This perhaps isn't weird, but certainly very strange, and I've been hesitant in posting this account, for reasons which should be apparent after reading the following.
During the last week of January and first week of February, 1995, my then wife (now ex-wife!) and myself were on a skiing holiday in the French alps, staying in Morzine, in the Portes des Soleil, where we'd skied before, and holidayed in summer, and knew the area quite well..
During our second week there, we decided to take some different ski routes in this vast area, and took the telecabine up the mountain towards Avoriaz.
Although the weather was fairly good, and the snow fantastic for skiing, there was a slight haze, and some very light snow falling when we arrived at the first stage in this area.
We had about two hundred meters of relatively flat piste to cross to reach the chair lifts which would take us further up the mountain, and apart from ourselves, and another couple fairly close behind us (who we didn't know), the piste was empty, although we could see people ahead boarding the chair lifts.
We were poling along smoothly, with a sparse tree line off to our left, maybe 25 or 30 meters away at most, and just slightly lower than the piste, with the haze, or maybe thin, low cloud, hovering over the trees.
As we passed this tree line, both my wife and myself saw a line of monks, maybe ten or twelve of them, in single file, walking in the opposite direction, between the trees They were dressed in the "traditional" brown habit, with the hood, or cowl, over their heads, and had their hands together as if in prayer, although we couldn't hear any sound from their direction. They seemed to be at a slightly lower level than us, with their lower legs not visible, and we presumed that either there was a sunken path, or they were on a slight reverse slope, hidden by the snow.
We watched them as we passed by, and they turned to their right, away from us, and seemed to be descending a slope, finally disappearing from view in the haze.
We arrived at the chair lift, with the other couple, who asked us if we'd seen the monks, and wasn't it strange, them being out on the mountain dressed just in their habits? We agreed, but thought nothing more about it, got on the chair lift, and proceeded to have a great day skiing.
Back at our hotel later that evening, we were in the bar before dinner, and Benoit, the hotel owner, asked us if we'd had a good day, to which, of course, we replied "Yes".
It was then I remembered the monks, and asked Benoit if there was a monastery, or some sort of "retreat" in the area where we had been, and told him how we, and the other couple, had seen the line of monks in the tree line.
He went very still and quiet, just for a second or two, and then answered.
I can't remember exactly what he said, after 28 years, but it was along the lines of "Ah, you've seen the phantom monks, not many people do".
Apparently there wasn't a monastery in the area, although it was thought there might have been one, a long, long time ago, long before Morzine became a town, and definitely way before the creation of the skiing village of Avoriaz.
So, had four of us seen real monks, or phantoms in the snow ?
I don't know the answer, but I know we definitely saw them, and I can still remember the scene clearly.