 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Liam, 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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rayscoops, u r naughty!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Roger C wrote: |
| probably still has a post stag do hangover!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Ah yes, forgot he was back home for a weekend. Still, no report for nearly a week just isn't good enough....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Evening all
Now, I’ve already had a phone call this evening chasing up my next instalment, but please bear in mind that, what with my trip back to the UK this is only my second ski day since my last post, so I don’t feel I’ve been neglecting you all too badly (though I gather from the latest posts that perhaps this is not the case!). The phone call was from Martyn, but more of that later.
So, where did I leave you all? I’d finally completed my epic journey back to Bristol, and from there, on Friday, to a marvellously named place called Three Cocks on the edge of the Black Mountains in Wales. This was to be our base for “Whitewater Rafting on the Wye”, a strange choice for a Stag trip in January I hear you say, and I did voice such concerns, fairly vocally at the time the trip was arranged if memory serves correct, but, then if not so nearer the time, the groom was adamant this was what he wanted to do. His day, his call, must be bloody barking if you ask me, but mates are mates so what could I do?
(Un)fortunately, nature conspired against us; when we arrived on Friday evening and did our best to drink the bar dry, we were told the river was OK as long as there was no more rain. It obviously proceeded to rain cats and dogs all night. Things almost got even wetter it had to be said; when I awoke in desperate need of the loo at goodness what hour, I opened the door to the bunk room were we kipping in (4 or 5 to a room) and was faced with a tower of furniture blocking the doorway. Someone in our party had decided it would be a jolly good jape to block us in, and, in my still rather drunk state, I had great difficulty hoisting myself up and over the precariously arranged baracade before my bladder gave way; fortunately for everyone concerned I managed one final heave and successfully cleared the obstacle in time to avoid any embarrassment.
This incident did actually follow quite a talking to from Martyn, with particular regard to Mlle Cutie, and my lack of any positive action in her direction. I tried to explain that, as it was inevitable that nothing would happen, it was far better to take things slowly, keep the dream alive as long as possible before eventually admitting defeat, but he was in favour of a much more pro-active approach. In fact, these sentiments were almost entirely echoed by silverybird75 when I met up with her, her hubby and Martyn for a drink on Sunday evening; she had been away with the Hen in London and, although there was no debriefing as such (what goes on tour, stays on tour!), the odd snippet was exchanged. So, I got a serious talking to on both Friday and Sunday with regard to a certain waitress, and the general consensus was that I needed to buck my damn ideas up! But more of that later.
So, the rafting was off, and as an alternative we picked “High Ropes” and “Clay Pigeon Shooting”. We were split into two groups of seven for the ropes, and my group were up on the zip slide first. We went up the inside of the tower in pairs, and Martyn, as joint best man, was first down, showing all our group how it was done. Matt and I walked the slide back to the tower while the next victim readied himself, but unfortunately he was still firmly attached to a post at the top of the tower by the time we had climbed our way to the top. No amount of persuasion would change his mind, and, despite being the joker in the pack, he accepted defeat and walked rather than slid down from the top of the tower. I will admit I hadn’t a second thought about it until I was stood there having to make that “Leap of Faith”, but I somehow managed it as did everyone else after me.
We finished with the zip slide before the other half finished their first task, the trapeze! If I thought the zip was a test, well, this was a step above. This particular task was to climb a telegraph pole using no more than blocks of wood attached at intervals to the side of the pole. Some of these were a healthy 2 inches wide, some barely an inch. At the top of the pole was a platform, maybe 50cm square, onto which you had to manoeuvre yourself, and from there you really, really had to make a literal leap of faith, onto a trapeze bar suspended maybe 4 or 5 foot from the platform; the slight problem was that the bar was extremely slippery due to the constant drizzle all morning. So, my group arrived just in time to see James, the other best man, climbing the pole. Now James is pretty tall, well over 6 foot, and skinny as a bean pole. When he reached the top of the pole, he somehow managed to end up sitting on the platform, a position from which, bearing in mind the platform was little more than bum sized and that his lanky legs were goodness how long, it was near impossible to stand up from. Quite how he managed to eventually get himself upright I have no idea, but at least everyone in my group knew how not to do it!
Only one person in the first group actually managed to hang onto the bar, namely the groom himself , Dan, the male half of TheDt’s, and my group initially fared no better. When it was my turn I was amazed with the ease with which some of the guys managed to get up the pole; I bear-hugged it the whole way up, before eventually making my way up onto the platform and forlornly throwing myself at the bar, but this time our zip slide non-participant was joined by another who was unwilling to try the task in hand, so I didn’t feel too badly about my failed attempt.
