Hello from Val Thorens

A snowHead

johnnyboy, Noooooo he means a couple of Lardy boys to sort out/get rid of Mlle cutie's boyfriend.

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/did I mention Mlle Cutie has a boyfriend?/

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johnnyboy, For Goodness sake man . We all club together to pay you to 'Do the Job' ... and you take out the wrong member of the skiing group !! No wonder you've been hiding for a week and why Incogskisno is merrily chirping away in DC! wink

Glad you're well and enjoying !

After all it is free

johnnyboy, glad to see you back on form, I was getting quite worried about you, despite having received a text saying you'd got back ok and were fine Very Happy

Agenterre, Ray Zorro, Twisted Evil

Hi,Johnnyboy.
Have you been stranded by the striking lifties?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Right, I realise I’ve been neglecting you all again, so I thought I’d better make another report to put all your fears at rest. Please believe me, I’m still having a great time, it’s just that I’ve been skiing plenty in the daytime, and keeping occupied n the evenings, and I just don’t know where the days all go!

I picked up a PM last time I posted from littleblue , who is going to be in Les Menuires for most of the rest of the season. By the way, apologies to , whose PM I’m sorry to say I was too late to pick up, as they were going home the following day. Anyway, I text , saying I was more than happy to try to get together for a ski, even though she admitted to be a darksider. Having struggled to get to sleep for some reason that night, I was up quite late the next day, and, having had a shower and a lazy breakfast I was getting ready to hit the slopes when I realised I’d missed a text, suggesting a meet 10 minutes ago! I text back, and it turned out she was halfway down a run here in VT, so I said I could be at the bottom in about 10 minutes, including a brief description of my gear as indeed she had already done.

I scooted down to the bottom of the Boismint lift where I found littleblue waiting for me; fortunately it was so quiet there really was no mistaking her, and, introductions made we took the lift up and started a great day together. We covered a fair bit of ground within VT, including Lac Blanc twice. I’d suggested we head up there as all the runs from the top of the Funitel Peclet are pretty good, and, having had a great run down Lac Blanc, she suggested we ski it again. I certainly didn’t mind, as I think it is probably my favourite run in the whole resort.

We took the gondola up a third time, this time taking Christine down which dropped us towards the Moraine and Portette lifts, and we skied a few of the runs there before taking the Funitel Grand Fond up and dropping down into Orelle. We decided to take the Peyron lift up to check out the conditions, with a view to possibly heading back up the same lift and then right up to the top if the snow was OK. The gates at the lift were stuck open, so you just had to wait for a chair to go through and follow it to get in position for the next one to swing round and catch you. And I do mean catch you, as it’s one of the old slow chairs that doesn’t slow down to help you on or off.

So, having skied back down, we decided we would indeed head back up, and so we made our way back to the same lift again. This time a German couple in their fifties approached the gate with us, so littleblue was in the first seat, then me, then Frau German and finally Herr German. Well, as soon a chair swung past us, littleblue and I marched forward, and, seeing us go, the German couple eventually followed. Well, littleblue and I reached the front of the embarkation zone and looked back to ready ourselves for the approach of the chair. Unfortunately the German couple had been a little slow off the mark, and they were over a yard behind us when the chair arrived, taking them somewhat by surprise. It eventually scooped them both up, before swinging viciously back up towards littleblue and I. She managed to get on ok, but as I tried to sit I struggled to get squarely on the seat. I genuinely thought I was going to be thrown off the chair, it was a real close thing as I’m sure littleblue will confirm, until I finally managed to get my weight properly back and level onto the seat, if somewhat uncomfortably so. With a sigh of relief I relaxed a little, until I felt Frau German desperately fiddling with her poles which, it seemed, I had sat on! When the chair grabbed her she had been so ill prepared that her poles had ended up across my seat, which sort of explained why I had struggled to get squarely on the chair; I was trying to sit on a pole angled from her lap right across my seat. When I finally managed to get my bum back and into the seat, there was only going to be one winner, and when Frau German eventually managed to extricate her poles from behind/underneath me, one was bent at 45 degrees! I mumbled an apology, although it had hardly been my fault, but for the whole way up an extremely slow lift littleblue and I struggled like mad not to burst our sides laughing. You really had to be there, sat next to her for the bulk of the way up the lift, holding both poles parallel at the top, but with one bent at 45 degrees halfway along.

We skied until gone 4pm, by which time the snow was really starting to slush up quite badly. Until maybe two weeks ago the snow had been holding up really well decide the lack of recent snowfall, but I’m sad to say it is struggling at the moment; the prolonged warm spell is really starting to take its toll. We’ve had a fair bit of cloud at times this week, with a very light dusting one night (Tuesday or Wednesday), and then a more serious attempt on Friday afternoon when I was again skiing with littleblue, and two of her friends, Andrew and Sarah. The light hadn’t been good to start with, and after meeting in Les Menuires and starting down Mont de la Chambre, we quickly decided that, as the snow was so horrible, to head straight for VT. It was just the two of us at this point as Andrew and Sarah joined us later, and we did indeed find better snow over here. Visibility wasn’t great at the top of the Funitel Peclet, but improved fairly quickly and the run down was pretty good, but later, when we had been joined by it was a real pea souper when we got off the gondola, and it was a case of skiing, stopping, regrouping, and setting off again. We were slightly aided in this by Sarah’s ski pants, which were a bright luminous pink, but even they had a limited range as the visibility was so poor.

