Santons Strait

Another beautiful day in Val d'Isere, don't be deceived by all the blue sky though, it is bitterly cold to the point where any exposed flesh rapidly goes numb!! Wrap up warm and don't forget to close your mouth whilst skiing/boarding or else your teeth will freeze!
For those of you unawares, 'Santons' is a blue run (supposedly), which is one of the runs which takes you back into the village from the Bellevarde mountain. Lots of fun and games is always had on this piste, mainly as although it's classed as a blue, it is actually quite tricky!
It starts off quite nicely at the top where it has a nice open area, this rapidly turns into a half pipe though which is quite steep in places. This is great fun if it has been freshly bashed and if it's people free, however, one of those days only comes around on very special occasions, the majority of the time it has moguls and people galore! Now this wouldn't be so bad neither, that is if the people have kept moving, chances are, they haven't, they've been struck by fear and are stuck part way down and are unable to proceed further, despite gentle coaxing by friends, ( These are words of experience, I still recall my first time down Santons as an inexperienced boarder 8 years ago!!!). This then turns the piste into an interesting obstacle course too as you avoid the motionless skiers, whilst offering up the odd prayer as you approach and pass them that they don't get a sudden surge of confidence and attempt to set of, inevitably if they do take the plunge, they wont look behind them to see if the coast is clear!!!
Once the half pipe is cleared and the people have been left way behind ( no doubt having just hit the icy patch and cursing whoever is responsible for grading slopes), you're on the home stretch, word of warning though, it's a flat stretch so the last 100 metres or so down Santons has to be done at a relative pace in order to gather the speed to enable you to sail on through to the Clochetons restaurant at the end of the strait, failure to do so means a loooonnngggggggggggg walk!
For many, 'Clochetons is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (run). It's a total suntrap and the view looking up the Manchet Valley is just magnificent, believe it or not, after a break there and a glass or three of Vin Chaud later, you'll be wondering why on earth Santons petrified you so much and itching to do it again!!
Love it or hate it, it has to be experienced!