Slips and Storms

Today there was a very very heavy snowstorm. We put our gear on after breakfast and went out only to find that only 2 out of the 6 or so lifts on this side of the mountain were running. Every lift up near the top was closed due to high winds. It was so stormy that the visibility was poor, the wind blew lots of snow in our faces, and the slopes were covered in such deep, soft, fluffy, sticky powder that we frequently became stuck. From the very first lift up, we stopped to put on our masks.

We plowed our way down through the snow (not wedge, just moving a lot of snow with our bodies) and got to lift 3, the only other lift that was running. We were looking for the blue run flexta but got lost in the deep powder and tried to find the way downhill, which ended up taking us back to tubs through the red run there, that felt very much like off-piste. It was ungroomed, and we got stuck a lot. Each little stretch took a long time to move through. Leia lost a ski but was valiantly able to put it back on by herself, saving Guy from having to haul his fat arse up the hill to rescue her. In the few areas we could downill ski, Leia kept her skis parallel well, and when Guy commented on it she remarked, "I have no choice!"

After the second run down, Leia wanted to stop for some cocoa with whipped cream. Sadly there was no Baileys in it this time. She had a lot of trouble getting her skis back on after the break, due to snow on her boots, and a ski slipping on the slope outside the snack bar. Guy was frustrated with Leia's frustrated attitude and went to lift 3 on his own, while Leia went downhill to lift 1 after she got her skis on. Guy tried again to find flexta run, but this time overshot the other way and ended up on isards. Of course this area was closed today, so the run was not groomed and not steep enough to ski through. He got stuck in the powder early on, and had to force his way down basically the entire hill, hiking through the snow with his skis on. After he finally made it down to lift 5 Coll Dels Isards (which was closed) he had to continue trudging back to Pas De La Casa base. In the meantime, Leia waited about ten minutes for Guy to return, then went back up lift 1 and did tubs all by herself.

We met in the hotel ski locker, returning at the same minute, before noon. We decided that three runs in this weather were plenty. The room was not yet cleaned, so we left the "please clean" sign on and went down to the bar for a few minutes. There we saw the Issta guide working on his computer. We took a short walk down the village, and Guy slipped on a patch of icy road hidden by snow. A moment later, Leia slipped in the exact same spot. We ate at a restaurant by the lifts that we visited earlier this week, called Bo & Gola. It's decor is colorful and was "trendy" in the 90s, the service was good, but the asian food was medoicre at best and highly overpriced.

From lunch we went across the street to the Olympia department store just to explore all of its 7 floors. This killed time until we returned to a clean room, which we quickly restored to its previous smell. We passed the afternoon catching up with family, writing scathing reviews on tripadvisor, and looking at pictures of cats on the Internet. Guy went down to the lobby to ask for a cup of hot water to make tea. They gave him a little tea pot of water and two cups, and he prepared tea in the room from teabags he brought with him from home. We then went to the saunas and jacuzzi, showered and went to dinner about as soon as the restaurant opened at 1930.

Dinner today was surprisingly good: there was salmon cooked in lemon, shrimp, and grilled tuna. Leia ripped the heads off the shrimps with her bare hands and peeled them for Guy, and he fetched her some well-done tuna steaks, plus some broiled beef. There was also a wide array of dessert cakes and mousses that were more appealing to us than usual. Now we are writing our blog, and if Guy can convince Leia to stop being so lazy, we will go out for drinks.