Two guys in my group had a second attempt in lieu of those who didn’t fancy it, and both were successful second time around, but, of all of us, only Dan completed the task at the first time of asking.
After a quick lunch we set off in minibuses for the clay pigeon shooting. Now, the only other time I’ve tried this was on another Stag weekend, James’s, a few years ago up in Scotland. I’m guessing the shot up there was a very wide spread, because most of us scored pretty well (quite a few 6 and 7, even the odd 8 out of 8 ), but it was a rude awakening this time around. We each had 3 pairs to shoot at, and in the first round there were quite a few ducks, and I think the best score by out group was 2 out of the possible 6. We all had another couple of goes, and I eventually tied best, with 4 out of the 6 clays, with Keith, the male and dad part of dibblette, so I felt I acquitted myself reasonably well.
From there we made our way to Cardiff where the evening’s entertainment took place, but, as I said earlier, what goes on tour stays on tour, so suffice to say I think we all had a pretty good night.
Sunday dawned wet and miserable, and I don’t think we did much better! We eventually made our way back to Bristol, where Ben, Martyn and I watched Everton fortunately win (Ben having the misfortune of being a Toffee) before Martyn and I watched West Ham cheated out of victory at Man City by some very dubious refereeing decisions (and how much was that “Assistant Referee” paid????? Shocking decisions!). From there we met up with silverybird75 and her husband Simon for my second grilling of the weekend, but what else are friends for?
Anyway, this is a bit of an epic already, so I’ll leave the events on my return to VT for my next post, just to say that they include another meeting with a snowHead, and, well, more to say on the merits of the staff in a certain catering establishment here in Val Thorens.
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johnnyboy, waiting with bated breath 
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Give us more - who needs Belle du Jour when you can read Johnnyboy's missives..
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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johnnyboy, you're developing into a bit of a tease
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johnnyboy, I'm off skiing tomorrow could you please text me the updates 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Linds, FenlandSkier, hmm, I'm off skiing tomorrow as well. Where are you two going then?
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You know it makes sense.
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So, where was I? Ah yes, another snowHead arrived in VT on the day of my return, BMF Skier, who had been kind enough to offer to bring any forgotten item out to me both when I first made my way out here, and again last week. We’d chatted at the PSB, but, in all honesty, I didn’t realise this till this week, as I found I reached “overload” on names and forum names whilst on that, my first bash; there is a limit to how much information about so many new people you can actually take on board, especially in the alcohol fuelled atmosphere that is a snowHeads bash.
So, Wednesday dawned scorchio; fantastic blue skies and bright sunshine, a fine day to greet my return to the slopes. There had been a bit of fresh the day before, just enough to freshen things up, and conditions were great. I popped back to the apartment for a quick bite and noticed BMF Skier had left a message for me; in my haste to get out after a week away I had left my phone behind. He too was back in his hotel, so we agreed to meet 5 minutes later at the Funitel Peclet directly across from my apartments. I emerged from the locker room, put my skis on all the while scanning across the piste to see if he was there, and proceeded to ski straight past him, still eyeing the distance, as he waited on my side of the piste. Oops!
Anyway, re-introductions made, we took the gondola up and turned right, giving us the choice of Christine (red) or Tete Ronde (blue). I asked if he had any preference, and he said he’d already done the blue today, so how about Christine? Fine I said, it’s one of the easiest reds in the resort, the run you would take someone on as their first ever red. Or not, after Wednesday’s run! For some reason, either deliberately or because (major photo opportunity missed, but one of the piste bashers was parked up near the top of the Moraine for at least a few days prior to my return, not sure how many there are in the resort as to whether or not the loss of one would seriously affect their grooming capacity) of the mishap to one of the bashers, but Christine had been allowed to mogul up quite nastily. Not quite the toothless red we were expecting, and unfortunately it proved a little too much for BMF Skier, as he managed to pull something in an already dodgy knee. He admits that he has skied the run many times before, but for some reason has constantly since tried to lay the blame for his mishap on me taking him down a “toothy black” I think his words were; he has even threatened to go out with a can of spray paint to reclassify the run!
