The Val Echo Issue 1509

ISSUE 1509 | JAN 24, 2020

THE

FREE

ECHO

WEEKLY GUIDE TO VAL D’ISÈRE

M A G A Z I N E

HIBERNATION STATION

DETECTOR DOGS

WORDS WITH AUSSIES

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THE FOLIE DOUCE ART PROJECT COVER ART: HOLLY THOMPSON Last year, we launched the Folie Douce Art Project, with the aim of adorning the front cover of the Echo with local artists’ creations. It worked! We ended up with 21 stunning magazines and got to meet some thoroughly fascinating individuals over a spot of lunch at La Folie Douce. The famous mountain restaurant, bar and cabaret extravaganza generously support this project and we’re thrilled to announce their continuing sponsorship this winter.

We’re now on the hunt for more creative talent. If you would like to see your work on the front of Val d’Isère’s finest English language publication, and featured on the screens at La Folie Douce, get in touch with us now. Whatever your medium, we can almost certainly accommodate it.

To find out more about how to be involved, email: contact@valecho.co.uk.

Also you can check out last year’s covers and buy prints of your favourite at www.valecho.co.uk/ folie-douce-art-project We can’t wait to see what the Echo will look like this year.

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22 EVENT LISTINGS

CONT ENTS The Val Echo CCK Intergalactic Ltd www.valecho.co.uk contact@valecho.co.uk

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What’s on this week: - Town events - Bar nights - Sporting competitions

25 WORDS WITH AUSSIES

We chatted to a bunch of True Blues to find out what Australia is really all about

28 HENRY’S AVALANCHE TALK An in depth look at the snow conditions and up-coming weather for off pisters

Please recycle the magazine once you have read it. Or, better still, hand it on to someone else.

33 DETECTOR DOGS

Contributors: Sam Box, Ben Pryor, Caitlin Kennedy, Sam Brown

Sam Brown is digging himself into a hole. But this time he’s being dug out again by hero dogs

06 RESORT GUIDE The down-low on everything from the best restaurants to the numbers to call in an emergency

NEW STYLE

10 SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTIST We chat to Holly Thompson the designer of this week’s cover art.

The Echo’s cover is generously sponsored by La Folie Douce

As many of our furry friends reach the mid-way point in their winter time-out, we discover how hibernation works and who’s doing it

Coiffure & Massage Sur rendez-vous à partir de 14h

design www.athoms.fr

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Hairdresser & Massage By appointment From 2PM

28 OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE A satirical spin on the week’s events from our man on the outside, Ben Pryor

+33(0)4 79 06 02 00 info@avancher.com Arrêt de navette UCPA / www.avancher.com

Remise Carte Vie Val d’Is

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTIST Artist: Holly Thompson

Tell us about your cover.

My style is always heavy black lines, colours and a lot of patterns. I wanted to try and represent all the different layers of what mountains mean to me. So you’ve got the colours of sunset and sunrise, snow and water elements, and winter and summer (encompassed by the green and the leaves).

I think people often see the mountains as one thing, especially if they’re only here for half the year. And I wanted to show all the different ways that I see the mountains living here year round. I used to be a botanical artist, so I wanted to include some references to that, which is why the Aster flowers are there in the foreground. You can find them here during the summer, so they are also representative of this region. Last but not least, the Eye of the Needle of course represents Tignes.

How did you get into botanical art?

Painting plants and wildlife is really important to me. It started out when I was annotating my notes for my permaculture and horticulture courses, and soon people started asking me for commissions. So I was trying to apply my natural drawing style to

the proper botanical anatomically-correct method.

Do you think your love of plants stems from your Scottish roots?

Actually no, I think it developed more from travelling quite young. I’ve been to a lot of places over the last 12 years. And I think that really influenced my love of nature because I spent a lot of time outside, hiking. I started volunteer farming and then decided to study sustainable horticulture. So my appreciation grew from there and culminated in me starting to make natural skincare products through my business Pepper and Quill. It’s my way of trying to tie in all 3 of my big passions; food, skincare and art.

And is painting on a large scale your modusperandi?

When I was in New Zealand, I was painting murals and commissioned artworks and I got given this really awesome opportunity to do a couple of commissions on wood, which is a medium I really enjoy using. I did a couple of murals recently on the side of a friend’s outdoor swimming pool, which was cool. It’s just finding the time to paint more.

