6th annual Dave Knewstubb memorial ski outing
The skiers’ prayers have finally been answered and the frustratingly capricious weather pattern this winter began to normalise at the end of last week. This meant that the much-anticipated inaugural outing of the 2023 skiing season could actually take place.
On Friday 20 January three stalwart GINtlemen (Mark, Steve and Mervyn) and one honorary guest (Alun) convened on skis for a warming coffee high above Champéry at 10:30. There had been several absentee messages received, few of which constituted a convincing excuse, to wit: dog matters, passport problem, lack of ski fitness, can’t ski when the day starts with an F (because we normally do it on a Thursday!)
A fine morning’s skiing under sunny blue skies and on freshly prepared, near-empty pistes and some adjacent powder fields got us back in the groove and hungry for some mountain fare at one of Steve’s favourite haunts below Avoriaz. Beers, croutes and tarts restored energy levels and enabled us to indulge in a further few hours of piste-bashing before bidding farewells and returning to the various car-parks around the Portes du Soleil from where we each started our skiing day.
No record of distances or denivelation, but it seemed like a lot. All in all a good, if belated, start to the season with hopes for many more days like it. Sadly only thought of photos at end of day, after Alun left.
Great stuff Gintlemen- I’ll try harder next time