Today was the last day of skiing so back to Avoriaz to take it easy. Sjek has taken to the sport like a duck to water, and suddenly went tearing down Combe des Crêtes with me on the monoski barely able to catch up. I could see the adrenaline flush on her face when she stopped: terrified but clearly loving it!

Over the ten days or so that I’ve used the monoski I feel that I’ve really taken to it. My original reasons for buying one and trying it were:

Skiers and snowboarders alike seem to have a hate-hate relationship with button lifts. I understand why. Compared to the chair lift — in my mind the most sophisticated and comfortable way to get oneself up a mountainside, and certainly the most convenient as one doesn’t have to remove skis/boards and walk around like a stormtrooper or cyberman — the button lift is something of a brute.

As we headed up the chair lift to the top of Super-Morzine we began to feel a gentle breeze. Nothing particularly strong, and not continuous but more like breathing. Foehn! True to yesterday’s “joke” I took Sjek off-piste. Just a short way off Seraussaix which we could have walked, but it’s much easier to move in deep powder on skis than in shoes. A short distance from the Alpage de Seraussaix we planted our skis and Sjek prepared her kite.