Friends, it’s almost been two months since our last update. In the past, there have only been two reasons for long periods of no updates: either a serious illness, or traveling abroad. This time, it wasn’t due to COVID-related illness or quarantine—but rather because of COVID restrictions that prevented me from returning home, leaving me stuck overseas, free to roam wherever I pleased. Today, with a bit of downtime, I’ll start sharing step by step how I’ve been making the most of this month-plus adventure. Due to the large number of locations and photos, I’ll be sharing this in several articles—starting this time with France’s Grand Massif, our first stop on this trip abroad. The trip to the French Alps was purely for skiing. This ski resort is just an hour and a half drive from Geneva Airport, making it incredibly convenient—and frankly, there are actually countless other ski resorts in the surrounding area, but that’s a story for another time. Located in the heart of the Alps, Dashan boasts a sizable ski area—though admittedly not as expansive compared to some other resorts. The resort features a total of 62 lifts and 139 slopes, with an impressive vertical drop of 1,800 meters, ranging from 700 meters to 2,500 meters above sea level! Let's start with a few images to get a feel for it. The only regret this time was not wearing an all-pink outfit—earlier, I thought pink was already too flashy, but actually, it wasn’t bold enough unless it was done head-to-toe. I spotted this quirky, open-air two-person cable car at the ski resort—sounds fun, doesn’t it? I naturally decided to give the black trail a try—it’s incredibly steep, though it doesn’t quite come across in the photos. Standing there, a few people were completely stunned (except for me). After skiing for three days, I took half a day off to tackle two projects. A big snowman. A snow slide, and they even poured water to freeze the bottom layer. Yet… That night, heavy snow began to fall—and within just one night, it piled up so thickly, easily surpassing 20 centimeters. The snowman and the slide were completely buried, leaving everything looking stark white. The good news is we can finally play in powder snow! I immediately swapped to my powder board and headed right out. And then this is what I saw—this, this, and this. Snowboarding on off-piste terrain is far more exhausting than riding on groomed slopes—especially in areas where others have already carved deep tracks. Here, you’ve got to constantly shift your center of gravity and absorb the impact with every turn. As a result, a single run can take three times longer and demand significantly more physical effort than on a regular piste. So you’ve got to find some untouched powder snow—commonly known as "no-trace powder"—to really get that exhilarating ride. Over here, I just found a slope no one had skied on yet and enjoyed a quick, sweet few seconds of pure fun. We were having way too much fun, and with the foggy conditions, things got even wilder. Mid-slip, my foot suddenly hit a gap over a meter deep—something I hadn’t noticed earlier because of the uneven terrain, which had made it look flat. Before I knew it, I slammed right into it. Thanks to the snowboard getting wedged on the edge of the ditch and the momentum carrying me forward, I ended up doing a front flip. One of my snowboards plunged deep into the snow, and it took me ages of digging around before I finally managed to spot it again. No one got hurt—thankfully, the snow was thick and soft enough. But honestly, I was totally confused, silently cursing the foreigner beside me over and over: "Damn it, couldn’t you have warned me at least once?!" Although I took a tumble, it couldn’t erase my eagerness to explore. Spotting a group of people slipping into the woods, I followed right behind them. It started off fine—here's how. After a while, things took a turn for the worse—those people had vanished, leaving only the snowboard tracks to follow. As we ventured deeper into the woods, a slight chill crept up our spines. Pushing through the dense thicket of mixed trees, I slid into the tiny cabin. But the cabin was completely empty—there wasn’t a soul around, making it even more eerie. Keep following the snowboard tracks, my heart still filled with unease. Only when it finally slid onto the highway did my heart finally relax. When I finally saw the cable car, my heart was overwhelmed with emotion—what a tough journey it’s been! Overall, this big mountain trip (Jan 23–29, though we only skied for 5 days) was pretty good—transportation was convenient, the ski area is sizable, and the terrain is surprisingly diverse. Plus, after the recent snowfall, there were plenty of spots offering excellent powder conditions, making it perfect for skiers of intermediate level and above. The scenery along the way was also wonderful on the descent. Alright, that’s a brief introduction for now—(there’s much more to come, but unfortunately, I don’t have time to go into detail). I hope you, staying safely at home, can still experience the beauty of the world out there. Long press the QR code below to follow the author's personal official WeChat account.
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