Eventually it did start trying to snow, but it was still so warm that it struggled to settle, running off the open umbrellas as water rather than settling as snow. There was maybe 2 or 3 inches overnight, but, in all honesty, we need rather more to get the resort back up to scratch,

I also managed to meet up a couple of times with a friend, James, who was in Meribel this last week. We skied together most of Thursday and I popped down to Meribel yesterday to catch up with him and his wife, Helen. We ended up back in their chalet, where they were looking after their 11 month old nephew, and, as it got to 15.40 I decided to make a move. They decided to pop out as well, but the process of getting young Jasper ready for his afternoon trip out was a little time consuming, and I ended up cutting things a little fine. Matters weren’t helped by the appalling visibility as I got off of Tougnete 1 to drop down into Mottaret, and I eventually managed to make the Cote Brune with barely 6 minutes to spare before last lift; definitely the closest I’ve cut it so far this season. James and Helen were part of the group on my first ever ski trip two years ago, so it was great being able to get around the mountain properly with him this time.

Anyway, that’s about it for now.

Ttfn

johnnyboy

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

Another great post. Keep 'em coming snowHead

and then I discovered the following 10 pages and noted the date of above snippet and made myself another brew to settle in - many many thanks johnnyboy, for your awesome postings!
Oh, and Pillars of the Earth being one of my favourite books and a page-turner I can understand your absence for a while there (having only discovered this thread though was not afflicted by withdrawal symptoms) get thee to amazon.com and order yourself World Without End - the next one, and just as good. Though this may well inflict another few weeks of snowheaders wondering what's happened to you...tis also a weighty tome!!

You know it makes sense.

sallywt, Stop distracting johnnyboy, we need his reports. Reading books, that's just a novel idea. Toofy Grin

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

geepee, many apologies. I won't mention the 932 page amazing Shantaram as well then... Toofy Grin

A snowHead

A snowHead

Snow. Finally snow. I awoke this morning to the first decent snowfall in ages, I’m guessing about 20-25cm since yesterday afternoon, and it’s still coming down. What a difference it will make; things were getting so bad that they were even running the snow canons yesterday afternoon at about 2.15 just below the Deux Lacs lift!

After the 2-3inches we had Friday night, VT was skiing better, certainly better than Meribel when I was there on Saturday; I thought the central bit in Motterat was suffering when I skied through it, but down in Meribel itself the section by all the lifts had been reduced to an 8 inch layer of slush, if not water, another thing that slowed me down as I made my hurried, “OMG I‘ve cut this fine“ return on Saturday afternoon.

So, VT on Sunday was better than it had been recently, and Monday I had arranged to meet up with littleblue and her friends again, so I dropped down what they affectionately (not) refer to as the glue road, or even araldite alley, Boulevard Cumin, which, let’s be honest, is never going to be a boarder’s favourite. littleblue and I went up La Masse, and skied the red down to the bottom of La Masse 2, going back up and taking the black, which was in pretty good shape, but even in the time between those runs the section of red we joined had cut up and was in noticeably worse condition. Sarah and Andrew had surfaced by this time, and were heading straight for VT, so we dropped down and followed in their wake, eventually catching up with them on the Moraine. When we had been skiing La Masse the sun had been out, shining brightly although the air temperature was decidedly cooler than of late, but, having got on the Deux Lacs lift in bright sunshine, we emerged in poor light as a bank of cloud rolled across.

All three of them were wearing helmets yesterday; when littleblue came up to me as I waited for her at the lift up to La Masse, she came out with “Didn’t think you’d recognise me”, hardly surprising given that she had a full face helmet and goggles on! The reason for the helmets was the helmet cam they had brought with them, and they took turns in filming throughout the day. We played around on Moraine and then took Grand Fond up and came down Niverolles before heading back to the resort to take the Funitel Peclet up, a gondola ride with a little drama as a lad of about 10 or 12, standing in the middle of the gondola, passed out halfway up. With lots of shuffling around his skiing companions/family eventually managed to get him seated, and he seemed OK as we piled out at the top. We skied Lac Blanc and then returned to do Tete Ronde, both of which were in pretty good shape despite it being mid afternoon by this point, and then Sarah and Andrew decided they wanted to try the luge. Having heard about their mishaps on their last trip down the course, which runs all the way from the top of the gondola down to the resort, a vertical of nearly 700 metres, when Andrew broke a rib and his “Nintendo” thumb (just weeks before a major gaming weekend as well!) and split his lip, and, having seen both Sarah and Andrew taking out littleblue with their boards, I decided discretion was definitely the better part of valour and said I’d stick to my skis for the time being, thank you very much!

littleblue and I took two more trips up the gondola, skiing Lac Blanc again, and then taking Christine, which must have had a night off from the piste basher’s attention. There were moguls at the top, which weren’t great as the light had gone flat again as another bank of cloud rolled in, but as we got halfway down we ran into some low-lying cloud and visibility was awful, especially when trying to navigate the moguls on the narrower section. We headed home from there, with everyone else on the mountain doing the same I think, as the run back to the resort was just a mass of bodies.

