So our little experiment of skiing from our VW campervan in the French Alps has come to an end. We have had 16 nights and 13 days skiing from Camping Huttopia in Bourg Saint Maurice and we have loved it. We have had all the weathers from two days of torrential downpours to two nights of snow, hot sunny afternoons and nights below -14 degrees!
Tuesday saw an upturn in the weather and with a forecast for sunny days and lows of only 0 degrees, we decided to try having the pop-top roof up on the van for the rest of the week. The major downfall to skiing from the van is the lack of space to store all our kit. It has been surprisingly ok with the roof up- not too cold and the extra headroom and storage has made life so much easier.
We have had a lovely week skiing, with wall-to-wall blue-sky days. A new piece of snow art by Simon Beck appeared on the slopes – a giant teddy bear. I was a little worried that he had chosen to create the artwork on the frozen reservoir, but it is quite a spectacular sight from above.
We have enjoyed skiing and having a relaxed beer on the slopes with people that we have met on the campsite. We definitely think this is a huge plus for valley and vanlife skiing- we have met some wonderful people and it has been a really sociable experience compared to our previous ski trips.
The lack of snow, warm days and cold nights have started to cause a real issue with the skiing in the domain. The slopes are very icy and we have seen more accidents over the last few days, with no snow forecast for at least a week I am glad we are heading for home. It is not our skiing that we worry about particularly, we can get down most pistes now but there are increasingly more people struggling with the ice. I had a pretty nasty incident with a snowboarder who was following behind me, on a nice cruisy blue. I was going in a straight line and he skid straight into me taking my legs out, I fell back, landed on my head and back and dented my helmet. I was pretty shook up and bruised, but absolutely furious that he did not stop!!! He stumbled a little shouted sorry behind him and carried on. It definitely highlighted the importance of wearing a helmet, I hate to think what would have happened to me seeing the dint in my helmet! At least Phillipe the beautiful campsite cat looked after me that night!
We have just had a great last day on the slopes with one last visit to La Folie Douce for an early lunch – the food there is absolutely amazing, and surprisingly not that expensive compared to other mountain restaurants. This afternoon sees us packing up the van and preparing for the long journey home.
Some people have asked us for a breakdown of costs skiing from the van. We purposely chose to stay on a campsite to make the most of toilet and shower facilities and the community room that gave us extra space rather than using a Motorhome Aire which would not have these facilities.
Campsite fees - 16 nights at €27.50 £393
Season lift pass x2 - skied 23 days in total £1393
Petrol 4 tanks ish £400
Tolls £140
Ferry flexible return just incase! £220
Ski Hire we got our own boots and skis
Ski locker in Arc 1600 - made life easier £94
Have a great week
Jackie and Richard
Safe travels back