieve my ski. Laugh it off and head to the medic center inside the Parc d'Olympic at the base. Mike gets an xray and a cast. Turns out it’s fractured. He was advised to not snowboard and gets a prescription for some medicine. We’re exhausted by all the hoopla so we get on the bus hoping it takes us back to the airbnb. But WAIT THERES MORE the bus goes the wrong way and stops at a bus depot. So we end up back to where we found my ski and trudge through the snow. Bad things happen in a series of 3, right? We say F it. Let’s get food at the base. It was quite the first 4 hours... Mike goes back to the Airbnb to rest and told me to go find the gang…..

I really like them, although I had to rework the padding in my boots to account for the 3 mm thickness. You can select about 6 skill training areas (early edging, parallel skis, inside/outside ski pressure, etc). You can turn on active coaching and get a good beep or a bad beep depending on if you make the skill target for each turn. Or you can free ski, listen to your tunes, and only get the summary on the lift up. They adjust the target after about 10 turns to account for varying conditions. Ski width and stiffness, grooming, snow conditions and steepness affect your scores in addition to your skills. One tip they gave recently for parallel skis and turn shape was to imagine you have a wine glass between your boots and you tilt your boots to spill the wine from side to side without dropping the glass. 😂 Reminds me of that 70s song. They continually update the training based on the data they pull in. The units use the newer Bluetooth that can support multiple connections so you can use your earbuds, although I have wired helmet speakers. It’s also nice since I usually ski alone, it gives me something to keep occupied with. I think it’s helped my skiing a lot, particularly with reducing pressure on my inside ski, gradual build up and a quick release of pressure on the outside ski at the initiation of the next turn. A lot of data can be displayed later in the app. Not specifically for bumps, powder or crud, but the general ski improvement helps. You do need to ski a lot to get your money’s worth.

OMG @saltyant I’m laffing so hard, thanks for that, your friend @skifreak

@GrilledSteezeSandwich This is grate and very radical. I hope @Benm gets these for next season. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/pX5GiK9AdAkz9kp2/?mibextid=xCPwDs

Good, it has gotten. Grate that we received a detailed cost breakdown to report to Ski2Live so he analyze the figures and perform rigorous calculation to determine if they saved a lot. +++++VIBES+++++ for Schif's / Mike's wrist injury. Sometimes I forget people's street names.

RFID

I'd be happy if they just replace the broken piece. oh well lol

@saltyant this is getting good and I like reports in segments like this..builds up anticipation..and he’s schif to us not mike. Already a mike lol but no Ike

Once things got going. But, the lower, south-facing slopes are already closing. They never really got bushes covered and those bushes are re-emerging. I had to do "falling leaf" down one today when I rounded a hidden corner and was presented with a mess. Surprize!!! Day 54. -

Should we open up a birding thread? bb.mp4

For those that are interested in bird watching, saw these two guys as I parked at the golf course the other night.

Stratton will always hold a special place in my heart. It was my first “big mountain” trip a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I remember seeing it on the road as you approach the mountain thinking holy shit this place looks massive. really thinking hard on getting an ikon pass next year.

Not from today, but a teaser for an up coming Trip Report

The snow is starting to melt real fast at Blue..will be interesting to see what it’s like out there Friday and Saturday.

If they were gonna replace the whole thing what does it matter about keeping the lens? Honestly for goggles even if they were $200 I wouldn’t go to the trouble you’re going to.

pics and video from the Key bridge collapse in Baltimore. Crazy to see that. https://www.yahoo.com/news/baltimore-bridge-partially-collapses-collusion-075148049.html https://www.mcall.com/2024/03/26/key-bridge-collapses-into-patapsco/