Roche de Mio, Glacier & Ice Caves
Today I had an amazing and fun afternoon. John had a four hour break today & since I got my ski pass yesterday we decided to go up the mountain to the Roche de Mio to see the Glacier.. Basically in this town you can't get lifts up the mountain unless you have a ski pass so we haven't been able to go thus far. Ski passes are about 750 euros ($1,080 US) which is not an expensive price for an entire season but when your weekly paycheck is paid in pounds and is very very small it's too much to afford.. One of the girls J works with was able to get one for me for 1/2 price so I finally have my own now!
Anyway we took a lift up from the centre of Belle Plagne to Roche de Mio. The bubble took about 15 minutes to travel up and once we got to the landing platform we got off to look around. The view was incredible. It was such a sunny beautiful afternoon that even though it was -12 up at the top John and I had to take our snow jackets off because the sun was too warm. Skiers and snowboarders come up to Roche de Mio to ski down to Belle Plagne and for the most part it has blue-red runs, so I can do it once I have a bit more practice. There is also a black run that we went to take a look down. It was intense!! Black runs are the most difficult runs of all and are really only for experienced skiers. The side down was incredibly steep and there were moguls (basically lumps of packed up snow) all over the run so skiers had to get very low down on their skis in order not to catch a mogul and flip over. From Roche de Mio we took another bubble lift even higher to see the glacier. This ride took 20 minutes to reach the top and at one point we were going straight up the face of a mountain and then dropping down over the side!
Up at the glacier we took a walk and saw that there were ice caves up at the top. Of course we had to go in and so paid a 4 euro admission each to get in. I have been in caves before but never an ice cave and it was so awesome! You had to crouch down to walk through the entrance but once inside the walls and ceiling opened up so you could stand. It was incredible because the whole thing was made from ice and at one point a sign said the ice extended for 30 meters above our heads. Sculptures had been crafted into the sides and middle of the cave and it was beautiful to look around at what someone had spent a lot of time sculpting. After the caves we walked back to a restaurant that was perched on the side of the mountain and relaxed and enjoyed the view over a beer and glass of wine. Today was such a fun day and was so important for John and I as it's been pretty stressful these last couple of weeks. Looking out over the tops of the Alps mountain ranges and all your troubles seem to be irrelevant. This is such an unbelievably beautiful place!!
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