Day three. Use the force...

And still it snows.
.
Snow is the name of the game, of course, and we love it. But skiers (and snowboarders) are an ungrateful lot. Too cold, too warm, too wet, too windy, too snowy... we always find something to complain about.

It has snowed solidly since mid-morning on Tuesday, with around 25cm falling in that time. Conditions at the moment are some of the best we've ever experienced in Europe. The problem is that with snow comes cloud and often wind; up high, the weather over the last couple of days has varied from inclement to ferocious. Great snow is all well and good, but the fun is limited when you can't see it. Or each other. Or which way is up. There are a couple of names for this sort of skiing. "Using the force". Or "survival skiing". Or "I'm going home..."

Still, Marianne and I are used to this - our beloved Whistler often serves up a cocktail of fresh powder and blizzard. The others are finding it hard going though, and after a couple of warm-up runs we've gone our separate ways for the last two days.

With the weather like this, trees are your friends. They provide shelter from the worst and help with visibility. Val has more trees than I remember, and we've had a whale of a time off piste above La Daille, dodging low branches and trying not to hit anything solid. This area is crisscrossed with lovely sweeping red and blue runs; when we've scared ourselves in the forest, we pop back into the piste and rack up some mileage.

Today saw our first forays onto black runs this year. First up was the glorious Rhone Alpes on Solaise, then the short, steep Combe Vallon - which, incongruously, leads onto the nursery slope at village level. And finally, we conquered - well, survived - a Val d'Isere landmark: the Olympic downhill run, Face de Bellevarde. It's our biggest challenge yet: steep and bumpy, demanding of muscles and technique. But the sense of achievement makes it all worthwhile.

After three entertaining evenings in the chalet, our hardworking staff have a deserved night off, so we're out on the town tonight. God help our wallets...