Monday night there was a little snow, about 1-1½ inches, but the temperature had definitely dropped and it didn’t melt as soon as the sun appeared, a good sign. Tuesday was Sarah and Andrew’s last day, and I was again invited to ski with the three of them. They headed directly up to VT, although made a bit of a late start and didn’t get here till just before noon. I was slightly behind them on a couple of lifts, but easily spotted them from the lift as they were coming down Moraine, thanks mainly to Sarah’s aforementioned pink ski pants, and caught up with them towards the bottom of the run. From there we headed down to the Caron and Cime Caron lifts, going right up to the viewpoint there, before skiing back down in quite nice snow (in places at any rate) but very bad light. We took Boismint up and came down the blue, before taking Moutiers back up and stopping for a bite at picnic tables there, watching some boarders try tricks into the inflatable crash pad in the snow park just below.

Stopping for lunch is all well and good, but I always find that I can get a little cold afterwards, mainly due to circulation slowing down, and possibly blood being diverted to the stomach if you have a bite to eat as well. Mind you, it was the coldest it’s been for weeks, which obviously didn’t help, and I think the other three were feeling it a little too, as littleblue suggested the gondola so we “wouldn’t have to sit on a freezing chairlift”. We skied down to the gondola, only to find it was “ferme”, so took the Deux Lacs chair back up almost to where we had been, and then the Moraine. Now, as my hands were freezing at this point, I was making a fist inside each glove to warm them up, precariously holding my poles between my knees; littleblue at least of the others was doing likewise with her hands As we sat on the chair, doing our best to keep warm, littleblue told us that unfortunately she didn’t have her inner gloves with her, she had left them safe and sound inside a sock!!! Despite 2 laptops, DVD player, Ipod etc in her apartment, it was her inner gloves that she hid away in her socks, which we naturally found quite amusing. Somehow the conversation then worked its way around to her 36 year old horse, which keeps surprising everyone by surviving winter after winter. Well, she continued on about her poor, arthritic old horse being hassled by the other younger horses at the stables, with lots of gesturing and horsey sounds, and had the other three of us in stitches. As I was the only skier with three boarders, I felt it wise to remind her of the extra apparatus skiers have to look after on chairlifts, namely their poles, as it was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid dropping them with no hands to hold them and much littleblue inspired hilarity, so I innocently said “Stop it please, I’ve got poles”, which, as boarders, they obviously didn’t have. Now, whether it was my southern accent to 3 northerners, or whether the cold was stopping my mouth from working properly, but they all thought I’d said “Stop it please, I’ve got piles”, which would have been a rather frank admission, but in the cold conditions perhaps a distinct possibility. How I managed to hang onto my poles after that I’ll never know, I was laughing so much it hurt.

We eventually managed to get off the lift just about intact, and headed off on what was to be our last run of the day. The light was not good at this point, but the snow, considering the time of day, had held up really well; the colder temperature had certainly helped in this regard. We reached the bottom safely in one piece, unlike someone earlier in the day that had had to be helicoptered off the mountain, and I bid them farewell and safe journey; littleblue is also returning to the UK for a few days although I’ll hopefully ski with her again on her return.

I returned to my apartment feeling frozen; my hands especially, although my feet to a lesser degree, quite painful as sensation gradually returned to them, and it was quite a relief that nothing had fallen off. However, the cold was a good sign, as it started snowing and continued through the night with, as I said, maybe 8-10 inches since yesterday afternoon. Definitely just what the doctor ordered. Now, if only he could do something about those……..

Ttfn

johnnyboy

Ps

I wrote all that this morning, when visibility was so poor that I didn’t think I’d get out there today, but by late morning things were looking better so I set off up the Funitel Peclet. The light was pretty good at the top, but less so as I made my way down Lac Blanc. As I took the gondola back up, I read a text from littleblue who, seeing the snow fall last night had put off her trip back for another week. She was having fun on La Masse, so I headed down a very sticky glue road, but by the time I read a reply from her in the La Masse 1 gondola, she had headed up to VT! We eventually met at the top of the triple gondola up from VT, me having advised against Boulevard Cumin as, due to it’s extreme stickiness, I’d passed boarders walking along it earlier, and we skied back down to her apartment for a coffee, and to allow me to raid her DVD collection which would put Blockbusters to shame!

Generally the snow was great in VT, less so in Les Menuires, where I found more ice than I have in the rest of the season put together; the colder weather has let the ice form, and made for very inconsistent snow, from lovely fresh to ice every few yards. Suitably refreshed, we headed back out, up to the top of Mont de la Chambre, but, in addition to changing snow, the light varied from absolutely dreadful to completely flat, and we decided to head back to our respective apartments to hope for more snow overnight, and perhaps clearer conditions tomorrow.

sallywt Unfortunately I used up all the funny stuff in the first post, the rest has just been drivel.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

great post, LMAO about the chair lift Laughing

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Good to hear from you again johnnyboy.

