Great conditions on the Chavannes slopes last week - Les Gets
Last week was busy in Les Gets, as whilst the lifts were closed, it was the last week of the French school holidays and we had many French customers who just wanted a mountain holiday in Les Gets. The weather was quite warm, the piste was in excellent condition as we have had so much snow. Our team took advantage of the conditions to do more ski touring and some tried biathlon for the first time.
Spring-like weather conditions with great pistes
We had relatively mild temperatures during the day and below zero overnight, we also had some light snow over the weekend. Our guests were able to take advantage of the great conditions - many were hurtling down the slopes on sledges, snowshoeing, some doing ski de fonds, some ski touring and some just skiing from the Chavannes mid-station to the bottom.
Mark took the opportunity to ski do ski touring on the Chavannes and also Col de Coux. The Chavannes slopes were in excellent condition and he measured the snow depth at around 1 metre. What a great season this would have been if the lifts had been able to run!
The discovery of a new discipline: The Biathlon
Some of us decided to try, for the first time, a Biathlon. In the French Alps, this is a mix of two activities, Nordic Skiing and rifle shooting. ESF set up the training and the course for us.
Bruno, our instructor, joined us on the cross-country ski trails at Les Chavannes and first gave us some advice on how to ski on Nordic skis. The feeling is very different from alpine skiing and we learnt a new technique. Most of us fell over quite a lot to start with but it was great fun.
Then, it was time for rifle shooting. Bruno explained very carefully how to arm the rifle, to position ourselves with a straight spine, and how to ensure we shot accurately. There was a lot to learn, however, Ben, who was in the Royal Marines a few years ago had a slight advantage!
Testing our skills on a relay
After Bruno had seen our enthusiasm for the sport, he decided to organize a relay race for us. The objective was to complete a looped course on cross-country skis, join the shooting zone to reach the target and then pass the baton to the next team member. We were divided into two teams. As the relay progressed, Bruno added more challenges. For example, he added a penalty round if we missed the target and he gradually increased the distance to the target – making the shooting more and more difficult as we improved. We all became very caught up in the game. At the end, Bruno made repeat the first exercises and we found we had all improved tremendously. A big thank you to Bruno for his infectious good mood and his wise advice!
A good time on the cross-country ski trails
One of the restaurants at the Chavannes mid-station was offering take away meals, there was quite a queue. We decided to try the fare and had a great lunch also recovering from an energetic morning. Full of energy again, we decide to test the cross-country ski tracks. The Chavannes plateau offers several trails of different levels. We started with the green track, then on to the blue track. We took the time to perfect our technique and we then started the red trail. We would recommend cross-country skiing to anyone visiting Les Gets, it is great fun, quite different to alpine skiing and there are some wonderful routes with incredible scenic views. We came back full of memories of a great day.
Les Gets has so much to offer, even though we have lived in Les Gets for many years, the Biathalon was new to us. If you want to discover cross-country skiing and biathlon, we can only recommend this activity with friends or family and we are sure you will have a wonderful time.
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