In Search of the Pattemouche

Back in July, when this trip was in its infancy, we researched different ski areas with the idea of having a skiing Christmas holiday. Initially an area in northern Italy, part of the Dolomites caught our attention however was soon crossed off the list due to difficulty of access. Looking closer to France, we stumbled across Via Lattea, Milky Way, a ski area straddling the Italian and French Alps. With over 400km of pistes, 88 lifts and comprising of 5 Italian resorts plus 1 French resorts, we thought this area could keep us busy for a week! We were looking froward to exploring the many different areas and riding the various chairlifts and gondolas.

The reality now that we are here is that the season has had an unusually warm start and despite a snow dump of 30+cm a few days before we arrived, many of the lower areas have limited or no snow coverage. Thus our exploration plans have had to be altered to account for this.

Over the past few days, we've explored parts of the Milky Way - Sestriere on the first day, Sauze d'Oulx on the second and San Sicario on the 3rd before having a much needed rest day. Today we headed over towards Pragelato knowing, due to the limited snow coverage, we wouldn't be able to ski there. However we went in search of the Pattemouche - the aerial tramway we would have taken if the snow was good! We (the girls and I) travelled on another magic carpet ski tunnel to get to it. Andy bluntly refusing and trudged up the small incline much faster. As we emerged from the tunnel, the Pattemouche was arriving at the station. We stood and watched it dock and unload the 25+ skiers.

Our mid morning break was at another cafe. This one was full of stuffed mountain animals including a lamp with a paw from some poor fluffy animal! While the girls and I recovered, Andy did a quick solo lap before joining us. Then our journey continued on the area known as Sestriere Borgata. To keep things interesting, the girls and Andy often play follow the leader. Unfortunately I'm still not good enough skier to be involved! Yesterday I skied down the slope to video their antics only to have Ella crash into me! The video, had I managed to start it, could have easily been selected for Australia's Funniest Home Videos!

Our final run of the morning saw us ski most of the 2006 Winter Olympic men's downhill course. Of course it took us much longer than the winning time of 1 minute and 48 secs to make it to the bottom!

Cumulative tiredness has been creeping in as the days go by. Post lunch the girls only wanted to do only a few more short runs. However on the second last run, Ella took a spill and the day was over. Andy did continue on skiing taking his skins out for a test in the Italian mountains.

After recovering back in the apartment for a few hours, we headed down to the outdoor ice skating rink. The girls and Andy did a few laps and tricks while the sunset.