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So, time for my latest update. It’s blowing a hoolie out there today, with half the lifts closed and huge queues at the others, complete with cloud cover to boot, so once a meet up with Colin, who was out here in January, and some more hockey club guys was postponed till later in the week, I decided to call it a day and hope for better conditions tomorrow. Unfortunately the half a metre of snow forecast for the weekend has yet to materialise, and, despite the snow last week things are looking decidedly bare at places, especially down in Les Menuires and Meribel.

After the poor light on Wednesday, Thursday dawned clear and bright, if very cold; still, at least the drop in temperature meant that the slopes were holding up right through the afternoon rather than turning to slush as had been happening in the warmer weather. After a couple of runs from the top of the gondola, I met up with littleblue and we headed back up again, enjoying a near empty run down Lac Blanc. We decided to head up Cime Caron, hoping to avoid the queues as we had at a similar time with Sarah and Andrew earlier in the week, but the bright sunshine meant a huge queue for the cable car, so we decided to work our way up to the Funitel Grand Fond and take a run from there. I was all set to head down a run back to VT when littleblue suggested the intinerary route from the back of the chairs in Orelle, as the recent snow would probably have made it quite nice. Now, I’ve not done a proper off piste run since my early season trauma with Topsmoke, my off piste experience really limited to small sections between pistes, but I’ve skied with littleblue a fair bit over the last couple of weeks, and trusted her not to ask too much of me, so we headed over towards Orelle. We dropped off the side of the piste on the way down to give me a feel for the snow; I certainly felt it when I tumbled as I completed my first turn too sharply, but managed the rest on my feet, if with even less style than I usually manage on piste!

From the mid station we took the chairs up the side of the valley, before ducking under the ropes at the top and setting off, through some moguls before a narrowish and steepish (for me at any rate) traverse. From there we had the whole area pretty much to ourselves, and I had my first real taste of off piste. I did find weight distribution a bit tough; my primarily piste skis were prone to dig in if my weight was too far forward, and, as edges were pretty much redundant, the only way I found to control my speed was very big Ss as I made my way down a not very steep slope. Still, it was a lot of fun, and the snow was lovely and soft, as I found when I face planted when I got it all wrong, skis dug right in and over I went. Unfortunately all littleblue saw of it was my skis stuck up in the air as I tried to get back on my feet, but I decided it was time to start using my powder skirt as it was pretty spectacular and I got snow everywhere.

We headed back down just in time to see a helicopter rescue of 3 guys from some rocks just above the midstation; we didn’t see any equipment come down, but the helicopter had to make two trips up before dropping the guys just across from where we had stopped on the piste. The excitement over we headed back up to do the run again, having to use what has rapidly become our least favourite chair in the 3V, Peyron, the scene of the bent German pole incident. It really does grab you as it swings round, and on our first trip up littleblue was anything but secure as we got on with two other people; it always seems to threaten to throw someone off, especially if it is loading 4 at a time. Fortunately second time round there was just the two of us, and we managed to get on it reasonably well, but it certainly isn’t for the faint hearted. As we ducked under the rope to do the run again and searched for somewhere for littleblue to do up her bindings, she casually pointed to a small indentation in the snow and said “I think I made that with my butt last time” at which point we both collapsed with laughter. You probably had to be there, but it was just the offhand way in which she said it had us both in stitches.

Apart from a moment on the traverse, the run was a lot smoother this time, and we got high enough to leave some nice tracks on our way down before finally heading back over to VT and home after an excellent day’s skiing.

Friday the light wasn’t that great and I must admit, on such days I’m not as tempted to stay out as I was earlier in the season, so I decided to save my strength for Saturday; I had suggested a trip over to Courchevel to make the most of changeover day lack of queues. When I first looked out on Saturday the skies were clear and blue, but as I had breakfast visibility deteriorated as cloud swept in. Fortunately by the time I headed out things had improved again, but, as I took the triple gondola up cloud was sweeping up the valley again, with Les Menuires completely hidden. Still, it was bright blue skies at the top where I met little blue, but when we stopped halfway down Lac de la Chambre and she asked me to warn her when we reached the flat bit, I glanced over my shoulder and realised that said section, just down the hill from where we had stopped, was completely hidden by lowlying cloud. We had intended skiing Mont Vallon, but the cloud made it rather unappealing, and so we made our way straight down to Mottaret and from there up to Saulire, passing back through the band of cloud as we did so. The view from the top was really quite strange; the cloud made small islands of the mountain peaks in all directions as it filled both the Meribel and Courchevel valleys either side of us.

We took Creux down, and, despite a small section as we dropped through the cloud, the light beneath the cloud wasn’t too bad. We played around in 1650 for a while, before heading back to 1850 and taking some runs there. The snow was a bit suspect in places, with some runs really quite icy, but fortunately the cloud lifted and we skied in sunshine for most of the day. When we’d had enough of 1850 we headed down towards Meribel, intending to head up to Les Menuires and doing a couple of runs there; the snow, although better than when I was there the previous Saturday, really was struggling in places that low down, and unfortunately the Verdet run we had intended to take into Les Menuires was shut as well. We worked our way back up and took Jerusalem, which was a run of two halves so to speak; the top was the lovely run most who have skied it remember it as, but, suddenly, we crested a brow and were in slush!

