A Day with Richard!

A beautiful sunny day, a great day for a ski! I went for my first board of the season with Richard today. We met at a very civilised time and had an hour in order to get from Val to the 'Eye of the needle' over in Tignes to meet Richards niece, Catherine, her partner Andrew, and friends, Margaret and Adrian.
As it was such a stunning day we caught the chairs up the Bellevarde instead of the Olympique cable car which is the preferred choice for most skiers. Though the two chairs are slower, they are lovely to relax on in the sunshine, a lot quieter too than being in the bubble with two dozen other people!!
Once up the top I was in Richards capable hands, he has no mercy for boarders, it's a case of keep up or be left behind!
First port of call was to head down the OK/Orange to see the installation of the poles for the new chair lift due to open next season. It's to replace the current 'Marmottes' chair which is very old and rickety indeed. We aren't 100 percent certain where this chair is to start or finish, it should end up in a much better location though than the current one does! Many people get caught out thinking the 'Marmottes' will go to the top of the Bellevarde Olympique cable car, only to get off and realise they are in fact quite a distance from it in the middle of nowhere!

Regardless, back to our day. We continued on our way to Tignes (via knee deep powder where I had my first fall of the season), and made it to our destination in record time.
On meeting up with everyone, lots of fine skiing and boarding was done, the pistes were all supreme and not too busy at all really. Richard was our leader and thankfully didn't take us anywhere too hairy, the only bad mark he got was for taking us on the oldest chair lift ever down at Les Brevieres. It's a tiny two seater with no sides on it, no padding on the seats and a foot rest bar which is way too close to the seat for your average Joe Bloggs!! Moan over with.

We opted for a late lunch to avoid crowds and skied on down to the 'Industrial Hot dog' to dine, a place I have heard much about but never been in until today. 'Industrial Hot dog' isn't the official name, just the name it has always had, long story, ask Richard if you want the finer details! The food was good and the price most reasonable (Thank you Margaret and Adrian for treating us all, have been told not to mention Andrews attempt to pay!!!!).
On departing the restaurant we discovered clouds had moved in and the weather wasn't looking quite so stunning as it had been. Perfect excuse for Richard and I to duck out of skiing for the remainder of the day once we'd made it back to Val d'Isere, that and of course the fact that work calls!

Thanks to all involved for a great day out!