Off-Piste in les French Alps

Many people are quite skeptical about whether or not I have a 'real' job. And I have to admit, when trips like this are a part of my job description, it's easy to see why. This past weekend, I was sent to France, leading a group of students skiing in the Alps. I honestly never in my wildest dreams thought I would get paid to do my favorite thing in the world. It's things like this that make me realize just how good I've got it.

We arrived in Chambery Saturday evening, flying into a minuscule airport, and bused to our hotel in Tignes, a town nestled in the heart of the Rhône Alpes. As this was a trip run by a Danish company, we were on chartered flights and in a private hotel. Essentially what this means is that we were with the same group of crazy Danes from the time we left Copenhagen Airport to the time we got back. Or in the case of two guys, our paths were joined from the time I got on the Metro.

On Sunday, on of the students and I joined three guys from our hotel on an off-piste adventure with a French mountain guide. Quite the way to ease into the European ski scene. But good Lord was it amazing. We got to see parts of the mountains that would be inaccessible without avalanche equipment. And it's a good thing we went with a pro, since we did manage to set off a minor slide. After having taken my AVI course, it was really cool to see an avalanche actually happen, and to look around and be able to spot danger zones and terrain traps. 

And now without further ado, pictures.

Morning in the mountains. Moon's still in the sky.

Heading up the gondola from the village of Tignes.

On the left, Frank, on the right, our guide, Fred.

Behold, Alps.

Traversing a ridge to lay some fresh tracks.

Yup. Freshies.

Phillipe, popping his skis back on for a descent.

More Alps.

Heading down a back bowl.

Looking back up.

Lindsay trying to translate a warning sign.

Jakob, in the bowl.