We worked our way up Les Menuires, staying high, before dropping down into the Meribel Valley to get the Cote Brune chair back up, doing another section of off piste, in rather less appealing snow this time, as we dropped down to the chair. The cloud had started to close in again by this time, almost seeming to chase us from Les Menuires as we dropped into the adjacent valley, so we skied down Mont de la Chambre in deteriorating light and called it a day.

Right, that’s about it for now.

Ttfn

johnnyboy

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Good update johnnyboy, liked the descriptions of your antics off the Orelle chair, and yes, that chair is a pig.

After all it is free

Well, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag here weatherwise this week. Monday was so windy half the lifts were shut here, meaning huge queues at those that were actually open. However, there was snow overnight, which should have led to a good day Tuesday, but unfortunately it was so cold that the still falling snow was freezing on my goggles, meaning that I was skiing blind within 50 yards of clearing them. I still find poor visibility really affects what little technique I have, and decided to call it a day after a few runs, despite the good conditions underfoot. Wednesday was another day of poor light; I dropped down to Les Menuires to swap the DVDs I had borrowed from littleblue for some more (she’s got me hooked on The 4400 and Grey’s Anatomy, amongst others), but having made my way back I wasn’t particularly tempted to stay out.

However, things definitely brightened up on Thursday, which was a great day; it was also noticeable that, despite the improvement in the weather, there were fewer queues around; the resort definitely seems quieter this week. Friday was bright too, and I managed to catch up with the guys from my hockey club who are staying in La Tania this week. Their chalet host brought the group of 11 over to VT, and I skied with them here and part of the way back, dropping down to Mottaret before heading home. They said that the snow here in VT was better than they had seen elsewhere, and I must admit the last section down to the lifts in Mottaret was pretty bad; big slushy moguls with icy bits in between, not a good combination at all.

Saturday started off nice and bright, although the light did deteriorate as the day went on, and, after snow last night (probably 4-6 inches) it’s been overcast and flat most so the day, and still relatively warm. Some more snow wouldn’t be amiss, but colder weather would also help what does fall hold up rather better.

Tomorrow sees the arrival of another friend, Ben, who was also on my first ski trip to Courchevel two years ago; he will be the sixth out of the other seven on that trip that I will have caught up with out here (the only other one being Martyn’s ex-girlfriend Juliette), and so I’m looking forward to getting around the mountain with him rather more than I was able to on that first trip.

Which conveniently brings me round to that first trip, and my initiation to the world of skiing, which I think perhaps it’s time I shared. Now, as I’ve already said, there was a party of eight of us, all of whom were at least competent skiers apart from me and Juliette, who had a week in Andorra under her belt, whereas I’d only had two or three lessons on a dry slope. Juliette had arranged ski school for us in advance, with ESF, and although I was happy to be in the same class as her, I was a little wary as to my lack of ability (and rightly so)!

We’d arrived on the Saturday, some of us from Bristol, some from Gatwick, and all met up on the coaches at Lyon airport before the journey to Courchevel. After getting our ski equipment sorted, we had our evening meal and then a few drinks, and a few more before finally hitting the sack. And so, after a breakfast consisting mainly of coffee and orange juice, I got ready for my first morning on snow, wearing thermal leggings under my insulated ski pants, and a base layer, tea shirt, fleece and thick jacket. I struggled down to the boot room, buckled those “Oh so comfortable” hire boots up and started the 250yard hike to the ski school meet with Martyn, Juliette and a couple of the others in the group who were then heading up the mountain.

By this time I was already roasting; it was glorious weather all week, 7 or 8 degrees most days, and I was sweating profusely by the time we reached ski school. There were just two others in our class, so the five of us took the Verdons gondola up (and up, and up, or so it felt at the time). Having emerged at the top, we all put on our skis and the instructor just pointed across the run and told us to ski down and stop, maybe 40 or 50 yards away. The two strangers managed it fine, then Juliette did, then I tried, but tumbled over and over and over! Not a very good start.

No worries said the instructor, helping me to my feet, and then the other three made their way safely back across the piste while I repeated my tumbling floor exercise again as an alternative means of stopping. I’d quickly realised that Juliette’s confidence in me being able to ski in the same class was totally misplaced; a couple of dry slope lessons were no match for a week on snow. Not wanting to hold up the other three students I kept asking the instructor to carry on without me, but he wouldn’t listen, even after another two or three more sets of somersaults down the slope. I was also starting to feel a little green by this point; a combination of the beers the previous night, the over-abundance of clothes making me way too hot, the continuous head over heels tumbling down the slope, and the strong coffee for breakfast which then made a brief reappearance! The instructor finally decided to concede defeat at this point, as I took my skis off and started walking very disconsolately back up to the gondola. What an introduction; I’d lasted about 10 minutes on snow before admitting defeat, and, having taken the gondola back down, I trudged wearily back to the hotel, stripped off a couple of layers of clothes and crashed out thinking what a total waste of time and money it had all been.