It was really nice doing this project because it’s easy to get lost in the work/social/skiing grind and not make time for art, but having a project to focus on was great.

You did it so quickly!

Yeah, I did it in one day. I got too excited- it was my day off and then I started drawing and couldn’t stop. And before I knew it, I’d finished it and was like, “Well now I don’t have a project anymore!”. But it was super fun; I had the best day!

We’ve just spotted the pepper pot on your arm. Does your chef life inspire many of your tattoos?

No and that one actually has nothing to do with cooking! I got it because my nickname for my best friend is Pepper. But as soon as I had it done, someone asked if it was

because I work in a kitchen and it only then dawned on me that everyone would think that’s why I got it.

Do you design any of your tattoos?

I have done a few of them. Like the one on my wrist; me, my mum and my best friend all have the same one. It was actually pretty funny- my mum only got it because she thought I’d say no and then I booked her in and she was like a stubborn kid. So it was a standoff tattoo in a way! And when she’d had it done, she refused to tell her mum (my grandma) and still hides it from her.

Do you come from an artistic family?

Yes. My mum used to paint as a hobby, but she stopped, which is such a shame because she was very good. My dad was really into photography before he passed away. I’ve actually got his old analogue camera with me this year, so I’ve been out taking pictures with it. There was a reel of film in the bag that never got developed, so we’re sending it off. My partner Lucas said the other day, “Do you not think that whenever you take a photo, your dad sees it”, which was so beautiful. But I had just taken a picture of his bum, so I hope not!

You mentioned travelling a lot- is there art equipment that you make sure you always have with you?

I drove over to Tignes this year so I’m lucky to have every possible art supply I could need right now. But generally, I always have to have a watercolour palette, paper and my liner pens. It’s something that’s quite important for me to have because I find drawing and painting so therapeutic.

Especially when I was travelling by myself.

Personally, I’d rather draw than read and it’ll keep me happy all day. And it’s cool to have a visual representation of my surroundings melded with what was going on in my head that day.

Thank you Holly! Find Holly on Instagram: @dollyacheart and @peppernquill.

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HIBERNATION STATION 14

It’s a strange thought that for many months of the season, only a meter or so beneath your skis or snowboard lie a multitude of marmots lasting out the winter in the protection of their burrows.

Now is approximately the middle of the big sleep (a misnomer that we’ll come to later), so we thought we’d plunge into this fascinating lifestyle choice that is actually very prevalent in the animal kingdom.

So what is hibernation? This deceptively simple question is actually incredibly controversial in the world of Ecology. You may well have heard that bears do not truly hibernate. This is argued to be the case in certain scientific spheres because their body temperatures only drop a little in winter and it is still relatively easy to wake them from their state of reduced activity. In fact, female bears usually awaken to give birth and then return to their state of torpor, whilst her cubs nurse and wait for her to return to the land of the living. The general consensus these days is that the different forms of prolonged inactivity found in the animal kingdom exist on a spectrum and utilise similar physiological processes. For the purposes of this article, hibernation is a state of energy conservation which features reduced metabolic activity. Some animals have to regularly emerge from their state of rest to eat, to poo or to check for danger.

Others are able to stay submerged in a coma-like state for upwards of 11 months, such as the pygmy possum which holds the record for longest hibernation at 367 days.

General changes that occur are: • A drop in heart rate to as little as 2.5% of the usual level. For example, a

chipmunk’s heart rate slows to just five beats per minute down from 200 whilst awake.

• Breathing reduces or stops entirely.

Yup, some reptiles go their entire hibernation period without breathing at all!

• Consciousness diminishes. This hugely varies between species but for some organisms, they are nearly impossible to wake up. If you did manage it, you’d effectively kill them as it would require so much energy to warm them up enough for normal wakeful bodily functions to resume that they would have no chance of making it through to spring.

• Excretion is either reduced or ceases altogether. In order to stay alive, some processes must keep ticking over, which requires energy. This is achieved by burning body fat or by regularly coming out of torpor and tucking into stored food supplies. Some animals like bears use the urea that would normally be released as waste and turn it into its constituent amino acids in an incredibly effective recycling loop.