We stopped for a drink at the first restaurant we came to, and after a bit of time to recuperate BMF Skier said he was OK to try another run, so we took the Moraine chair up; when I say “we”, I mean we both did, but separately. Stood by the gate waiting for it to open, he asked “This one?” Yes I said as I shuffled forward, only to discover he was still stood there, poles tangled up with the gate. I think this absolves me from all future claims of misconduct on my part; the guy can’t even make it through an 18inch gate at the first attempt.
So, after a solitary lift up, I was eventually joined by my ski companion, and we set off down the slope, stopping to have a good look at the stricken basher parked in the middle of the piste. Unfortunately BMF Skier’s knee was far from right, so we took it very steady and he decided to call it a day after that run, so we skied back down to the resort, him to retire hurt and me to get a few more lifts and runs in whilst the sun stayed bright in the sky. Fantastic.
Thursday dawned in much the way that Wednesday had, absolutely beautiful. BMF Skier had a lesson booked for the morning, so I was off out and about; I discovered that Christine is not the only normally pisted red to have been left to mogul. The first time I skied Boisment was with Flowa and Martyn, first run of the day after a heavy night the night before, and it struck us all as a tougher than usual red (that may have been more down to our condition that its!). It’s true that on subsequent trips down it’s not appeared quite as tough as it did that morning, but the moguls on it at the moment have certainly given it a little more bite. As I made my way down I came across a group of 4 skiers, one bloke trying to get three girls down it. One was waiting at the side of the piste next to the guy, one was stranded on top of a mogul right in the middle of the piste (she didn‘t move the entire time it took me to ski the slope), and the third, having been unable to turn within the piste was in a big snowplough having dropped off the edge of the piste trying to stop herself from running even further off piste. When I got to the bottom of that section, there was a guy laid down in the snow, peering back up at the rest of his group. I think he had a long time to wait! As I say, I’m not sure if this is deliberate policy to toughen up some of the reds in the resort, or just circumstances that have led to it, but some of these runs are fighting back.
After a good morning, I rang BMF Skier to see if he fancied joining me for the afternoon, but he had only managed half an hour of his morning lesson before calling it a day; a tumble had further strained his knee, and despite being doped up to the nines he wasn’t skiing again that day. I said I’d meet him for a pint or two later, and, after a lovely afternoon’s skiing that’s exactly what I did, up in the Viking for their BOGOF happy hour. After we made our way out of there, and BMF Skier stopped for a burger, he insisted on “one for the road”. Who is leading who astray here? The funny thing is, he did that same again tonight (the drink, not the burger) and both times he only half drank his, very strange after dragging me into a bar when I was happily making my way home.
We’d made plans to pop over to Meribel on today, so we met outside my apartment, took Plein Sud and the triple gondola up before taking Lac de la Chambre down. It was in great shape, definitely the easiest it’s been in all the times I’ve taken it down into Meribel. Unfortunately BMF Skier was having boot issues, so we stopped while he tried to readjust them, but, being as he wasn’t certain the problem was sorted, we decided to take the pretty flat Ours run straight down to Motterat when he could have a proper go at getting things right. A small beer and a boot faff later, we took Plattieres 1 and 2 up, before skiing down the side of the Snowpark. Matters were going from bad to worse though, and BMF Skier was in considerable boot pain, mainly along the outside of his feet. We eventually made our way back down to Motterat, and, over lunch, he decided that a new pair of boots was in order, and that ideally he would like to get back to VT as quickly as we could so he could shop around for them that afternoon. That would allow him Saturday to get them tweaked, before he moves over to Courchevel for another week’s skiing on Sunday.
We again took the Plattieres 1 and 2 up, dropped down the short track to take the chair back up to Mont de la Chambre where there were 3 options of getting back to his hotel at the top of the beginner drag lifts. One was the long blue, Pluviometre (or Mont de la Chambre which eventually joins with it) which would then either involve getting a chair back up and skiing Plein Sud down, or coming back through town and a walk. Second option was the short, easy bottom half of the black to the top of Plein Sud, and then down. Third option, and surely the winner, was to take the triple gondola down to the top of Plein Sud, and that short run home. Sorted. He suggested I could ski down the black if I wanted to, and meet at the gondola base station, so, having skied down from the chair, we went our separate ways, he with a walk of 100yards, gently uphill, to the gondola, me down the track leading to the section of the black I was going to take down.
