Clare was the first arrival on a beautiful sunny morning. She came by train and went out for a morning's skiing with Raffa.

The first group from Geneva airport arrived at about 1.15 and some went out skiing in the afternoon after cake and tea.

The second group arrived later on and only had time to get their boots and skis (and snowboard) fitted.

Most of us were really tired so had an early night after our first delicious supper.

We woke to another sunny morning and had a good breakfast (anything from cereals, fruit, yogurt, fresh French bread with butter, jam, peanut butter, marmite, chocolate spread….and/or cooked breakfast)!

After breakfast Raffa took the ski-school women to 1850 (Courcheval) for their lesson.

Everyone else went with Madeline and skied directly from the Chalet to get to the La Tania bubble and chair lift right up to the Col de la Loze.

From here we made our way to Biollay and then split into those who wanted to stay on the blue runs and those who wanted to venture onto some of the more challenging red runs….

All of us met for lunch at Chenus (a self-service restaurant which can also be reached by bubble) - then more skiing and exploring the mountains in various groups.

Meanwhile Karmen took the bubble back down to Courcheval 1850 to have her afternoon lesson, whilst Jenny, Lizi and Madeline took the green Loze Est run all the way down to Courcheval 1850.

Jenny had a few Bridget Jones moments on the slopes…..

The weather closed in and it started to snow in the pm - but some of us still skied back to the Chalet whilst others caught the chalet minibus at 4.30pm from Courcheval 1850…

After a delicious supper we played games cards - or just chatted - meanwhile it was heavily snowing outside…

It was still snowing when we woke - but our ski lessons continued, including an additional, private, off-piste lesson arranged for Pip, Ann and Madeline with Tony (the Chalet owner who is also an instructor).

Raffa got a couple of photos of Harriet's snowboard class - from a distance.

We all met up again at Chenus then in the afternoon, Madeline went with Karmen to ski along the green Loze Est run all the way down to Courcheval 1850. It was only Karmen's second day skiing!

Meanwhile others got caught out by the poor visibility which made keeping upright quite hard!

All of us got back to the Chalet safe and sound and some of us immediately jumped into the hot tub… or sauna… or just relaxed on the sofa.

For supper we enjoyed a 'barbecue' of various meats and cheeses - and then some of us played 'Boggle' to much laughter….

Unfortunately we had a bit of rain at La Tania this morning - although it was snowing higher up in the mountains.

Undaunted we all set out - either to ski-school or skiing straight from the chalet.

This time some of us went to Biollay to practice our carving.

But visibility wasn't good so we had an early lunch at Chenus and warmed up by the fire.

In the afternoon, the weather worsened - very windy higher up and most of the bubbles were closed.

A few of us decided to take the more sheltered Plan Fontaine green run back down to the Chalet through the trees - and we enjoyed several 'off-piste' short cuts!

Some of us got stuck in snow drifts - or just took a few 'rests' on the ground….

Once back in our snug Chalet we enjoyed all the comforts of the hot tub, sauna, cakes and tea ….

After a delicious supper we enjoyed another game devised by Liz - and especially good were the butterfly fortune tellers….

We woke to a beautiful blue sky today and a small group of us decided to sample the delights of Combe de Saulire - which was mostly unpisted - and full of lovely soft snow…

The weather was so hot that even Ann had to take off one of her many tops!

Late on we headed off to the Signal area - on the 'other' side of the Courcheval complex - to meet everyone for lunch at Bel Air.

Raffa had meantime skied with the intermediate skiers over at 1650m. The snow was absolutely gorgeous!

We all met up for lunch at Bel Air...

The sun continued to shine - making some of us improvise on sun hats - which were inspired and improved upon over a few pints of beer!

More skiing after lunch and then more relaxation in the Chalet.

Our chalet cooks had a day off today so we all decided to get a pizza take-away for our supper...

...followed by local cheeses, fruit tart and, of course, lots of chocolate….

It was another gorgeous day today with glorious sunshine.

Some people got the minibus to 1850 with Karmen who practised her green runs.

Others skied the Combe de Saulire - a fantastic red run which was in perfect condition.

This time all of us had decided to meet for lunch at Saulire - where we could admire the wonderful views of the alps and also the steep approach to the black run 'Grande Couloir'.

A small group of four decided to tackle the 'Grande Couloir' (the steepest black piste of Courcheval) - I'm afraid I hadn't got my camera!! We were very relieved to be down safely!!

Those who didn't make it to Saulire for lunch, took their break at Chenus, or had a small picnic break on the deck chairs at Verdons, outside the café l'Arc en Ciel.

Nevertheless after a lazy lunch most of us skied to Signal to enjoy a little off-piste skiing in the 'gully' and racing down the small speed track there….

Others broke off from all this activity to have a lie down in the snow…..

After a break in the sun for refreshment at La Caserole, some of the group skied down the 'Indian' blue run to Courcheval 1650 to catch the minibus from here.

Others skied back to the chalet.

We were already in the hot tub by the early evening….

Yet others went into La Tania to buy some presents…. On our way back the sun was just setting, lighting up the mountains..

Our last day together and the sun was still shining brightly.

A few women went with Madeline in the mini bus to ski the blue runs at 1650.

The rest of us aimed to ski over there from La Tania and then all meet up for lunch at Casserole, at the bottom of the Signal chair lift.

After a delicious lunch at Casserole all of us made our way back to La Tania…. with last photos at Chenus on the way.

This was then the last run down of the holiday.

Then, it was time for our final supper together, exchanging emails …..and sad goodbyes…

The next morning early we had a very early start, then final goodbyes at Geneva.