Celestial Portal
Celestial Portal
What an unbelievable vision to behold whilst out skiing… the snow quality is out of this world, to the point of when floating through the lightness of feathers, and ploufing into it, just the once… the softness was never ending, when I pushed my ski pole into the ground to push myself back up, my pole kept sinking, there was no solid ground! Lovely though….
or... perhaps, the Empyreal Entrance, or the Pure Pass?!
The whole day was magical… there’s an abundance of sparkling light and newness when the snow is here, and of such quality, it almosts consecrates the ground for whatever reason, all I know is that it is altogether beautiful.
The Celestial Portal came into view, the doorway into the Celestial Universe, I’ve named it that as it only appeares once every 2000 years! Well, Indiana Jones poetic licence allowed on this very special occasion!
A few more pics here.
Flaine & Les Carroz
Flaine
So bit of an update… all in all, it’s been Airport Transfers and some lovely skiing… We decided to have a ski in the other valley, that being Flaine and Les Carroz,
on piste down to Les Carroz
and what a beautiful valley to ski in. Fabulous dynamic runs lovely and wide with some excellent alternative views along the way. We’ll certainly be returning sometime soonish. Glorious weather, with clean, fresh pristine air…. heavenly.
More pics here…
Internet Problems!
Am sorry to report that I’ve had to suspend the blog for a while due to dreadful internet connection problems! It’s been causing me no end of frustration… aaagh! 
so for the time being the updates may be a bit sporadic, if at all but I intend to resume normal service as soon as! Meanwhile the snow is fantastic!!! Every cloud eh?!
First Ski Day
looking up towards Mt. Jolie and Red run...
almost empty!
We’ve been having a lot of trouble with the ‘Server’ recently, on and off every five minutes, what a pain in the butt! so it’s been a tad difficult to keep the blog updated. Anyway, here’s a quick update before the thing disconnects again!
We’ve been skiing… and it was loads of fun. Just up here at St. Gervais. The snow was really good not quite powder but certainly got some depth, there’s no solid base beneath the snow though so going off piste brought us to a swift halt! It’s been snowing today and the snow is probably gorgeous but it’s very windy and visibility would be very limited so not particularly inviting. There were only a few lifts open in St. Gervais and Les Contamines just for the weekend but are now closed again, until the official opening on Saturday, 17th. Les Grands Montets had a few open too, and are open again today but the high winds, and rapid deterioration forecast kept us away. It’s looks like there’s more to come, so just biding time until then.
Christmas, isn’t far away now another year coming to a close… doesn’t time fly??
More pics of today in Daily Pics.
Let it Snow!
Just look how much snow there is on Plaine Joux launch now, and it’s still snowing… we may go for a plough through the snow tomorrow up there. It’s actually quite wet down here, but who knows maybe later in the week or beginning of next we’ll get a chance to do some skiing 
!
Plaine Joux Launch... now!
And here’s the other side, a lot more than yesterday!
a lot more than yesterday...!
It’s Snowing, Yay!!!
Look at all this at Plaine Joux, and it’s still snowing! Time to polish up and sharpen those ski edges!! woo hoo!!!
taken from webcam, just a minute ago!
Ski Cruising 2010/11
We haven’t been doing much ploufing, just can’t seem to rustle up the enthusiasm. It’s been very cold recently and snuggling up by the fire is very appealing whilst we have some spare time. It’s not going to last for very long as the airport transfers are starting to accumulate. It looks like a weather change is on the way as snow is forecast. Thinking about snow, I’d taken a couple of helmet cam movies of last years skiing, so threw together a video. Just a taste or reminder of last seasons skiing to whet the appetite for the coming season.
Bright and Just a Little Bit Breezy
More ploufing today, but great for Tom our new One to One client. He’ was the only one on launch this morning, except Tizzy having a scratch on the launch area, where as the rest of us were having a scratch just below the launch area, a bit later on in the day as we gradually descended into the lower inversion. Tom had five really good flights, but then he does kite, ski, has a PPL licence and does most things so it all seems natural. He’s doing his own lovely landings already and only on his second day, which is excellent.
Tom, preparing for his first flight of the day
We’ve got flyable weather until next Tuesday, so we should be out ploufing ourselves whilst waiting for the snow. It wasn’t all ploufing today though, as there was a good face breeze, which certainly helped Tom, get some reverse launch practice in, he did an independent reverse launch without a hitch, as well as four forwards launches, and completed most of his EP tasks, so he’s well on the way.
Whilst I was preparing to have my own plouf, another pilot landed after getting some reasonable height just above the Fiz, it was possible to climb out if taking off from a higher altitude. A couple of gliders managed a scrape out. It’s ok, if you can hike up there, but with full xc gear it can be a bit tough. Chamonix lifts are still closed for the time being so we don’t have that luxury for a number of weeks yet.
Preparing to Plouf
Lots of Prepping for Ploufing
Well the weather’s been well, boring! I know dreadful thing to say, but apparently the Meteo forcaster in Chamonix has been saying the same thing, just emply blue skies with nothing happening. I can really appreciate the clouds and know exactly where Gavin Pretor-Pinney is coming from! Well all that’s happening on the flying front is ‘ploufs’ be they ‘bon’ or otherwise, “That’s all we’re getting and be satisfied!”, say’s mother nature! Well we’ve had a late in the season beginner pilot learning with us, and he had his first flight today. It was a bit touch and go whether to launch him to be honest as it was a nil wind situation, anyway I need’nt have worried, as he’s got a natural touch and a good run, so all was well.
There were a couple of tandems working unusally this time of the year, but maybe the seasons are on the change and we could be entering a new age?! Who knows?!
Waiting for Winter
Not much to report just now… other than the weather has been flyable, so we’ve been out ‘ploufing’ most days, it’s set to continue along the same lines for a while yet, so more of the same seems to be the general concensus.
We’ve got regular frosted mornings, and early frozen vehicles the early signs of approaching winter… There’s been some snow on the Italian side of the mountain already and various light dustings around here but only short lived, it’s still incredibly mild in the afternoons.
For Sale
We have for sale two Kortel Kamasutra 2 harnesses with pods. 1 XS and 1 M. They are both the latest models purchased in Sprng 2011 and the condition is ‘As New’ Both for €750.00 each + postage.
Kortel Kamasutra 2 with pod
We also have for sale a Small Kortel Kanibal Race, again in ‘As New’ condition with the new modified flight deck/chest strap arrangement. Yours at a mere snip of a price of only €600+ postage
Kortel Kanibal Race
Please feel free to email us at info@flyers-lodge.com …
Autumn Is Upon Us
Autumn is definately here, with the treetops all turning, the temperature dipping, a regular dampness in the morning, and condensation on the windscreens. The snow has made a fleeting appearance , settling on Varan, and the surrounding mountains although then disappearing… just a minor taste of things to come. Our flying has now taken on the more serene character of gentle air and mild soaring. It is all still very enjoyable as what we don’t have in the spring and summer months in the shape of strong thermals and xc potential, we make up for in the sheer beauty of the changing landscape and the depth of colour, artists revel in. So here’s to welcoming in all the changes that mother natures offers….. We are still flying, but just scraping climb outs now.
