An American Monster Geek in London: Skiing in Courchevel

It was snowing on our first full day in Courchevel. The mountain was capped with thick clouds and visibility was low. The resort was still beautiful.

We had a great breakfast at the hotel complete with eggs, ham, grilled tomatoes, sauted mushrooms, and croissants. Feeling powered up for a full day of skiing.

It was wonderful to see my "monster" skis again after not having used them in 2 years.

It is amazing how big this place is. Courchevel alone is probably the size of Mammoth, and then add on 2 additional valleys that easily just as large. Tony was always amazed to see still more lifts on faraway slopes. One could stay here for a week and not ski everything.

BMW is the official sponsor of Courchevel, though we saw cars on display from Farrari and Porsche. It was fun to see adds for expensive cars and expensive fashion on the slopes.

There was even a BMW encased in a glass box at the top of one of the lifts. It looked ready to be in some James Bond movie.

At times, the clouds were so thick, and the light so flat, that it was hard to see where we were going. I occasionally get a bit nausious when this happens, so it is a clear time to stop and take a break.

We have a tradition of breaking for a mid-morning cup of Hot Chocolate. And the French do very good Hot Chocolate with loads of Whipped Cream on top.

There was lots of fun art along the runs or "pistes" as the French call them. One was a giant White Ape, which looked like King Kong.

Another was a Giant French Bulldog, that reminded me a bit of our dog, Pepper.

Dotted around the ski resorts in amongst the ski pistes are a series of Helipads and small airports. Evidently the 3 Valleys, of which Courcevel is one, is very popular with the European Jet Setting crowd. We did get to see one small plane take off while we were there.