So how does hibernation work? Well the difficulty in answering that lies in the variety of reasons that animals hibernate. Marmots survive solely on body fat due to the scarcity of food available when their usual nosh is covered in snow. Desert tortoises, crocodiles and salamanders go into a state of inactivity in summer, called aestivation rather than hibernation, which specifically refers to dozing through winter. For desert dwelling animals, conditions regularly become too hot to handle and so they burrow beneath the surface of the ground to stay cool and conserve water. The lungfish can hibernate in a waterproof mucus envelope if their lake dries up, breathing through a mucus tube. What these processes have in common though is that the organism responds to certain cues to trigger its state of reduced activity. In the case of our friends the marmots, they are responding to the external temperature- when it drops

below a certain level on successive days, it’s time to start hibernating. And once warm enough outside, they wake up. This means that the length of hibernation is weather dependant. Other animals detect the photoperiod (length of day) or quantity of food supply, or have inbuilt circuannual rhythms, which don’t depend on external conditions at all.

Once in a state of inactivity, the process is mostly controlled by the endocrine or hormonal system. For mammals and birds, they have a special heat furnace in the form of brown adipose tissue (fat cells), which are able to burn fat directly in the mitochondria, a chemical reaction which produces heat directly. The alternative waking method of heat production is via shivering, but this is far too energy intensive.

In terms of brain activity, hibernation is actually more similar to wakefulness. Sleep is defined by very particular patterns of muscle and brain activity (eg REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep in mammals and birds). And in fact, upon ending their hibernation, most animals are in a state of severe sleep deprivation that requires long periods of sleep to recover from. The exception to this is the only primate that hibernates, Madagascar’s fat-tailed dwarf lemur. These animals experience long periods of REM sleep, and are therefore dreaming during their hibernation.

If you’re reading this in the hope that one day, you too will be able to lie dormant through winter (or summer if you’re a real powder hound), there’s good news and bad news. Research has been done to apply a state of dormancy to organs in order to preserve them prior to transplants, with reasonable success. But we’re a long way off putting humans into the level of inactivity predicted by Sci-Fi movies to get us into galaxies far, far away. In the meantime, spare a thought for the marmots and their sleepless slumber.

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OUT OF THE BUBBLE

carbon footprint stakes.

Talking of fast-spreading viruses, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has claimed Saudi

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sultan

infected his phone with spyware via a

By Ben Pryor Whatsapp message. MBS has met some of the most powerful people in the world in Three cities in China are on lockdown the past year, including the Donald and his as a previously-unknown virus similar to extended family, Theresa gonesinceMay, Sars is causing a severe lung disease. 440 Bill Clinton, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein, cases and 17 deaths have been reported Oprah Winfrey, Christine Lagarde, Google so far, with concerns it may already have founder Sergey Brin and Apple CEO Tim reached the UK. The coronavirus originated Cook. Wonder which one of those could in a seafood market in the city of Wuhan have furnished him with a computer virus rumoured to trade in illegal wild animals. which allows you to hack someone’s phone.

It can be transmitted from human to human which, with Chinese New Year this The Duke and Duchess of Sussex weekend, has Asia concerned about a have discovered the Royal Family, like potential pandemic. With an average of circumcising surgeons, don’t do partials.

2.5m people travelling by airplane, that The Queen has ensured they will not puts it second only to Davos in this week’s represent her, not receive any money,

pay back the renovation of Frogmore Cottage and pay rent on it, give up the HRH titles and give up honorary affiliations with the military with a ruthlessness which makes you wish we’d sent her to Brussels instead of Steve Barclay or David Davis.

In announcing it, the Palace incorrectly (or should that be hopefully) listed her title from this spring as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, which would only be her style after divorce.

Monty Python’s Terry Jones has died after a long battle with dementia; as the director of Life of Brian, I guess he’ll find out whether making a platypus is sufficient evidence God has a sense of humour.

Dixons Carphone Warehouse was forced to issue a correction to its Christmas sales figures after it realised sales went down by 2% not up; Diane Abbott doing an internship in accounts in case she needs

a career change? The daughter of Mexican drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ has released a craft beer bearing his name; hopefully ‘craft’ doesn’t mean brewed in a prison toilet like pruno. A 100-year old Galapagos giant tortoise is retiring after helping save his species by siring over 800 babies; got my answer ready next time one of those how do you want to be remembered questionnaires arrives.