A couple of friends came and collected me at lunchtime and we met up with the others at a restaurant down in the resort. Martyn and Juliette had managed to swap my aborted morning lesson for one that afternoon, and so I rather warily made my way back to ski school for round two! My morning instructor came over and had a word with the two instructors dealing with the beginners class, which was then split into two groups; me and two others in one class, and a number of people who looked like they had never even seen snow before in the other. I so wanted to be in that class, especially as, having made our way to the Jardin Alpin gondola, we stayed on at the first stop, and at the second, before finally emerging at the top. It was déjà vu all over again! I really wanted to be in the group heading for the magic carpet, but, oh no, I had been taken to the top of another gondola again.

I was very nervously led from there over to the beginners area over by the Altiport (not without a few mishaps I might add), and had my first proper lesson there. My initial concern, that I was once again in the wrong class, had disappeared by the end of that first lesson, as I felt I was the middle one of the three of us by then, and I was lucky enough to be in a class of no more than five for the whole week, although most of the time it was just the original three. My confidence grew, way in advance of my ability, and, after my jet pack Johnny incident the following afternoon (I was back in morning only lessons from the second day onwards) I was totally hooked.

The first slope I was tried on, Verdons, remained a favourite of Juliette and mine throughout the week; the relatively steep (for a green at any rate) top section giving way to a nice flat section as you work down to the Coqs and Boillay lifts, and I clearly remember my joy, on that second afternoon, of skiing it without falling over. My first attempt that afternoon I must have fallen over six, eight, maybe even ten times on that top section alone, nearly all of them because I turned too far back up the slope in my snowplough as I attempted to slow myself, and then rolling backwards down the slope before falling, but, under Martyn’s very patient guidance, I managed to ski it without falling that same afternoon.

I particularly liked that run because, as the week went on, I felt confident enough to stop zig zagging across the slope higher and higher up the run, buoyed by the knowledge of the flat run out area that offered plenty of time to slow down afterwards, as long as I stayed on my feet that is! I skied it last Saturday when I was over in Courchevel with littleblue, and I must admit I just shot straight down the run, leaving her trailing in my wake. That run holds a lot of very happy memories for me, despite a far from ideal introduction, playing host to both that first morning and the aforementioned jet pack Johnny incidents among many, many more.

Anyway, that about does it for now.

Ttfn

johnnyboy

Good to hear from you again johnnyboy.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Johnny, I think your memory may be selective. I'm sure you cried on your first lesson...

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

johnnyboy, 4 n a bit weeks until we see ya Very Happy

snow reports

Frosty the Snowman, he he he, only 2 sleeps and a wrestless night on the train for me Toofy Grin

..... and then 4 weeks. hehehehehehe NehNeh

Don't hate me 'cause I'm beaut.. I mean, Lady-Skis-A-Lot Laughing

Well, where to start? My friend Ben has been and gone since I last posted, and now flowa has returned for her second trip of the season. Oh, and it’s snowed all day since 7am, with 21cm more forecast between 4pm and 7pm.

Ben arrived on Monday evening, on the last bus up, and, having sorted out some hire skis just before the shop shut, we headed out for a couple of beers, finishing up upstairs in the Moo Bar. It was great catching up with him again; he’s worked overseas for the best part of the last 4 years, although he has returned to Bristol with his wife since I’ve been out here.

We were up bright and early on Tuesday, and it was gorgeous out there. The initial plan was to head for Courchevel to make the most of the good weather, so we took Plein Sud and the triple gondola up and started down Lac de la Chambre. We took it fairly steady, Ben having a few boot issues, but, he said, that was quite usual for him on a first morning. He genuinely looked to in a lot of pain, and so I suggested staying closer to home might be an idea. After Plan des Mains and Cote Brune chairs we skied back down to VT and eventually made our way to Tete Ronde, and then Moraine, where we stopped for a rest for Ben’s poor (and very sore) feet.

Hoping for a slightly less painful afternoon, we headed up Portette, and, noticing that Cime Caron was now open again (it having been shut first thing) we went down past Funitel Grand Fond towards the it, unfortunately down a rather cut up section. The moguls and bumps really aggravated Ben’s already painful feet, and, seeing the huge queue for the cable car we skied back down to Moutiers (the chair, not the town!) and headed home.

Wednesday unfortunately followed a similar pattern, as Ben struggled with really painful boots which restricted his skiing to a handful of runs in the morning, and a thrashing at cards in the afternoon! We were sat on the balcony in glorious sunshine to start off with, doing our best to work our way through a crate of beers, until the weather started to close in as the afternoon progressed. Only a very light dusting of snow though, but things had definitely turned colder.

Thursday morning saw the arrival of flowa on the first coach of the day up from Moutiers. She was completed psyched to be skiing again, even though it was only 5 days since her return from the MSB! After a quick change into her ski gear we all hit the slopes again, and I’m sorry to say Ben had little improvement with his boots, despite a change to no footbed in one boot, and an off the shelf footbed in the other, as alternatives to his custom made ones. He’s skied with the boots and footbeds for 4 weeks previously without any particular issues (apart, as I said, from a little first morning pain), but, whatever he tried this week, he wasn’t able to avoid considerable pain on every run we skied. We had an earlyish lunch and a relatively quiet afternoon before stopping for a demi at the top of the pomas.

