It’s Sunday and a perfect day to ski somewhere Steve has never skied and I haven’t skied for at least 20-odd years. And it’s included on our lift pass!

Cordon is a small, though spread out village about 10 minutes by car from Combloux, at about the same altitude. It’s set back a little north of Combloux so has a wider view of Mont Blanc.

The skiing is a little limited for those who ski fast and furious but it’s great for a morning or afternoon. One slight drawback is that there are only drag lifts here, and no chairlifts so no chance for any rest for tired legs. There’s about 6 pistes altogether which are all beautiful and tree lined. There are two slightly tricky ones. We found a fantastic place for lunch, right on the piste with a great view. Who could ask for more?

Did some guiding around Megeve and St Gervais slopes today though the people I was with are regulars and know their way around pretty well. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining and the snow was incredible. These could be the best conditions I’ve seen here for a very, very long time. The Belle d’Arbois piste is little used by many people but is one of the loveliest pistes looking over Megeve. It gets bare patches quite quickly on the steeper sections which can make it tricky but in these conditions, it was superb.

One of the boys I was skiing with, Martin, had great reflective goggles, which made a perfect mirror to the scenery and us others in the gondola with him.

What do you do when you’re not skiing but you want to be outside in the snow? Build a snowman, of course. Meet Dave. I’m particularly proud of the bobble hat. (Take a good look because it snowed the next night and he’s never been the same since.)

Then off to Megeve for a wander around – don’t think we’ll be hurrying back to do that again. Megeve is all fur and small dogs. And unbelievably expensive pretentious shops. Obviously said by someone who can’t afford to shop there… But there are some parts of the town that are very pretty in the snow. This is a small stream that runs through the centre of the town. I can imagine a lot of people never even see this.

It’s not a day for looking down, what with the hot air balloon festival on in Praz sur Arly this weekend. Saturday seemed to be superb flying conditions as they all floated over Mont Blanc. Later in the day, one lone balloon appeared worringly low over Combloux village centre.

If you keep looking up, you start to notice other things, like the way snow curls over the edge of roofs before it eventually gets too heavy and falls off. You wouldn’t want to be standing beneath when that happened.

You don’t often see the bottom of snowboards and skis either unless you look up while standing under a chairlift…

It’s started snowing and doesn’t seem to want to stop. It’s been snowing all night and all day today. I walked into Combloux rather than uncover the car.

When you get temperature inversions, where the temperature on the mountain is higher than in the valleys, the fog that forms in the valleys makes for some stunning views. The first is looking over into the Sallanches valley, the second is looking in the opposite direction to the South West. The third was taken from a piste in Megeve looking down into the Northern entrance to the Sallanches valley the next day.

Some friends and their two children are out here in Combloux, so we had some fun building a snowman – and a snowlady – and going tobogganing in the specially netted off area at the bottom of the pistes in Combloux. These two kids don’t know what the brakes are for on this toboggan.

It was a spectacular day with lots of low cloud and fog in the valley due to the valley temperatures being lower than those on the mountain.

We thought we’d have a go at being tourists for a day and take ourselves off to Chamonix by train. We caught it in Le Fayet at the head of the Sallanches valley. The train is superb and looks brand new, with big high windows ensuring you can easily see up to the mountains around you.

The track winds its way through the hamlets and villages of Chedde and Servoz and on its way passes under the road bridge on stilts that takes traffic to Chamonix. It’s spectacular from the angle of the train.

Not quite so spectacular is an old aluminium smelting works below the road which belches sulphurous smoke out, seemingly 24 hours a day. It’s amazing it’s allowed here and certainly seems to add to the smog that sometimes settles in this part of the valley.

The journey takes you on through some narrow gaps cut in the rock, past Les Houches and onto Chamonix, giving you a great view of the Bossons Glacier on the way. The journey took 50 minutes and only cost 5 euros each! The station in Chamonix is right in the centre of the town and the timetable allowed us to enjoy a bit of a stroll around and a great tartiflette lunch before heading back.

The statue is of two French climbers, Jaques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard who were the first to conquer Mont Blanc in 1786. As you might guess, they’re pointing at the summit of Mont Blanc. Read the story of the climb.

There are two new lifts opening on the Giettaz side of the ski area but they haven’t been fully commissioned yet, so we’ve got to wait a few more days for that. In the meantime, that whole area is closed off, except if you want to go there and not come back! We went as far as we could to the Bonjournal restaurant, though didn’t stop, tempting as it was. The views, as ever, were stunning.

Back in Combloux village, it’s all excitement as a new grocery shop is opening up. Big sign, small shop. We wait to see how it all pans out!

New Years Day evening is traditionally the time for celebrating the New Year here, usually with a firework display. Combloux always puts on its own show and it’s pretty good. Especially when you can see it from your upstairs window! Doesn’t make for great photos, however, especially when you’re shivering so much taking the picture through the open window. Staying at home, also means you miss the free vin chaud (hot wine)!