Hello again! Hot off the heels of my ski trip to Chamrousse (literally the next day), it was off to another ski station, called Sybelle. This time, it was further into the Alps, with the drive taking about an hour and a half. Me and my father had coordinated with a family friend to meet at their mountain cottage and have him show me the station.
My first impression of the station was that it was big, but not massive; it seemed only slightly larger than what I was used to in the US. At first, that impression seemed to be true. That was until we went onto the other side of the mountain and I was able to see the true scale of the place. The station stretched over multiple different peaks (I think it must have been 5), with each one kitted out with many large chairlifts, ski tows, and gondolas that serviced innumerable slopes. Everywhere I went there was a new slope to do sown, or a new lift to take. Despite staying there for an entire day (from 10am to 5pm), I only managed to do half the station. This was understandable, as Sybelle is the third largest station in all of France.
Halfway through the day, we went and ate at a restaurant located on the slopes. The food was pretty copious (especially for Europe) and the view was incredible. It was a really great experience, and one that I haven’t really seen in the US. The views were even more impressive from the top of the mountains. Of course, the highest peak offered the best view, being able to see an almost 360 degree view of the Alps, including the Mont Blanc, and a nearby glacier and frozen lake.
I was also quite impressed by the difficulty of the station. Many of the hardest tracks gave me quite a bit of challenge, and if it wasn’t for the perfect snow, I probably wouldn’t be able to complete them. Going off-slope was also quite difficult, since the snow wasn’t groomed and had many random bumps. However, I feel like my technique, especially when dealing with bumpy terrain, improved over the course of the day.
Well, that’s about it for this post! Unfortunately, many of my pictures cannot do justice to the scale and depth of many of the views, but I hope you all enjoy them regardless.
