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Chamonix Apres Ski Report: 25th January 2012

Snow-skating and where to eat on the cheap in Chamonix

featured in Nightlife reviews Author Alison Shayler, Chamonix Reporter Updated

This week saw me trying out yet another way to hurt myself... snow skating. A snow skate is basically a skateboard mounted on a short ski, which you slide down the mountain on until you fall over, which happens a lot. It was surprisingly un-painful though as you are not attached to the snowskate, so you can jump off if you feel yourself losing control and you tend to tumble rather than slam into the ground as you do with snowboarding.

We were going to head to the Tourchet piste in Les Houches, which is floodlit for night skiing from 8:30pm, but we didn't want to wait that late, so we headed to the foot of the Savoy piste and played out until dusk. We definitely have our sights set on the Tourchet piste another time though - it is free, the bus stops right by it and there are a few nice bars in Les Houches in which to enjoy an apres-slide drink or two. The Tourchet is a nursery piste with a drag lift, so not exactly gnarly but toys such as sledges and snow skates are allowed. We hired our snowskate from Legend'CHX for just 10€ - bargain bruises!

Surprisingly tired and ravenous from our new game we headed over to Monkey Bar for a feed. An enormous plate of nachos smothered in salsa, melted cheese, guacamole and sour cream went down well (chilli version available for carnivores), as did a veggie burger and chips. The food at Monkey doesn't stray far from the burgers/jacket spuds/bar snacks theme but they do what they do well. I consider myself something of a veggie burger connoisseur and I deem theirs to be excellent - tasty toppings, non-squidgy and doesn't fall apart when you pick it up. Burgers range from 7-8.50€ and a shockingly large plate of nachos will set you back just 10.50€. They also do a curry night every Thursday, fish'n'chips every Friday and roast dinner every Sunday for 10€; I can try and kid myself that I burn it all off skiing but honestly...

After stuffing our faces in Monkey Bar we felt that a brisk walk was in order so we set off for Dan Milner's slide show at Le Vert, on the outskirts of Chamonix but worth the 20 minute walk. A slide show doesn't sound a very rock'n'roll way to spend the evening but Le Vert was packed out with folks waiting to hear about Dan's latest adventures; we settled in at the front and enjoyed an hour or so of Dan's incredible footage of his expedition to the Arctic islands of Svalbard with pro-snowboarders Jeremy Jones and Terje Haakonsen. Dan kept us entertained with bizarre tales of derring-do such as polar bear encounters and exploding yoghurts - as well as amazing images of Jeremy and Terje doing scary things on scarily big mountains. There's always something going on at Le Vert, the next big night is tomorrow's Australia Day celebrations; snow BBQ, fancy dress comp, dance-off and more with great prizes to be won from DC and Black Diamond. Entry is free and shuttles will be leaving from the centre of town by the casino on the hour from 9pm.

This week seems to have been a bit of a food fest all round really; one thing that is obligatory to try when in Chamonix is a fondue. A big bubbling pot of melted cheese that is guaranteed to burn the roof off your mouth, send you into the deepest food coma you've ever had and cause you to put on at least a stone overnight. It has to be done though. One of my favourite places for this is Le Boccalatte on Avenue l'Aiguille du Midi; it is a friendly bustling restaurant that always seems to be busy but the staff always have time to look after you with a smile. I opted for the set menu Le Savoyard at 18€; being one of those awkward veggie types I asked if I could swap the starter of gizzard salad for a goat's cheese and walnut one, which the waiter was happy to do. I was very happy too, as it was delicious with a tasty dressing and pieces of warm baked cheese on top and plenty of walnuts and crunchy croutons. I then had the fondue and paid a 3€ supplement for additional wild mushrooms; no one should ever eat that much cheese in one go but in my capacity as intrepid reporter I felt that I had to give it my best shot so that I could write a fair assessment. Very nice it was too. The last thing I felt like by this point was dessert but as it was included in the menu I felt it would have been rude not to, so I polished off a slice of blueberry tart as well. In truth, the tart was a bit bland and the ice cream with fresh fruit that my friend had looked far tastier but the salad and fondue were so good that it didn't really matter. Everyone else was pleased with their choices that included tartiflette, steak frites, tuna salad and various other dishes. Le Boccalatte is good value with most main meals in the 10-15€ range and a daily "plat du jour" for just 9.90€. Fondue is a real Savoyard dish and can be found on the menu of most Chamonix restaurants alongside raclette, tartiflette and pierrade - you can read more about traditional Alpine cuisine here

This week looks set to be busy as the Freeride World Tour that took place over the weekend has brought plenty of folks to town, all looking for somewhere to party after a hard day on the hill! Top tips for this week are: Burns's Night tonight at The Pub from 9:30pm, free haggis, bagpipe playing, dancing and general Celtic revelry; Chamonix's hottest new DJ, Tina Martin, will be busting out the tunes at Therapy in South Bar on Thursday night; Australia Day Thursday night at Le Vert from 6pm, see above for details, or if you are based at the Argentiere end of the valley you should check out the Pistey Boys at the Savoy Bar from 5-7pm, followed by drinks and dinner at the Rusticana; Birds with Swords will be rocking it out in South Bar on Friday from 10pm with drinks promos throughout the night. Monday night is always worth setting aside for comedy night at Le Jekyll; they've had some big names in recent years including Marcus Brigstocke, Rufus Hound and other British stand-ups. Tickets are 15€ seated or 10€ standing, with the option of a pie supper for an extra 10€ - tickets can be bought in advance at the bar.

Don't forget to check our What's On Calendar for all the latest events; until next week, au revoir!