Having made our way safely home, and finishing the 2 remaining beers from the crate of 26 Ben and I had attacked the previous day, we trecked up to the Viking to make the most of their 2-for-1 happy hour (well, 3 hours actually, 4pm to 7!). We played a bit of pool, and flowa did her best to make every bloke in the bar exceptionally jealous by disappearing behind the bar with the hot blonde barmaid, sorting out some music from her Ipod!

From there we had a bite to eat before a final pint in the Eclipse and a couple of episodes of Flight of the Conchords before crashing out. Snow had been forecast overnight, but, when flowa’s alarm, still set for 6.45am (oops!) woke her she said it had yet to start. However, it did soon after, and it hasn’t stopped all day. I wandered up to see Ben off before heading out to join flowa who had already hit the slopes. Having taken the Funitel Peclet up our options were a bit limited as Tete Ronde and Christine were closed, so, along with nearly everyone else taking the gondola up, we headed down Lac Blanc, which was more crowded that I’ve ever seen it. Visibility wasn’t that great, and, although the snow was lovely it was pretty tiring for inexperienced off-pisters such as flowa and myself, especially in the light (or lack thereof).

We generally stuck to blues after that, both working at improving our technique in the powder we were finding on the piste, with varying success; flowa having a Eurika moment on our last run of the day whilst my technique was suspect at best! Having cracked it, flowa was keen for one more run, but even the Cascades chair, which was one of the last lifts to stay open in the deteriorating conditions, closed early and we had to head straight home instead. Still, it was a great day out there; cruising down the edges of the piste you could easily end up knee deep or more in snow, and proper off piste was completely mental. We didn’t cover a huge amount of ground, but it was fun trying out the different conditions, and, with more snow forecast this evening but better visibility on the cards tomorrow, we may well head over to Courchevel.

Just to clear up a small point following my last post, despite TheDTs comments I will reiterate that absolutely no tears were shed in my first lesson, and rumours to the contrary are just artistic license (mainly from my mate James if memory serves correct, who, although on the holiday was nowhere near me for the total of 10 minutes that I lasted in the lesson) in an attempt to make for a better story. I think lasting only 10 minutes in my first ever lesson is a claim to fame anyway, but James, as a barrister, does like to spin a yarn!

I think that about brings things up to date, so I’ll bid you all farewell for the time being.

Ttfn

johnnyboy

You know it makes sense.

It’s official: I’m a jinx! After Ben’s boot issues last week, flowa has now been incapacitated! I’d better warn the nearest hospital to make sure they have a whole ward free when my next visitors, four of them, arrive in 10 days time!

But I’m skipping ahead. After the huge dump of snow all day Friday, the forecast for Saturday unfortunately changed to poor visibility, but by the time we hit the slopes the skies were bright and clear. We decided on another attempt to get over to Courchevel, but, after taking Plein Sud up we discovered the links over were shut, probably due to avalanche risk higher up. We dropped down and took the Boismint chair and skied all the way down to Plan de l’eau; it was absolutely great, even where the run was slightly cut up, the snow was so soft and fluffy it was a real joy to ski on.

After a quick break we decided to head down to Les Menuires to try to cross over to Meribel from there, but, despite seeing the Bruyeres gondola operating from the bottom, it proved a false hope as the cars were only going up to the mid-station. Instead we took the two drags back up to coast back down to VT along Montaulever, and played around close to home in varying light for the rest of the afternoon. The penultimate run of the day was Niverolles and Fond, where the light really went and it was quite a struggle to get down. flowa then suggested popping up to the top of Plein Sud for a cheeky half, to get me into the habit for the EOSB I think, and while we were there the light improved dramatically for a very pleasant last run of the day.

Sunday we finally made it over to Mottaret, taking Lac de la Chambre which was in really great shape, with probably the nicest snow I’ve seen there all season. We took Plan des Mains up and then Sitelle down to the Plattieres 1 station where we stopped for a short breather. Unbeknown to flowa (although following an earlier request to do so), when she set off for the run into Mottaret I took out my camera and, holding it in one hand and both poles and removed glove in the other, I filmed her all the way down, managing to keep up, avoid falling over, and, largely, keep her in frame as well (most of the time anyway)! “I’ve never been filmed from behind before” she later claimed……

From Mottaret we had just decided to continue on to Courchevel when flowa received a text reply from topbeefchief who, along with his friend Steve, she had met on the train over here on Wednesday night. They are visiting some friends, waiter (who has apparently been stalking me in an online capacity, well, following my exploits on here at least) and his girlfriend Kate who are doing a season together in Mottaret, and had just got on the Pas du Lac on their way to Courchevel. We followed them up and met them at the top before spending a very enjoyable morning with them, going right over to 1650 before meeting up with waiter and Kate on our way back. We made it back to Mottaret for a late lunch, before splitting up and heading home after another great day.

