Journal
The Log
Snow
First real snow
Forty centimetres overnight. The road was clear by six, because Marcel does not sleep.
House
The fires are lit
The chimneys were swept in October. Last night we tested them properly for the first time.
Mountain
Grands Montets opens
Top station turning at 08:30. Two metres at the summit, thin below 1 800.
Snow
Minus twenty-two
The coldest morning in nine seasons. Nobody skied before eleven and nobody minded.
Kitchen
Chamois, three weeks hung
One animal from Vallorcine. It lasts the week, and then the course becomes something else.
Mountain
A week of blue
Seven days without cloud. The Aiguille looked close enough to touch, which means it was very cold.
Kitchen
The cellar drops to minus four
Thibaut is pleased. Everyone else is wearing two jumpers.
Mountain
Vallée Blanche, first descent
Left at six with three guests. Back at four. Nobody spoke on the last section.
House
Twenty-four covers, twice
We broke our own rule for one night. It will not happen again.
Snow
The valley starts to run
Water under the snow at the bottom of the piste. Six weeks left, at most.
Kitchen
Last of the Beaufort
The summer wheels are finished. What is left is winter milk until June.
Snow
Snow line at two thousand
It retreats about forty metres a day now. We stop counting in April.
03 — The Dispatch
One letter a month, and only when the mountain has done something worth reporting.
Snow, closures, what is on the pass, and the odd photograph. Written by whoever is standing nearest the window. It is not a marketing letter and we would rather you read it than delete it.
One letter a month
No offers, no packages
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