J'habite a La Combe

Woohoo! We live in the alps now. Last Friday, Lorna, Acer and I arrived in the tiny hamlet of La Combe, between Moutiers and the ski resort of St Martin de Belleville. We're in the "Trois Vallees" area, the biggest ski area in the world. I've dreamed of living in the Alps for a long time, and it's amazing to actually be here.

A quick introduction to (and plug for) our chalet... Lorna and I are the new managers of Chalet Chardon Bleu. Between us and the other two staff, Josh and Amber, we look after the chalet and up to 25 guests on behalf of Peak Pursuits. Lorna is the chef, Josh and Amber help in the kitchen, clean and tidy the chalet, and help me ferry guests to and from the slopes. I'm in charge of things like looking after the Hot Tub, checking the vehicles, fixing chalet and vehicle stuff, and driving. The chalet is a beautiful old building, but I think the maintenance will keep me busy!


It's been a busy week since we arrived with the chalet to prepare for our guests, the first of which arrive next week. I've managed to sneak in a few runs though, which have been predictably hilly and snowy. The two times I've been out have been fantastic - both around 10 miles long with 900m or so climb... Yesterday up the hills opposite and today up the hills behind La Combe. Today I needed my microspikes for the first time and had a great run up to the second pylon visible from the back of the chalet.

The second pylon...
The other day I cycled the climb from La Combe up to St Martin itself, which is part of the infamous 38km Moutiers - Val Thorens climb. This section wasn't too bad, and only too 15 minutes or so more than in the land rover, so if I'm feeling strong and the weather's good I might even go by bike to collect the bread for breakfasts.

Anyway, the internet connection is not one of La Combe's strongest features, so I'll close this post now and try to add a few photos... Hopefully more to come from the Alps soon (a faster connection is due next week)!

Might even manage some skiing!
Finally... I learned yesterday that my blog has made it into the final shortlist of the RunUltra blog awards. I may have nominated myself originally, but I had nothing to do with the shortlisting, so I'm pretty chuffed! I stand no chance of winning, obviously, but it's great to be nominated. The first stage of the voting is a head-to-head, and I'm up against Stuart Mills! Voting is here if anyone's interested.

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