Dear folks.
At the Monkey bar in Chamonix, France and enjoying the apres skis in this cute alpine village. Imagine that you were a futurist 20 years ago for a moment -would you have foreseen that you could have been blogging wirelessly on a British pub in Chamonix with a gang from Yorkshire next to you discussing last weekend's Premier League results while posting photos that you took in the morning? Technology is moving forward to say the least. I love it!
Chamonix is great little place. Lots of cheese stores (what would you expect), restaurants advertising racklette, and creperies selling sweet crepes. Unfortunately there is not a lot of snow in town, but there is plenty on the mountain. We have been blessed with great weather for the first two days but this morning and afternoon were tough. Very little visibility and the visibility that was, was usually decreased by snow. Expecting some great powder tomorrow instead, and hopefully blue skies (fingers crossed).
I visited Chamonix ten years ago, at which time we did a full day of 20km skiing on Vallee Blanche Glacier which was a great experience. Hoping for something similar this time if the weather gods allow it. Have heard that the glacier is wide open so might be a small chance (once again fingers x:ed). While you sometimes feel at the effect side of equation in relation to weather, it is quite sobering during a holiday to feel that you are just going with the flow, and surrendering to the weather gods. So let us focus on some blue skies and powder for tomorrow. :)
The other great aspect about Chamonix is that after returning from a 10 year absence, it is really obvious a great deal has changed as a result of globalisation in that time. The town the slopes is now packed with various nationalities. While the Swedes are still really obvious, there is a great deal of Russians, Polish, Rumanians, and Slovakians here which means there has been some serious economic development in Europe's East which makes this possible. Certainly a positive step forward for the 'new Europe', and this year two more nations have been added to EU's list of member countries. While the latter is hardly noticed in the 'old Europe', it is huge news for the countries concerned - both economically, symoblically, and culturally.
The last piece of update for today is that muscular memory is quite an interesting aspect. After a cautious first few runs, my body really got into the skiing in the afternoon on Saturday, carving up the slopes and enjoying the fresh snow. Because I had not skiied for quite some years, I was positively surprised, but I guess it is a little bit like a bike - unconscious competence stays deeply integrated and easy to access whenever you need it.
On that note, until soon!
Anders :)
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