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And finally, Liverpool University library has tweeted a photo of a cheese slice stating, ‘this is not a bookmark’. The ‘disconcertingly warm and liquid’ slice was discovered somewhere between American history and geography; filed correctly as a cheese slice is to cheese what American history is to history and American geography is to geography. Until next week, I’m off to have ‘a waffer-thin mint’; RIP Terry.

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SATURDAY 25 SALOON Beer-pong specials VICTOR’S Seasonaire Saturday. 5€ beer, 4€ wine, 6€ cocktails 21-23 10% discount on food PETIT DANOIS DJ James French 22h THE FALL LINE Super Seasonaire Saturday

EVENTS LISTINGS SUNDAY 26 PETIT DANOIS Live Music with Ali and Tchai 5pm. DJ Jack Igglesden 22h SALOON Live Music Big mountain 17.30 BANANAS Drum and Bass with DJ BigKez HIBOU Sunday Funday! Happy Hour all day & Live Music w/ The Mardy Johnny Depps

TIGNES SALOON Beer pong specials

THE FALL LINE Big BBQ for ‘Straya Day. Thongs obligatory THE FOLIE DOUCE Australia Day Party

WEDNESDAY 29 BONNE SANTÉ Power Flow Yoga with Rose 10.30am at Le Hibou BANANAS Après-après party with DJ from 8.30-11.30pm FOLIE DOUCE WTF!Alice in Wonderland SALOON 3€ JOSS!!

PETIT DANOIS Live Music The Mardy Johnny Depps 17h. DJ James French 22h HIBOU Wings Wednesday BONNE SANTÉ Hilltop Candlelit Yin. Refuge de Solaise 5.30pm CINEMA The Farewell in English 8.30pm FALL LINE Live DJ on the decks T-SALOON Queens of the Snow Stage & 3€ Joss!

TIGNES SALOON Beer pong specials

THURSDAY 30 CINEMA The Whistlers in English 6pm

SALOON ThirstyThurs 15€ Long island jug PETIT DANOIS Live Music: The Blazin’ Strings 5pm. DJ Jack Iggelsden 10pm IN TOWN Festilight- Street Party on the Main Road with walkabout performers, live music and free vin chaud VICTORS Hip Hop Night with Live DJ BANANAS Live DJ on the decks BONNE SANTÉ Hilltop Candlelit Flow.

Refuge de Solaise 11am SO BAR Karaoke Night T-SALOON 15€ Long island jug

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MONDAY 27 BONNE SANTÉ Mountain Flow Yoga with Rose 10.30am at Le Hibou SALOON Messy Monday 15€ Headf*cker LA FOLIE DOUCE Born in the 90s PETIT DANOIS Live Music Mullit & the Machine 5pm. DJ Jack Igglesden 22h AVALANCHE SAFETY TALK Free talk at 5.30pm in English on the Snowfront

THE MARMOT ARMS BASS STATION with DJ Komissar and friends TIGNES SALOON Messy Monday – the wall 15€

FRIDAY 31 PETIT DANOIS Live music with Karen & Andreas 5pm. DJ Jack Igglesden 22h SALOON 3€ J-Bombs CINEMA Little Women in English 8.30pm

TUESDAY 28 LE FACE Memorial Torchlit Descent by the instructors at 7.15pm SALOON Seasonaire Party with THAT DJAYG! Ridicoulous prices for sesonaires!

BACKSTAGE VISIT Discover how the Pisteurs carry out avalanche blasting. Free, limited places. More info at Tourist Office.

FALL LINE Live DJ on the decks PETIT DANOIS Live Music The Revolverlites 5pm. DJ Jack Igglesden 22h AVALANCHE TALK with the Vie Val d’Is Free, limited places. More info pg 11 VICTOR’S Retro Night! All your favourite tunes from the 70s, 80s and 90s TIGNES SALOON Triangle Tuesday 10 shooters 15€

ALL WEEK BANANAS Happy Hour 6.30-7.30pm and 10.30-11.30pm HIBOU Happy Hour 4-7pm. Kitchen open from 12pm for lunch SALOON (VAL) Happy Hour 8-10pm: all jugs 15€ . 2-4-1 at Après (4-6pm). Open 16h-2h LA FOLIE DOUCE Seasonaire Meal Deal 12€ @ Petite Cuisine VICTOR’S Cocktail Hour 10-11pm. Cocktails 6€ Restaurant booking 0479060652

TIGNES SALOON 3€ J-bombs

THE FALL LINE Happy hour everyday 3-5pm4.50€ pints. Beer Pong every day 12€ a jug.

