It was snowing first thing on Sunday morning - but when the women on the earliest flights arrived from Geneva (at about 1.15pm) the sky had lifted.

After getting some tea and cake at the chalet, some women went out skiing in the afternoon.

The second minibus arrived later on and only had time to get their boots and skis (and snowboard) fitted. Most of us were really tired so we had an early night after our first delicious supper.

It was misty with low cloud this morning and we started the day with a good breakfast (anything from cereals, fruit, yogurt, fresh French bread with butter, jam, peanut butter, marmite, chocolate spread….and/or cooked breakfast).

Fran went with the ski school women in the chalet minibus to Courchevel 1850m to make sure they found their instructors ok.

Everyone else went with Madeline and skied directly from the Chalet to get to the La Tania bubble.

Unfortunately the chair lift up to the Col de la Loze was being cleared of snow, so we had to get the drag lift….much harder work!

It was still snowing heavily and there was a good covering of fresh snow on the pistes from snow in the night.

We toured around the 1850m runs until it was time to ski down to meet up with the women finishing ski school.

It felt like a good time for a break so we headed into the Jump Bar for elevenses and a cup of coffee or (vin chaud).

From the Jump Bar some of us went back up the slopes and skied to the self-service restaurant at Chenus for a long, relaxed, lunch in the warmth... it was v cold and windy outside.

Fran stayed to ski with the beginners on the green runs at 1850m - and was joined later by other women wanting the minibus lift back to the chalet.

Others skied back down, and were greeted by women already in the hot tub!

After a delicious supper most of us stayed up chatting, drinking, relaxing - meanwhile it continued to snow outside…

After that cold and snowy start to the week, we were delighted to wake to beautiful blue skies this morning!

After breakfast Fran again went with the ski-school women to 1850m. While three had a lesson at 9.00, she went up to Saulire with those who had their lesson at 11.15.

The views from up there - the highest point of the Courchevel resort - were superb in the sun with all that fresh snow!

They took the Saulire cable car down to Verdons, then skied from there with Fran back to Courchevel 1850m for their lesson.

The women who were just finishing ski school joined Fran on a ride in the bubble up to Chenus for a drink.

Refreshed they skied down Green Lose Est till lunch.

Meanwhile, everyone else had set off skiing Madeline and spent the morning on the runs above 1850m.

Two women had to go back to get their boots changed, then met up with the others for a mid-morning break at the L'Arc en Ciel cafe at Verdons.

After coffee, some stayed on blue runs, while others headed up to Saulire to ski down Combe de Saulire - a more challenging red run, and great with fresh snow.

Everyone met up for lunch at Chenus - and we could admire the beautiful mountain views while we ate.

After lunch we split into small group skiing together at different levels. Madeline, Tracy and Anita skied with Lynn on the green Loze Est run all the way back down to 1850m. Impressive!

Another beautiful sunny morning and after breakfast, whilst the ski-school women caught the minibus to get to ski-school at 9.15, the rest of us caught the La Tania bubble and then the chair lift right up to Col de la Loze.

The view was breath-taking and so a group photo was essential!

Afterwards we enjoyed skiing down the gentle blue run which is literally on-top-of-the-world here.

Then we made our way over to Signal, on the other side of the Courcheval resort.

There were beautiful views of virgin snow from the top of the Signal lift - you felt you could reach out and touch it.

While some skied the runs, others had fun in the 'gully' beside the Grande Bosses blue run.

After all this skiing refreshment was needed and we met up with the rest of the group at Casserole, the restaurant at the base of the Signal chair lift.

After a drink in the sun, we continued skiing here above 1650m until meeting up for lunch at Bel Air.

Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse at this point, and some of us had to button up (Anita decided to go for the cyberwoman look!).

Then Madeline went with Suzi, Maggie and Lynn down in the bubble back to the lower 1650 runs where we practised some green runs - and our expertise on the drag lifts!

Meanwhile Sheila and Debbie had a private lesson at 2pm from Courcheval 1850.

Later, back in our snug Chalet we enjoyed all the comforts of the hot tub, sauna, cakes and tea - and later on supper ….

We woke to a beautiful blue sky today though it did start ot cloud over later.

Half the group stayed with Fran in exploring the Courchevel slopes, while the other half went with Madeline over to Merible.

The Meribel group headed over the Col de la Loze after a group photo, then skied all the way down into Meribel to catch the Tournete lift up on the other side.

We stayed on the sunny side of this mountain, zig-zagging up and down the slopes, taking in red and blue runs, until we reached Mont de la Chambre, overlooking Val Thorens.

The snow was so perfect here that we just had to ski down the Lac de la Chamber and Venturon (red runs) at least twice each!

After a short picnic in the sunshine at Plan des Mains we went up to Mont du Vallon (2952m) to enjoy yet more stunning views….

After skiing down the Combe Vallon it was time to get back to Courcheval via Saulire - and also the weather was slowly closing in.

By the time we finally got back to the Chalet it had just started to snow - not that this put anyone off getting into the hot tub…

Our chalet cooks had a day off today so we all decided to get some Indian take-aways for our supper - which were delicious.

It snowed again today - continuously - so no pics out on the slopes.

But everybody skied for a little while - and many of us met up in the delicatessen at 1650 for some yummy cakes.

But the cold and bad visibility finally sent everyone back to the chalet and the hot tub.

Well, we couldn't complain about the snow, now all we needed was some sun again....

Our last day together and the sun had just started to emerge over this snow laden valley.

We'd just had one of the biggest dumps of snow (about 50cm) this season - and we were keen to enjoy the soft snow as much as possible.

The views were stunning as we went up the mountain towards Col de la Loze….

All the pistes were full of soft snow - which made skiing a different experience!

We took a much needed break for elevenses at Chenus and were already tired out - but happy!

After elevenses some of us decided to ski over to Signal to explore all the slopes and also the gully.

The soft snow in the gully was definitely an experience worth having - if only to explore how comfortable all that soft snow was if you fell!!

Lots of complete wipe outs to finish up with - and flying out of the trees!

Back to the Chalet for yet another gorgeous meal - and a final group photo…

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