Weather and BBQs in the Alps

The weather in the French Alps is changeable at the best of times, so organising a BBQ while the ski lifts are still running is probably a bad idea. However, as you can see from the first photo below, the weather last weekend for the Defi Foly (I wrote more about it last year, here) was great! People were burning from the hot sun as they chowed down on some BBQed goodness, watching the stunt paragliders in the sky between the crazy people zooming across the lake on skis, snowboards, monoskis or snowscoots. See photo below for a sample of all that sunny goodness. The ramp in the background is in the sun and the snow was melting quickly. Our flagpole helped my friends find our group in amongst the crowds of people.

Defi Foly La Clusaz sunny

And then there’s that big cloud that dumps rain down amazingly quickly. This is what happened just after I had reapplied sunscreen to my burning shoulders. A friend who had an umbrella to protect her skin from the sun merely grinned as the rest of us ran for cover. The wind picked up and I feared the flagpole might fall, so with thongs/flip-flops/jandals/whatever-you-like-to-call-them on my feet, I slipped and slushed over the new mud to reach the pole. It’s actually just a fishing pole which slots into itself to reduce in size, and while I shrunk the pole, all my friends decided I made a good religious photo opportunity. Some have named me the flag-loving Romanian lady, and others are now calling me Mary. What you’re actually looking at here is a grass skirt, bikini, and flower lei hidden by a hoody and scarf to soak up the rain. Within five minutes of the rain starting, people had cleared off en masse. You can see just how empty it looks compared with the photo above. What strikes me most about this photo is my friend in the foreground who hasn’t noticed the rain at all due to his heightened interest in a box of cookies.

Defi Foly La Clusaz rainy

Meanwhile, the guy who won the Defi Foly, Philippe Troubat, broke all the previous records by reaching 155 metres — almost the width of the lake! That’s ten metres more than the previous best time of Freddy Quenet, who is normally the clear winner every year. Next year should be good. I might bring a rain coat.

About

I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

5 Comments on “Weather and BBQs in the Alps

  1. Just goes to show that wherever you are in the world a BBQ is just a cue for rain. In Bermuda, we just struggle to get the damn thing lit with the humidity!

  2. Looks like a great time was had by all. Tried to arrange a birthday bbq here last weekend. 7 days of sunshine beforehand – sun lotion again for the last 2 days but Sunday… yep, you guessed!

    France is still a great place for a party, inside or out.

  3. Mr BBQ chef, thank you: I’ve updated the post. My shoulders are brown now.
    Alison, I can’t imagine having such humid conditions that a BBQ won’t light. I don’t know how you can stand such humidity (London’s was too much for me). I hope the weather gods help you have some BBQs (and a pool).
    Frank, exactly! Are you in the mountains? I put the changeable weather down to the peaks around me…