BLUE NOTE Happy Hour everyday 3-6pm, Hot Sloe Gin & Tonic plus great complimentary nibbles during Après.

T-SALOON Happy Hour 20-22h: jugs 15€ + free pool. 2-4-1 @ après (4-6pm). All sport shown SO BAR Open 4pm everyday with free Aprés pizza & a fab new cocktail menu

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WORDS WITH AUSSIES With Australia day this week, we interviewed a handful of Aussies around town to see what is really going on down under.

Where are you from in Aus? Blocka: Bateau Bay Sam Baker: Thirroul, NSW Doogie: “Shhhlaba” or Shellharbour to you.

Annabelle Broun: Beverley, WA Sam Crocker: Sydney Hannah Tooke: Melbourne Who is the ultimate true blue icon?

This question yielded a surprising variety of results. Of course, Steve Irwin topped the list; Hannah explained that “He stuck to his guns, was innovative and unapologetically himself - now that’s Aussie.” Honourable mentions go to “A longy of VB”, Big Kev (RIP) and ‘Huge Sackman’ which, according to Sam Crocker, is what they call Hugh Jackman in Australia.

What misconceptions do people have about Aus? The three common themes here appear to be: 1: Not everything wants to kill you 2: It is way bigger than you realise 3: Not all Aussies are criminals (although the ones that we interviewed are) Which Aussie do you wish wasn’t?

In varying levels of colourful language, Blocka and Sam Baker cited politicians.

Hannah also pointed out that “Scomo (Scott Morrison, the PM) went on holiday to Hawaii while our whole country was burning, and basically ignored the fires.” Doogie chose himself since ’Straya is “Too bloody hot with too many bogans”. Sam Crocker chose “Rupert Murdoch or Annabelle Broun…” before going on to explain that “Murdoch is probably worse on the worldwide scale

but Annabelle visits my house which is worse on a personal level.” Interestingly, Annabelle chose Blocka.

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What things are better about skiing in Aus? Although we had a big show of hands for there being nothing better about skiing in Aus, the Sams agreed about the joys of skiing alongside Wombats and Echidnas.

Hannah reckons that girls generally push themselves more in Aus; “the Aussie girls are the ones who suggest park laps in the first place.”

At what age did you learn to ride a kangaroo?

Doogie: “Stock standard is 8 months old but I was a late bloomer and didn’t get on me first Kanga until nearly 10 months old.” This explains why Annabelle allegedly “Started practicing in the womb”. Sam Crocker claims to have failed his test twice meaning he has not got his Kangaroo license yet.

What do you miss most from home?

Common themes here included food, VB and Vegemite. Hannah dangerously let slip that her parents are coming out next week “if anyone needs a supply” of Vegemite.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how bogan are you?

Blocka: Depends who you speak to, my mates at home would probably say a strong 7.

Sam Crocker: 3, if you compare me to Blocka.

Sam Baker: My husband says 7. (Not sure I agree).

Doogie: 10 or 1? Not sure.

Annabelle: I’m full Darren.

Hannah: 3 but when I’m overseas I’m more bogan by default.

What is the best variety of Tim Tam? The answer to this completely unanimous.

As Sam Baker put it: “Original all the way; you can’t beat perfection. The only worthy competitor is Double Coat.” The best way

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to eat an Original Tim Tam is supposedly “with both ends bitten off so that the biccy can be used as a straw to suck up your hot chocolate” according to Hannah.

However, the predictions include Sticky Fingers, Dance Monkey by Tones and I or Frenzal Rhomb (known for hits such as ‘Smoko At The Pet Food Factory’).

What is the most ridic abbreviation that Aussies use?

Blocka: Maybe bottlo?

Sam Baker: Sanga (sandwich).

Annabelle: G’day.

Doogie: Waffle stomp.

Hannah: It’s only ridiculous that the English are still saying ‘afternoon’ and French are saying ‘apres midi’ when ‘arvo’ is so obviously more appropriate and energy efficient.

Sam Crocker: None of our abbreviations are ridiculous, they’re the reason our GDP is 50% more per person than France.

Finally, how much would you pay for a Bunnings snag right now?

Sam Crocker: No more than $2. It goes against the spirit of a Bunnings sausage to pay more than marked price.

