The last 2 weeks the ski8000 team was reunited in Meribel and Verbier.

Joost, Greg and Herman are back in the mountains
After our ski expedition to Cho Oyu in the spring of 2004 the 3 of us went our own way: Herman to Malawi to work as a doctor in a hospital, Greg became a consultant in Rotterdam and Paris, and I went to California to go to business school.
When we arrived in Meribel on December 26th, mountains where covered with a thin, icy layer of snow, with many sharp rocks sticking through. The weather service predicted "neige faible" for the nex couple of days. Not very good news...
But when we arrived in Verbier on December 30 it started to snow.

Finally
The first couple of days of 2006 brought clear days and snowy nights. In 3-4 days some 60 cm of fresh snow fell from the sky in Verbier. The Chamonix area got at least twice as much. The cold temperatures caused the snow to remain very powderish for days.

Happy moments

Herman conquers the powder

Hester ascends the Stairway to Heaven

Hester

That's me between the trees

Fruitless digging for the lost Atomic Sugar Daddy Pimp. I lost it at 46.059568°N, 7.33642°E. Please drop me a line if you find it!