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Let's
ski the Cote de Brune! - by Ika
My Travel Tale could seem a little strange, but my friends
who know me would believe it! At the end of March 2002 my
friends and I were on holiday in France. I love skiing and
thereby we had decided to go to Savoie Alps, to the biggest
ski area in the world called Les Menuires.
| Here
is the beautiful Les Menuires! |
I'm
sitting on the snow with my friends. |
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Could
you imagine 600 kms of slopes with quantities of snow, ski
lifts and telecabin's (cable cars)? The highest point is Cime
de Caron and it is 3200 metres. You can only get to it by
a huge telecabine that is able to absorb 160 people. If you
look down from this hilltop you feel very, very small, just
like an ant. Everywhere around you there are mountains, snow
and sun (see photo No. 1 and 2). By the way let's come back
to my story.
On one of the days of my holiday, the sun was shining and
the slopes were just waiting for us! We had decided to ski
on the slope called Cote de Brune. We were there one day before
and it had looked great, kept with firm and hard snow, enough
long and difficult runs. So today we returned ready to ski!
When we got off the telecabin (cablecar), I was one of the
million skiers trying to put their ski's on, waiting for their
friends and taking some photos. After getting ready and deciding
which way we would ski the slope, off we scattered.
It is necessary to take into account there were two ways to
go down. As I had some knee-aches I was the last to leave,
going down more slowly than the others. Suddenly I gazed around
and none of my friends were in sight. As an absolute geographical
amateur, who is able to get lost in my native town, I was
standing there alone among fantastic big mountains and with
a worried mind. Firstly I looked around to seek someone from
my friends, but they weren't there. Many skiers were passing
by me but I didn't know anyone? So I decided to do something
and one fantastic idea had come into my head... What if I
went back up to the hilltop and looked at the map?
I took my ski's off now, put them on my back and went upwards.
It wasn't very far to go, but try to tread it when you are
3000 metres high, you are scared and you have no idea where
you exactly are! Finally I was standing before the map and
after a few minutes I found the way I had chosen was right.
What could I do? I put my ski's back on again and thought,
"let's try to catch my friends". Even though I was
as fast as the wind, I still didn't see anyone. Suddenly at
the end of the slope I caught sight of one of my friend's
madly singing out. Yippee, yippee, yippee!!! I found what
I was looking for :-)
That wasn't all though. My boyfriend pale as ashes, with sad
thoughts that I was lying somewhere with a broken leg and
screaming for help, had jumped on the first cabin (cablecar)
back to the top of the hilltop. Fortunately he saw me on his
way up and that was a great weight off his mind. Since then,
we have always skied together...
Maybe you don't think it's possible to disappear on a slope,
but it really is. I know I'm old enough not to do that, but
next time I won't forget to bring with me a compass!
Submitted: 6 May 2002
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