Blocka: $2 Sam Baker: It should be illegal to charge more than a gold coin!

Doogie: Exactly 2 bucks. Chilli and fuck yeah I want onions, c***!

Annabelle: A lot more than Scott Morrison’s putting towards the bush fires.

Hannah: An insane amount of money actually - they’re god damn delicious - plus all proceeds from this weekend’s snags are going straight to the bush fire relief efforts!

What song do you think will top the Hot 100?

There was not a lot of love shown for the Hot 100 in the answers to this question.

Thank you squad, see you on Sunday!

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OFF PISTE SNOW REPORT Brought to you by Henry’s Avalanche Talk www. henrysavalanchetalk. com

areas. We’re finding a wide variety of offpiste conditions out there at the moment: occasionally dense powder on high cold slopes sheltered from the wind; hard windblown snow in more exposed areas (or blown off altogether); and crusted snow on the sunnier slopes first thing, which has humidified during the warm days and then refrozen in the cold nights.

You’ve guessed it.. we need more snow again! Within a day or two of any fresh snow, Hoping for snowfall we’re back to using our touring skis and in the Northern French Alps at the start of skins to find the best snow. Ski crampons next week! Unfortunately temperatures or ‘couteaux’ have also become extremely are becoming mild for the time of season useful to give us more grip on the icier snow again, but altitudes above 1600m should when skinning up on icy traverses. There benefit from this fresh snow. are fresh powder turns to be found, but you need to work for them. This may not appeal Around 10-15 cm fresh snow fell last Friday to powder-hounds, but we’ve been enjoying night, with air temperatures dropping considerably. This made for some great light- our touring, getting fit and spotting wildlife powder skiing over the weekend, particularly along the way. The off-piste skiing’s not always been easy, but we’ve always found in gullies and bowls, where the wind had something to see and do. blown the snow in, making for nice deep powder in places.

Recent history of the snowpack Strong winds since then have been affecting the snow quality, particularly in high exposed

Snow depths are getting rather scratchy below 1500m, and the snow surface is very

windblown up high. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that next week’s predicted snowfall will materialise! In last week’s blog we mentioned how ‘gobelet’ sugar snow has been forming in the cold nights. This will constitute an unstable base if any substantial amount of fresh snow (15 cm +) lands on top of it. Snow on piste is still in excellent shape thanks to the hard work of the piste maintenance services.

What is the current avalanche risk in the Northern French Alps/Savoie?

The avalanche risk is currently around a moderate 2/5, sometimes going up to a considerable 3/5 above 2000m. See definitions of the different avalanche ratings here. The reason for the difference is due to high wind causing snow to drift and accumulate on leeward slopes near mountain summits and passes. These areas of windslab could be triggered into an avalanche by skiers passing by on these high leeward slopes. If anywhere receives a substantial amount of fresh snow (20 cm or more) that risk will increase in the short-term. There are still numerous glide cracks around. Don’t be too fearful of them as you won’t trigger them, but don’t hang around underneath them either.

What does this mean for off-piste skiers and snowboarders?

Be prepared to walk and climb to find fresh untracked snow. But think very carefully about where you go. A lot of the snow is wind affected and difficult to ski. The fresh powder turns in our photo are in some northfacing sheltered spots Where is most at risk at the moment?

The highest risk to skiers and snowboarders is, as always, on steep slopes exposed to terrain traps. This is particularly the case now, with a lot of hardened or crusted snow on steep slopes above cliffs and rocks. Stay in control when traversing or skiing down, to avoid going for a long, potentially very dangerous slide. Use ski crampons when

walking up on icy traverses. Keep an eye 29 on glide cracks and don’t hang around under them for long, or tour up underneath.

How does the forecast look for the coming week?

There is an indication we may some snow next week. but the amount is very uncertain.

High pressure still dominates the weather pattern over the Alps and the general weather pattern is to expect dry weather with average or above-average temperatures and quite a bit of random cloud. There is no sign yet of major break in the weather that would bring really big snowfall.

Weather Forecast: SATURDAY 18 Jan: Overcast with a few clearances. Clouds at altitude shrouding the highest peaks. Max temp: -1 to + 1°C at 2000m. Isotherm 0°C: around 1700/1800m.

Gentle wind at altitude from SW: 10/20km/h.

