Lo and behold the muscle fatigue has caught up with Sjek. We’re going to take it easy today on Super-Morzine, where “taking it easy” involves a power kite!

We started at the top of Pleney with the “travelator” ski lift. I’m never confident of my ability to teach, not least because the last time I was in Morzine my travel companion found skiing to be a terrifying experience. However, Sjek was a fast learner and outgrew going up and down the beginner’s stretch quite quickly. It was time for more challenging stuff: Piste B (skipping the steep bits via Piste D).

One of my favourite restaurants in Morzine is La Flamme. We’ve been going there for years and the lady who owns it is one of the most hospitable, friendly and accommodating establishments in the town. Despite its small size (seating around thirty diners) they’re clued-up about special dietary requirements — something which seems so rare in France — and given enough warning even claim to be able to cater for coeliacs.

Yesterday the conditions in Morzine, Les Gets and Avoriaz we awful: rain during the night had turned snow into slush, and packed snow into ice. The walk from the flat into town was treacherous, and the people I spoke to in the town had stories of their own small personal disasters from bad falls to car crashes. The pistes were carnage too: visibility was poor to non-existent thanks to the high humidity condensing on goggles and glasses; constantly falling snow, slush and rain made visibility even worse; leg-breaker snow jostled for prime positioning on the slopes with ice patches.

18:45: phone-call from Michel at Caribou Sport.  The monoski has arrived and he’s fitted the bindings.  ”Bring a ski-boot, come pick it up.”

19:00: I am the proud owner of a Duret Free 180 monoski!

Tonight: a lack of sleep as I struggle to contain my excitement at the shiny new hardware.

Tomorrow: the madness begins!

Photos to follow…

After a while of skiing the slopes my mind starts to wander off, and gradually my body starts to be drawn similarly off-piste.  Today was no exception: after several hours of practising parallel turns with knees and ankles touching — in preparation for monoskiing — I decided to venture into less prepared areas.