Chapter 15

It had been an exceptional season in the Alps, with a deep base in the snow levels being secured prior to the Christmas holiday season. The upper slopes had nearly three metres of snow and whilst the lower pistes were tracked, all of the runs within the Les Arcs and La Plagne Paradiski area were in good condition. The high level runs and surrounding areas lay untouched due to the relentless snow of the previous weeks.

Emma and her brothers were well aware of the conditions which meant that, now the sun was shining, there was a steady trickle of skiers all headed for the upper slopes, to make a mark on the untouched powder fields. The group headed past the entrance to the Olympic standard half-pipe on their approach to the resort town of Bellecote.

Emma’s purple scarf caught the light breeze and fluttered out behind her, whilst her new atomic skis carved well through the fresh snow. Her skis were designed to be used fifty percent of the time on the piste and with the remainder away from the prepared snow ploughed areas.

Her brothers were attempting to outdo each other by skiing backwards at speed. Due to the nature of their twin tip skis a thin plume of snow was being emitted from the back end of the skis in a similar fashion to the arc of snow that is projected by snow cannon. The plume from each set of skis flew past the two students into the path of the snaking ski schools. These groups were slowly and carefully traversing across the steepness of the piste to make their descents for a late lunch or an afternoon tea in Bellecote.

As Emma reached the lower level of the piste near the exit of the half-pipe, she gracefully executed a three sixty degree spin which slowed her down and brought her to a sliding stop, with a view directly upwards. The moguled piste rose to her left and she had an impressive view into the man-made, snow-built, aerial structure directly in front of her.

What had also caught her eye was the ability of the two skiers currently within the half-pipe, who had both performed two small aerial jumps. One of the jumps had been off the upper side wall with another completed by landing themselves onto the flat top of one of the sides of the pipe with a flourish of a one eighty degree spin.

Both of the skiers appeared to be of a similar age to Emma. Whilst she could not clearly see their faces, due to their goggles and helmets, they were athletically built and it was evident that both of the skiiers had been skiing since walking age as they were so talented.

Emma could have watched and gawped for a while longer, she had felt an unfamiliar stir of emotion inside her, but pushed off quickly with her jet black, sleek, ski poles and descended down to the Bellecote Gondola, which would take her and her brothers directly to the summit of the Roche de Mio. At 2600m the Roche de Mio was second only to the Glacier de Bellecote within the La Plagne region.