SUNDAY 19 Jan: Cloudy but dry weather. Max temp: -3 to -1°C around 2000m. Isotherm 0°C: around 1600/1800m. Westerly Wind at 3000m: 10/20 km/h. Light southerly wind at lower altitudes.

MONDAY 20 Jan: Gradual degradation.

Cloudy sky with a few snow flakes in the afternoon (above 1400m). The following night, precipitation intensifies and reaches the interior massifs. Isotherm 0°C around 1600/1900m.

TUESDAY 21 Jan: Snow in the mountains.

New weather system coming from the West. Quantities may be significant but very uncertain. Different weather models disagree.

WEDNESDAY 22 Jan: Cool weather and return of the sun. 0°C isotherm is around 1200/1400m.

THURSDAY 23 Jan: Sunny, milder weather.

The 0°C isotherm moves sharply upwards, to around 3100/3300m.

Tip of the week If we get 15 cm or more new snow, test out the ‘low-hanging fruit’ to start with, keeping to low-angled slopes at first, rather than dashing out onto the steep slopes.

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DETECTOR DOGS

By Sam Brown Last week Val d’Isère was host to the inaugural avalanche dog training session for the Haute-Tarentaise region. Resorts dog units from Tignes, Val d’Isère, Les Arcs, Le Trois Valées and La Plagne all congregated in Val d’Isère at a specially prepared area underneath the Datcha chairlift for three days of training.

If you happened to ski past last week you would have been forgiven for mistaking the area for a glorified Alpine Crufts event, but no; the dogs and their handlers were here for some serious training! The dogs were a broad mixture of ages and breeds from Collies

to Alsatians and Retrievers, all with varying levels of experience.

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The dogs are all used in avalanche rescue emergencies throughout the Alps and are credited with saving countless lives each season. The purpose of this training exercise was to familiarise the younger dogs with the process of a rescue and to refresh the older dogs’ memory of the process.

Somehow, I found myself volunteering to help with the exercise as an avalanche victim, and upon arrival watched pisteurs being dug out of tiny holes by over enthusiastic dogs! All of a sudden it was my turn, and after a quick explanation from the chief trainer, I was handed a small rope toy and told to stand at the ready by my icy grave.

The aim is to make it as much fun for the dogs as possible. So with a dog and its handler excitedly waiting about 100m away, I am told to start frantically waving the toy.

Once the dog is released I’m instructed to quickly dive feet first into a tiny snow hole, at which point pisteurs promptly fill my only means of escape with snow. All goes quiet and black. It only takes a couple of minutes before a snowy snout starts to dig its way through into my snowhole, at which point I’m to congratulate the dog and begin to wrestle with it inside the hole until he is able to pull me out. This was just the warm up though!

N E W F I N E F O O D S D E L I C AT E S S E N IN THE TOURIST OFFICE SQUARE. O R D E R O N L I N E AT l m d l m . c o m O R VISIT THE STORE

Once each dog had cycled through the warm up exercise, it was time for the main event. The whole of the area underneath the Datcha lift had been ploughed up by

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a piste basher to simulate an avalanche zone. I was taken over to another much deeper hole, handed a radio, another rope toy and promptly asked to jump in. The main difference this time was that the entrance to my snowhole would be piled high with snow by a piste basher! Once the piste basher had done its work, I was well and truly buried and alone under the dark snow; a much more intimidating experience than I had anticipated.

In this scenario the dog was using scent to find the ‘victims’ and had received no visual cues as to their whereabouts as had been the case in the warm up exercise.

I was alone under the snow for about ten minutes, in which time you certainly begin to

wonder what it would be like if this were all for real. It was greatly reassuring knowing that there were people looking for me outside! Within ten minutes another bigger snout suddenly started scuffling and digging around outside (a very welcome sound) and within a further couple of minutes a huge Alsatian was fully inside my snow hole pulling at the rope toy and trying to get me out of the hole. Once he’d achieved that, he got a very well deserved congratulations and some no doubt tasty snacks from his handler.

After freeing me from my snow cave, the handler and dog continued on through the area to find 2 to 3 more ‘victims’. It was fantastic to witness the dogs and their handlers at work and great to know that these guys are ready and waiting should an emergency ever occur in our ski area!

In the Galerie de Thovex at the corner of the Tourist Office Square

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SEASONAIRE OF THE WEEK Kara Benchemam Are you a True Blue?