Having arrived safely at the base station, I waited, and waited, and waited some more. The first time I checked the time it was just before 13.45; not sure how long I had been there at that point. Gondolas came down, still he didn’t appear. 2pm came and went, so did 2.15. Something must have gone wrong,, perhaps he’s taken the blue down and would get the Plein Sud chair back up to meet me. Still I waited, and finally, at just after 2.25 I got a text, from him, safely ensconced in his hotel room! So, having put up with his whimpering like a beaten puppy (his words, he said I couldn’t say he’d been crying like a girl) all day, he’d left me stranded up a mountain while going straight home! His story is that he couldn’t manage the climb up to the gondola station, that he’d called after me while I deliberately ignored and abandoned him there, and he then had to struggle down the run as quickly as his poor, pain addled body would allow him to reach his phone in the hotel room to let me know what was happening (he didn’t have his phone with him, apparently!), but in light of refusing to get a lift up with me on that first afternoon, I’m beginning to see a pattern emerging. I figure both sides to this tale will grow in the telling, in the Viking this evening he was already suggesting that I’d left him crippled in agony to climb the north face of the Eigar. Fortunately it was beautifully warm and sunny where I was waiting, and, contact finally having been re-established, I skied down to hear his sorry excuses.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with him trying to get his boots sorted. He had pretty much resolved to buy a new pair, and, in the absence of any recommendations for a bootfitter here in VT, he first had a look in the shop attached to his hotel which had, it turned out, a pretty good selection. I guess only tomorrow will tell if he made a wise purchase, but he said they felt a whole lot better than his old ones did.
We met up again this evening in the Viking before he very generously invited me to dine with him at his hotel; how civilised, I was thankful that at least tonight I managed to get out of my salopettes (and into jeans) before heading up to the Viking, unlike the day before, as the maitre d‘ would really not have been impressed.
Anyway, this is my longest entry to date, so I guess other news will have to wait a day or two longer…….
Ttfn
johnnyboy
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Having been to VT last year i thought both Teto Ronde and Christine were reds?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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any breaking news...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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So, it’s been a few days since my last post, but, what with meeting up with snowHeads and other stuff, I’ve just been soooo busy. BMF Skier was going to be testing his boots in and around VT, staying close to the resort for any necessary tweaks, so I was pleased to get an offer from Roger C, on the last of his flying visits to VT for the time being, to ski with him and a boarder friend on Saturday. We met at the gondola opposite my apartment, where I was introduced to Louis, the darksider, and we decided that, as it was such a beautiful day we would make the most of the empty slopes and head over to Courchevel. I wasn’t quite sure what I had let myself in for, as, after meeting up in the Viking and hearing of his daily exploits on his trips out earlier in the season, I knew he was a far more accomplished skier than I could dream of being, but at least we had my favourite conditions; great visibility, great, groomed snow and practically empty, change-over day slopes. As we dropped down into the Meribel valley I quickly realised that Roger C intended to make the most of this trip as a shot off down Lac de la Chambre, which was admittedly in great shape, with Louis and I following, admittedly somewhat adrift, in his wake.
We took the lift up Mount Vallon and skied back down before heading down to Mottaret (apologies for speeling mistkaes in last entry but I was writing in the early hours!) and taking a queueless gondola up to Saulire before heading down to 1650. We played over there for a while before having a break for a quick drink. Although I’ve been over to Courchevel a few times this season, I hadn’t been over to 1650, which I visited on the last day of my first ever ski trip.
As I think I may have mentioned in an earlier entry, of the group of 8 that went, only me and Juliette, the girlfriend of my Christmas guest, fellow West Ham supporter, and very good friend, Martyn were in ski school, but that was mornings only, and not the last day. So, poor old Martyn got lumbered with us all day on the Friday rather than just in the afternoon, and, being in contact with the rest of the group we headed towards 1650 to meet for lunch. The first place we tried was too busy; this was where Roger C, Louis and I stopped for our drink, out in the cheap seats because again, even on a Saturday, there were no free tables unless you had made a reservation. From there, back two years ago, we headed down to another restaurant for lunch, before heading back out onto the pistes.
Now, although Juliette was a week ahead of me in skiing experience, unfortunately she lacked my (admittedly unfounded) confidence on the slopes. She was technically a far better skier, but what little confidence she’d had was destroyed when her ski school class went over to Meribel the previous day. I’m not sure which runs they went on, but she found it a bit beyond her, and unfortunately was a little like Cougar in Top Gun after his encounter with the Mig at the start of Top Gun, “it really screwed her up!”.
