So at last Combloux sees some more people on the slopes. This is a big gathering place at the top of three chairlifts from where people head back down in all directions. They draft in maybe 3 or 4 times the number of instructors that they have the rest of the season, to soak up all those wanting lessons. The easier pistes are full of snaking lines of skiers trying, usually unsuccessfully by the third or fourth in line, to follow where the instructor goes and what they say to do.

The ski school sessions are three hours long so there’s usually a break somewhere. These classes of young ones are given a biscuit and a picnic table to sit around while the instructors decide whether it’s a glass of red or white at lunchtime.

One slope in particular is often sectioned off from the main hoards and reserved for training for slalom. Sometimes the giant slalom gates are put out for ski school classes who will be assessed for their bronze, silver or gold stars. The slalom course however is used by teenagers and older skiers training for trials or just for the fun of it. And having tried just a few of these poles once (and not going through them like these guys do, but around them!) it’s very tricky to go at speed and get it right. This girl was about 14 I’d say.