Today we are taking a quick little drive over to Courmayeur in Italy via the Tunnel du Mont-Blanc. The tunnel in itself is an adventure. It's almost 7 miles long. One-way tolls for cars are about 32 Euro (US $42.80). Trucks pay over $200 Euro. It saves that much time. So we get from the motel to the resort in about 15 minutes and from France to Italy in about 10.
Wow, I love listening to Italians speak. Even "Informazione" sounds romantic. I am tempted to scrap Dutch and study Italian instead. The "g" sound in Dutch is about the least attractive sound I've ever heard in my life (sorry Dutchies!)We take a series of gondolas, "bubble cars", and chair lifts and then finally, the Arp gondola. You can ride the Arp to the summit to take in the view, but you can only ride down if you are with a guide.
The whole crew at the summit
(assuming that Dan is reflected in Johnny's sunglasses)
We traverse, ride a wide open bowl that must be heaven on a powder day (but is more like purgatory today -- eh), pick our way down in a steep couloir that is mostly avalanche debris and ice, and then skateboard for at least a mile on a flat road to the lodge. After lunch, Joe and I decide to split off from the rest of the group. Too much combat zone, not enough surfing, for our tastes. We dump all of our gear off and spend the rest of the day on-piste.
After 4 straight days of hauling a huge kit on your back while boarding, it feels marvelous to ride light again.
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