The route back from the restaurant involved a drag and a blue, which turned out to be a track back to the pistes proper. This was quite busy and fairly narrow as most tracks are, and didn’t do too much to boost Juliette’s confidence, so I skied on ahead a bit to let Martyn guide her down unhindered. Having rounded a bend in the track, I saw the piste up ahead, but when I reached the intersection I noticed that the piste we had to ski down, admittedly only a few hundred yards, was actually the bottom of a fairly icy red. This was my first ever trip out onto a scarlet run, even though it wasn’t from the top, and, although it wasn’t pretty, I managed to get down unscathed; it was great retracing my steps (or tracks) two years later as we again used the same way out of the valley, wondering what Juliette and I had found so demanding at the time.
Once back in the Meribel we headed all the way down to Meribel Village, then up the other side of the valley to drop into Les Menuires where we skied Jerusalem at, in my mind, it’s absolute best; groomed and empty in bright sunshine. For anyone who hasn’t skied it before, it’s a not particularly demanding red, but it has loads of dips and rollers that we could really fly down. It was piste heaven. We got the lift back up and dropped down into Mottaret en route to our return to Val Thorens. I rang BMF Skier to see if he wanted to join us now we were back on home territory, but, after a day of boot readjustments he had already called it a day, so he carried on without him. We headed down to the Moutiers lift in an attempt to get up and over to Orrelle, but time was against us; we took Cime Caron up though and skied the red down, practically alone. It’s a pretty long run, and I counted a total of 6 other people on it as we skied its length. We took the Cairns back up to resort level, and then Plein Sud to be able to ski down to our respective apartments, and I reckon we were on the go from 9.30 to 16.30 with only about a 20 minute stop. At the pace Roger C was setting, we certainly covered some ground, but despite the fact that we had really been moving, the conditions and visibility meant I could ski at close to my best, and I still had legs at the end of such a great day.
We did catch up with BMF Skier for a happy hour pint or two, before heading home for a well earned sleep, all the more necessary as I had agreed to ski with Roger C and Louis again the following day, which unfortunately dawned with considerable cloud cover. It was a strange sort of cloud though; you could see blue under it, or so it seemed, off in the distance at times, and ever so occasionally you felt the sun was trying to break through, but it never quite managed it. This meant the visibility varied from not too bad to really not too good, although most of the time it was sort of OK; not great, and certainly not the fantastic light we had had the day before, but OK as long as you weren’t trying to go too fast. We were going to ski La Masse, and thought it best to save Louis from the direct, but at times very flat path down, so instead went up to Mont de la Chambre and dropped down to Les Menuires that way. As we did so the light really deteriorated, but fortunately it improved as we took the gondolas up, and we felt it was good enough to ski the black down. That box having been ticked, we made our way back to VT, to make another, rather earlier attempt, to get over to Orrelle. We took the Funitel Grand Fond up, and boy, was it blowing up there. The gap between the two valleys is pretty flat; you usually have to pole a bit which ever way you are going, but we shot through the gap like a cork from a bottle!
We dropped down to the restaurant half way down and stopped for a quick break, before taking the chairs up to the high point of the valley; unfortunately in reality that should be chair, as the second of the two was shut, no doubt due to the high winds, so we skied back down and then took the chair back up towards VT. What a ride that was! The could see the effect of the wind at various points higher up the lift by the snow being whipped into a fury ahead of us, and at one point, as we crested a brow, we headed straight into it; it felt like watching a tidal wave break on you, you could see it there, ahead of you, waiting, but there was absolutely nothing you could do about it. We just about survived the lift, wondering how much longer they would leave it open, and then had to try to get back through the gap we had previously been blown through. It was a real struggle; the wind was carrying snow and grit and goodness knows what else, and at times it was a real effort not to be blown backwards. The first couple of turns down Chamois were a real nightmare, faces stinging from all the airborne detritus, but it eased slightly as we dropped further down the valley; unfortunately the light was far from good, and the two combined meant skiing was far from pleasant. I suggested we dropped down to the Boisment lift; it’s generally fairly quiet, and also proved to be perfectly sheltered from the ferocious wind. We took Moutiers back up as a possible way home, but found that Moraine was reasonably sheltered too, so up we went to ski that all the way back to the resort. We again used Plein Sud to get high enough to ski back down to our respective bases, and, having bid Roger C and Louis farewell I returned home while they had to set off for the airport.
