We had been spoilt with perfect conditions in January and February. Blessed with beautiful powder days with blue skies and brilliant sunshine most days. The snowfall had been exactly as we wished and skiing conditions couldn’t have been more perfect but as the days of March strode in we knew that our savoured powder days on the mountain were now becoming numbered.
As one season was coming to an end the change was palpable, as spring began to show her imminent arrival. Springs subtlety could be seen everywhere. Snow fell less often and stayed for shorter periods before melting, buds on trees could be seen emerging, marmots were now spotted on the slopes, coming out from there hibernating winter days and the many colours of spring began to paint the white canvas of winter with bright vibrant colours throughout the valleys.
Vaujanys’ locals began to bring their gardens back to life. Ploughing their fields and planting seeds in their vegetable gardens. Daffodils were everywhere and all of a sudden the valley turned a magnificent new green.
While seasonal relationships hearts were cracking with the sound of thawing ice and the onset of spring the mountain all of a sudden seemed to come to life. Waterfalls began to cascade down sheer mountain cliffs all over, which eventually found there way down through the valleys in raging torrents of water. Frozen lakes began to crack and melt and created beautiful pools of blue on the mountain.
The waterfall ‘La Fare’ which had been frozen all winter was beginning to show signs of life again. Each day the trickle of water became larger until eventually the last of the snow and ice melted away leaving La Fare to cascade down and create the loudest constant roar throughout the valley.
And as the snow melted we could see what had laid beneath what we had previously been skiing on or inspecting with a sheet of white snow. Huts and other unanimous objects began to emerge from their heavy layers of snow. And all of a sudden Vaujany felt like a different place. We had enjoyed its winter wonderland feel and now were watching in amazement as it came back to life, leaving us in awe of its beauty and able to explore, observe and witness the changes.
Unfortunately, as you would expect, the skiing conditions were quickly deteriorating on the mountain as the days became warmer and the heat of the midday sun turned all of the runs into tracks of treacherous slush, we had little motivation to get up on the mountain each day. We had become skiing snobs, turning up our noses to the poor conditions, as if the mountain was letting us down somehow. We had been so spoilt with perfect conditions that the slush only annoyed us while skiing. But who was complaining, with so much more to explore in the valley now, we kept ourselves busy with walks and treks out into the wilderness that had previously been accessed on skis.
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