I’m 50% Algerian, 50% Italian and 100% Australian. My hometown is called Townsville which is named so generically that it is also where the Powerpuff girls come from.

On a night out, when is it time to go home?

When you get chicken, it is time to go home. Always get the spicy Algerian sauce though.

If you were being sent one way to Mars, what one thing would you take with you?

A crate of snickers for the boiz.

You’ve been given an elephant, what are you doing with it?

I would treat it like a king. I would house it, feed it, get people to wave palm fronds at it and no riding would be allowed.

What’s the most exciting thing on your spice rack?

You know what, I want to say cinnamon because cinnamon is sexy. It can be sweet but people put it in savoury shit.

It just goes. Cinnamon is really underrated.

What would your autobiography be called?

Sex Dungeon. Sex Dungeon PG for the kids edition.

How do I rate as an interviewer?

You’re a fucking 10/10, mate.

Who would you want to rescue you if you got stuck in a tree?

Anthony Joshua. On the way up he could do some chin-ups and talk in his English accent.

What was the most embarrassing moment of your childhood?

I don’t really get embarrassed, I am too confident.

Do you have a favourite mountain animal?

THE MARMOT. I love their little footprints they are so cute. I used to think the footprints under a chairlift were people walking really neatly, but now I know they are Marmots. I really want to watch a David Attenborough documentary on them.

Maybe if you did, you would realise that they be sleepin’ all winter and aren’t leaving any footprints. Would you rather be a Koala or a Quokka?

A Quokka, they are so fucking funny! I have never met one but I would love to.

What is the scariest animal you have seen in Aus? I have to turn the light on every time I go to the toilet as I once found a snake in the bowl.

What are you passionate about in life?

40 years down the line, I want to open a foster care place where the kids come for a week and have an amazing time with loads of activities. Also, I would love to work the pole, but I don’t want to remove my clothes.

“Seasonaire of the Week” is sponsored

by Le Petit Salon d’Antoine who offers our featured seasonaire a free haircut!

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TALK OF THE TOWN WELL DONE FOR TRYING

Big shout out to Terry and Valentina for putting in a fantastic effort at the Cross Country Ski race on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, not only did they loose to the unstoppable force of Sam & Rasmus, but they also conceded defeat to a team of schoolchildren who appeared be below the age of 10.

SHOULD HAVE GONE TO SPECSAVERS

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Flo was looking puzzled whilst watching the sports playing in Danois and turned to ask a friend why they were using such a small football. As it turned out, they were watching the cricket.

I AM GOD

Charlie from Saloon was feeling pretty good about life when a Danish girl asked for his number at the bar. Smiling to himself, he looked up to see the same girl asking Luke the DJ for his number and realised he had been duped as part of some kind of challenge. When the girl got to Jamie on the door, he got the last laugh when she saved his number, believing his name to be ‘Morgan Freeman’.

DON’T DRAG HIM DOWN

Dan Bridle is feeling his fantasy this week and we are LIVING for it. Please send in drag name suggestions. Top contender at the moment: Bridlicious! Now PRANCE, my queen, PRANCE!

JOSSDOM

He was fumbling about in the dark for protection when James thought he had found what he was looking for. He opened what he expected to be a condom to find that the wrapper was somehow filled with sherberty powder, which was now all over him. Unfortunately, he had actually ripped open a packet of Extra Joss. Much as the packaging might claim otherwise, Joss isn’t protecting you from shit.

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SPORT Shown at Le Petit Danois: FOOTBALL Saturday 25th January 13:45 Brentford v Leicester 16:00 Southampton v Spurs 18:30 Hull City v Chelsea Sunday 26th January 14:00 Man City v Fulham 16:00 Hearts v Rangers 18:00 Shrewsbury Town v Liverpool Tuesday 27th January 20:45 Bournemouth v Arsenal Wednesday 28th January 20:45 Aston Villa v Leicester

Thursday 29th January 20:45 Man City v Man Utd, 20:45 West Ham v Liverpool All Football and Rugby shown at The Fall Line.

Sport also shown at Blue Note and Le Hibou.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

THE RED POWER RANGER

GREG IN SKI GEAR

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WOoF OF THE WEEK Name: Simba Breed: Beagle Age: 7 Dietary Requirements: Anything but dog food Relationship status: Single, happy to hump and dump Favourite Activity: Shagging blanket Habitat: Bonne SantĂŠ Fun Fact: Loves Icecream