As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t felt too bad after Saturday’s exertions, but perhaps they had had an effect after all; no doubt the poorer conditions were a factor as well, but my skiing was far more ragged, even though much slower, than it had been on Saturday, so I was glad to make it home for a nice long soak. I think Louis had, by the end of the weekend, found the pace Roger C had been setting to be a bit tiring as well, I know I slowed considerably as Sunday wore on, but still left him behind without trying on occasion, whereas on Saturday it had been a struggle to keep up at times. Still, I think all three of us had a good weekend, and we certainly covered some ground, that’s for sure. Whilst I feel I know my way around VT reasonably well Roger C proved an excellent guide all weekend throughout the 3V, and it was a real pleasure to ski with him, and Louis as well, who was not only good company, but managed to prove that the occasional boarder does actually spend less than half their time on the slopes sat on their bums!
I really should’ve posted this sooner, as I’ve lots more to tell to bring you up to date, including meeting up with 3 more snowHeads and everything else that has been keeping me so busy, but I guess that will have to wait until next time.
A bientot.
Ttfn
johnnyboy
Ps colbolt I too have a piste map with Tete Ronde marked as a red, I guess it must be an old one from last season; it's definitely a blue this season so it must have been regraded over the summer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Great to get the next instalment johnnyboy.
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As we did so the light really deteriorated, but fortunately it improved as we took the gondolas up, and we felt it was good enough to ski the black down
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Clearly a few consecutive weeks in the alps produces rapid progress!
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Johnnyboy,
Great update as usual. Not surprised that Tete Rond has been regraded; not the hardest red in the world. Still a great run mind like all of the ones coming down from Funitel Peclet. Looking forward for the next installment. 
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So, I’m on the bus back up to VT after my trip back to the UK for my mate’s wedding, and I had the choice of watching the tail end of Underworld Evolution, or trying to bring this up to date, and, as I said to Kate Beckinsale when I last saw her, she’ll just have to wait her turn, despite my current penchant for tasty brunettes.
After my weekend of skiing with Roger C and Louis, Monday and Tuesday were both bright and beautiful days. On Tuesday I made my way over to Courchevel to try to meet up with BMF Skier, but he ignored my texts and calls (still dealing with abandonment issues?), probably because he was skiing with the guide from his hotel, or possibly because now that he is staying in C1850 he doesn’t want to be seen associating with riffraff from VT anymore! I was also trying to ascertain as to whether he was free on the Wednesday, as another snowHead, who we had both met at the PSB, was in the 3V and up for a ski together. BMF Skier was playing hard to get, so I decided to try and go ahead to arrange meeting up with this PSBer, but the conversation was a bit like trying to get blood out of a stone:
Me: So, which lift do you usually start with in the morning?
PSBer: Er
Me: Well, I can easily drop down to Les Men before the lifts open if you like making first lift, where is a good place to meet in Les Men or Reberty?
PSBer: Um
Me: Or, if you’re not desperate to get first lift, tell me where and when?
PSBer: Er
Fortunately, having previously met the snowHead in question, I didn’t take this as a lack of enthusiasm for meeting up, it’s simply that directions, on roads or piste alike, are really not maggi’s forte, and we agreed that she would contact me in the morning having had a word with her OH. Sure enough, I duly received a text, saying she was coming up to meet me in VT, presumably with OH leading the way, for 10.15 at the Cairns lift. Having arrived a few minutes early I was perched outside when maggi turned up and uncertainly made her way towards me in a “Is it him or not” sort of way; always a little difficult to pick people out when most of their face is covered with hat and goggles. She introduced me not only to her husband (a saint in many snowHeads eyes, well, those that have met maggi that is!) thumbstruck, but also another member of their ski party and a PSBer in 2006, Rednose. Result, 3 snowHeads for the price of one!
The light on the run down to our meeting point had been very flat, and they said conditions higher up in VT were even worse, so we thought we’d drop back down to Les Menuires where things had been a little better. (Small aside, just looked out the windscreen and the road is far from clear, not even at St Martin de Belleville yet, so I’m guessing there’s been plenty of fresh in my absence). As the girls hadn’t skied La Masse, we went up there first, and made our way down, in varying light, to the restaurant just before the bottom where we stopped for a coffee/chocolate/beer/snifter from Rednose’s flask! From the bottom we took Doran and Mount de la Chambre lifts up; btw, for anyone who has skied with me so far over that side, I can confirm that the strange funnel with what appears to be a target in it under the lift is indeed for rubbish, there’s actually a sign at the bottom of the lift encouraging people to try to drop rubbish into it (supposedly in an attempt to keep the mountain clean! Surely the way to do that would be to keep your rubbish until you put it into a bin at a range of 6 inches rather than attempt to hit a bin from a moving chairlift, often in high winds, from 20 or 25 feet, but that’s obviously just me).