Having found some user friendly off piste over in 1650 (though hardly getting the best of it, it has to be said; it wasn’t really steep enough to do too much, I just managed to stay on my feet, but flowa made the mistake of putting in a turn, running out of steam and tumbling in a hollow that took a big effort to get up and out of!), we arranged to meet up with littleblue today to find some more a little closer to home. After a couple of runs we met littleblue and headed up Portette in deteriorating light, for a true lesson in humility! I managed a few turns in two foot deep power just off the edge before tumbling, and even flowa was little better. Subsequent attempts were carbon copies; turn, turn, fall (or sometimes turn, fall, or even just fall!). I dropped a little lower than intended and had to fight my way to get back to the piste; I really needed a breather when I finally joined littleblue and flowa. The light was pretty poor by this point (that’s my excuse anyway!), but I think I’ve got an awful long way to go before managing any semblance of control in such deep snow.

Having reached the security of the piste, we set off again, but her exertions in the powder had seriously aggravated a strain in flowa’s leg/ankle that she has been nursing since Friday. She couldn’t tolerate any weight on it by this point, and had to ski the run on one leg! We all stopped for a drink at the bottom of the run, before littleblue and I headed back up for a few more runs, with flowa sensibly calling it a day. The snow was really great, but the light was less so, and eventually I too decided to head home. It’s a shame not to be out there when the snow is so inviting, but the poor light, wind and falling snow made a less than ideal combination, so I’ll just have to hope for something a little better tomorrow.

It was quite chilly out there today, and temperatures are due to stay fairly low for a while, which is good news for all those coming out for the EOSB in less than four weeks now; even if there is little more snow the cold snap forecast should help to keep things in good shape for you all. flowa has already recounted various exploits both from previous EOSBs and the recent MSB, so I’m really looking forward to seeing so many of you all out here, even if it means that my time here will be drawing to a close when you all arrive.

Anyway, that’s about it for now.

Ttfn

johnnyboy

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

johnnyboy, I'm going to miss you when your season ends. Sad

A snowHead

Thanks for the update johnnyboy. Of course, you realise now that we are on the 4 week countdown that we need more frequent postings (preferably in line with the growing anticipation) even if it's just to reassure us that you're saving some of the white stuff just for us!
snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Ask and you shall receive! Well, it worked today at any rate. In my last post I was hoping for better visibility to enjoy the snow conditions, but just after I posted a chap at another table asked me to check the forecast for the rest of the week. Metcheck had 100% cloud cover all day today, but, boy, did they get it wrong! It was clear blue skies nearly all day, with just the fluffiest of clouds making an appearance late on.

We made a bit of a late start today, a combination of a late night and flowa’s bad leg meaning we were in no particular hurry to make first (or second, or third for that matter) lift. After a lovely meal in La Pailote, we popped into the Eclipse bar for a couple of frames of pool, but the music was far from flowa’s tastes and soon enough she could stand it no longer. From there we headed up to the Viking for another drink, and flowa found both the music and the DJ for that matter much more to her liking!

By the time we had wandered back down through the resort it was nearly 02.30am, so, for once, the alarm got a morning off and I slept till 9.30 or so. flowa had already done the croissant run (what a star) and after a leisurely breakfast we eventually headed out at gone 10.30; sacrilege! Unfortunately the gondola, although running, was shut so we dropped down to Caron to ski the gentle Gentiane blue as a test for flowa’s strained leg. Unfortunately even that proved to be jarringly painful, and that set the tone, with steady runs and regular stops very much the order of the day. We dropped right down to Plan de L’eau and then stopped for the first of the day’s breaks at the restaurant there; it was fantastic sat in the deck chairs in what is a real suntrap. Photo is the view from one side of my seat, of La Masse as I know lots of you really like it. Please note the 100% cloud cover (sorry Metcheck!).

We took it pretty steady most of the day; the snow and visibility were absolutely perfect, although the wind was bitter on some of the runs, Moraine in particular. We made one more aborted attempt to get up the gondola late in the day, but the queue was so big we dropped down to Plein Sud instead, again having a cheeky half at the top before skiing back down as flowa’s last run, well, for three and a half weeks anyway. I took a couple of snaps from the terrace while we supped our drinks, and, following requests from Eeyore I told flowa that I intend to try to post regular pics, from the same spot somewhere in the resort, to let you all keep track of what the snow is doing here. The terrace is one possibility, the restaurant by the Moraine lift is another, and, of course, the easiest would be from my own balcony. Any preference people? Having just taken a few photos from my balcony, I think I might just go with this one, which shows a couple of runs but some rocks to help keep track of snow cover.

Anyway, thought I’d make a quick post today, whilst waiting to see flowa off on the coach down to Moutiers, where she will probably catch up with topbeefchief and Steve who are also due to be on the overnight train to Paris this evening.

Time to go.

ttfn

johnnyboy

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La Masse

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View from my balcony; want daily updates of this?

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johnnyboy, from your balcony would be ace Very Happy

After all it is free

JohnnyBoy, Thank you soooooo much for being such a generous host to me again. I had a lovely holiday and really appreciated the way you let me call the runs - as I'm sure you do for all your guests! Smile

you are such a gent.

I'm camped at the station after a smooth coach journey.

There's snow on the ground here! Smile

TopBeefChief has just pm'd me to say they'll be here soon so we're all set Smile

See you in a few weeks.
F xx

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I would like a photo update on your beer stack, Anna would like one of your facial hair status.. Many thanks in advance, TheDT's

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