Chamonix Activity Review: 13th December 2012

The purpose of the night was to introduce the Paret / Wilderness evening to groups of Tour and Chalet Operators in the valley so that Evo 2 could test out the set up on us willing guinea pigs, and also so that the operators knew what the night is all about the be able to sell it to their guests.

Around 50 of us met at a very blustery and cold Grand Montets lift station all geared up in winter clothes, hats, goggles and head torches (it was going to be getting dark around 5pm so these should have come in very handy)..

The Evolution 2 team arrived with a van full of the sledges and helmets (obligatory for all sledgers) and started dishing them out. To be honest when they said 'sledges' i was thinking of the kind that has two runners on the bottom, a large wooden seat and a string at the front for steering.. the Parets are actually more like a mini version of this, or half a sledge, with one runner, a small wooden seat with a little pole at the front to hang on to... hmmm interesting!

I started to wonder how we were ever going to make it down the home run looking at these teeny sledges.. but before we had too much time to mull it over, we all piled into the gondola and headed to the mid station, where we were met by Bob (the Director of Evo2) and his team of instructors. After an introduction from Bob and a demo on how to brake (apparently it was all about leaning backwards on the seat and jamming your feet out straight in front of you - not difficult right?) we had a couple of hilarious practise runs with varying degrees of success and falling off, while we waited for a green light from the pistuers that we were good to go.

The light was pretty good at this point - around 4.30pm, as we sat with our instructor who told us about the history of the Paret - They have apparently been in use for around 300 years and originate from the Les Carroz / La Clusaz area when people used to transport Reblochon cheese on them to avoid paying too much tax.. yeah bit odd, but apparently true. Anyway we were ready, all systems (or sledges) go! We were told it would take about 45 minutes to get down the run so it was definintely going to be dark by the time we got to the bottom, ah well in for a penny in for a pound!

For those of you that don't know the home run at Grands Montets (the Pierre a Ric piste), it starts off by the mid station lifts with a bit of a short, steep section followed by a few corners thrown in for good measure, and a flattish section towards the end... it was going to be a challenge, espcially as I'd heard from a few of the guys who'd just skied it that it was a bit icy in places... hmmm again!

So we were split into groups of around 6-8 people, each with an instructor (for safety reasons and to shout tips at us on the way down), on off we went. Some of the lads shot off like rockets and others seemed to get the hang of it really quickly, throwing in a few turns to slow themselves down. Keeping together as a group proved pretty tricky as everyone was going at different speeds, falling off, getting over taken, and we quickly realised that we'd lost our instructor too! oops.. but there were plenty of others catching us up and trying to help us get down in one piece, plus collecting the odd sledge that ran away from its driver...

There was lots of squealing (not all from me I have to say), lots of 'ommpfs' as people bailed out to stop in the softer snow at the sides, and a few shouts of  'INCOMING!' as others got up a bit too much speed.. it was really good fun and a bit of a challenge too, (although i never did manage to turn left, spent about 50m going backwards dowhill on my bum, and dropped all the batteries for my head torch on the piste..) so by the time we did get to the bottom we were all a-glow and in need of a feed and something to drink.

Good job then that part of the Paret evening is to have dinner and drinks in the Mongolian Yourt close to the bottom of the lifts. There were a couple of fire pits outisde it, hot soup to warm us up, plus a glass of champers too - nice! Dinner was cosy inside the Yourt with a large wood burner in the middle, and room enough for all of us to get seated.

The tartiflette, salad and charcuterie went down a treat, as did a few glasses of red wine and the blueberry tart for pudding.. yum.. well we felt like we'd earnt it!

The Paret Wilderness evening is only available to teens and adults (no kids under twelve) however if you're coming with a group of children you can always enquire about doing a snow shoe walk instead while the rest of the group do the Paret ride, plus if you can't do Wednesdays, then you can always ask Evolution 2 about other days they might run it on.

It's 65 euros per person, which includes the Paret sledge, helmet, dinner, drinks and transport home (you'll have to make your own way there), and it runs every Wednesday from now until the end of the season. 

Get in touch with Evo 2 directly to book, or check out our events calendar for other activities being run by Evolution 2 this winter.

Video to follow shortly!