Our attempts at finding better light weren’t particularly successful; at times it was almost OK (ish), but at others you really couldn’t make too much out. However, that didn’t detract from a lovely morning’s skiing with three more wonderful snowHeads; I really have been fortunate that so many of you have made contact and met up with me so far this season, and I understand one or two more are coming out to VT in late April, perhaps I’ll manage to hook up with them as well! Seriously though, it has been a real pleasure catching up with so many great people already this season; I’m hoping to meet up with another snowHead this week, and if the first part of the season is anything to go by, there’ll be a few more before the season is out. It’s almost as if snowHeads is bringing likeminded people together………… (thanks again admin).
Btw, I had a cracking time at the wedding, and will have the pleasure of skiing with a few of the people there in a week’s time. The honeymooners have gone to Barcelona and the surrounding area this week, but next week they will be joining up in Courchevel with the groom’s sister, Martha, and her family (Keith, and the kids, Billy, Tom and Daisy, collectively the diblettes) and Mike and Rona, the groom’s parents, whose place many of us retired to after we were kicked out of the wedding reception at 1am. I eventually got home after 3am, and, needless to say, didn’t manage too much on Sunday!
Anyway, it’s good to get this up to date, though I’ve a nagging feeling I’m forgetting something. Still, we’re nearly in Les Menuires now, and Kate is getting a little impatient (you can only keep an international film star waiting for so long), so that will have to do for now.
Ttfn
johnnyboy
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| johnnyboy wrote: |
From the bottom we took Doran and Mount de la Chambre lifts up; btw, for anyone who has skied with me so far over that side, I can confirm that the strange funnel with what appears to be a target in it under the lift is indeed for rubbish, there’s actually a sign at the bottom of the lift encouraging people to try to drop rubbish into it (supposedly in an attempt to keep the mountain clean! Surely the way to do that would be to keep your rubbish until you put it into a bin at a range of 6 inches rather than attempt to hit a bin from a moving chairlift, often in high winds, from 20 or 25 feet, but that’s obviously just me).
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the great mystery solved at last - well done!!!!!!!
next time i'm there I'll have to make sure I have some rubbish.......
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| johnnyboy wrote: |
On Tuesday I made my way over to Courchevel to try to meet up with BMF Skier, but he ignored my texts and calls .......
BMF Skier was playing hard to get, |
John.... I have PM'd you.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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johnnyboy, can you give me a weather update and tell me what the snow is like out there at the moment - do I need to pack me thermals??  We're all looking forward to hitting the slopes with you at the weekend!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Guys...calm down....calm down, Its great to see variing degrees of snowheads, getting all flustered and exited at the same time, (and most around the same age group i'm guessing)...kids.....who'd ave em, Tsk. Unfortunatly "I" am the one at a loss, haveing only recently returned to snowheads after a long peiod inside..?! i mean....absent, I am only at the second installment of Jonneyboys epic journey to the other side of the.........channel.
But am already inthrawled, and know that i have to play catch up for the next few days, I recon by the time I get there one of you superdudes would have offered him a publishing deal, and rightly so. all this will pre-empt my boarding trip to Banff soon....I digress, Hope your still alive jonney, guys.......chill, or gi  ggle, which ever one you prefer
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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johnnyboy, Hello, how are you - was it something I said ?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Lol, Just read this from start to finish approx 2 hours maybe more with a couple of work related email in between. Great way to spend a Monday at work! Next monday i will be in Meribel 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Johnnyboy - great to meet you - glad you liked the "snifter". You made the best decision not taking both of us with you! We would have driven you mad. We were awarded the French and Saunders award in Reberty we just never shut up - did you notice that Thumbstruck had ear plugs in???? Here's wishing you lots of snow and ski-ing for the rest of the season.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Maggi - in your basket! Now a third post! Love You!!!
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My god, when johnnyboy embarked on this thread he was in search of mlle Cutie, now it looks more like a cast reunion from The Golden Girls 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
Have you gone into hiding or are we looking at the first snowheads abduction.
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maggi, Rednose, Put him back 
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FAQ
... and you can now join me in 
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