I arrive in Chamonix in the dark, in the middle of a snowstorm and acutely aware of my own exhaustion. It’s been days since I’d moved out of the family home after disentangling from a 25-year relationship. And to boot I’d been a teenager when I was last on the slopes. Despite all that, I am compos mentis enough to recognise my good fortune at being on a “Girl Powder” Mountain Retreat.
Girl Powder was set up by UK-based Laura Marriott-Clarke after she fell in love with Chamonix over two decades ago. Years later on a minibus from Geneva airport she watched a young woman arrive home, to be greeted by her father. That moment sparked a dream, first of a Chamonix-haven for Laura’s family and later, of sharing that Alpine magic. She and her husband bought three apartments in Les Bois, which they converted into Chalet Mélèzes, now home to Girl Powder, which Laura describes as “a community built around adventure, wellness and the joy of the mountains”.
