 Poster: A snowHead
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WARNING, THIS TRIP REPORT IS EXTREMELY LONG - VERY WAFFLY & DULL - STAY AWAY IF I WERE YOU!
Trip to Morillon, 24 – 31st March, 2007 with 2 children, rpft4 and rpft7
Intro! Rpft has skied from the age of 3 ish & (mr rpft) for about 7 weeks. Rpft4 has skied on plastic for 1 year and rpft7 for 2 years Plastic & snow. We are meeting my father and stepmother – my father has recently had a hip resurface operation & this is his first ski trip after the op – but he is a fantastic skier, has instructed for 50+ years and used to coach the GB army downhill team. Stepmother is a good skier, confident & fast.
Friday 23rd March
Woke up at 3.11 – completely unable to sleep so stagger into shower. Head completely immersed when I realise I have packed shampoo. Dog shampoo is only choice, v. strange start to day. Put sleepy but excited girls into car to leave at 3.30. Tunnel by 6.30, great journey all the way to Dijon, where John Cleese (tom-tom) tells us to take the left fork. Slightly confused, but do as we’re told. This is where the A31 splits; the A39 goes (to Bourge en Bresse) and the A31 continues on to Macon (the route we had always used) We take the A39 and it is a much quicker journey & strangely, the toll fees were halved by taking this route??? We stay the night in Bourg en Bresse – which is beautiful. The hotel was a Mercure & v. disappointing, expensive at 92 euros & no hot water. When we enquired, they asked “do you need hot water”?
The apartment was gorgeous – an MGM apartment owned by a brit. We booked it through Peak Retreats & it was really well equipped – the owner has left everything you could want to be comfortable – great selection of dvd’s too. (for ref. it is apartment E3, Refuge d’Alpage) The girls watch cartoons in the morning and to their delight Noddy is called Oui-Oui! The song ‘make way for oui-oui ‘ is still echoing around my head.
Ski School; My dad has kindly offered to pay for a week of ESF private lessons – 6 days of 2 hour lessons – 289 euros – pretty good value. We noticed that the ESF classes are all 12+ kids+ The instructor is called Michel Auboiron and he is a genius, we gave him 2 kids of different standards & he got the best from both of them. On the girls first lesson, rpft4 is upset until we are out of sight - he copes with this really well. A genuinely kind and talented instructor.
Michel is concerned about the difference in abilities, he offers to split the lessons – he also says that rpft7’s skis are too long (kids apparently need shorter skis on snow than plastic) – and that her pole guards make her poles too heavy. I hire some 110’s & she is doing parallels within 30 mins of the short skis/no poles change.
Skiing; The skiing is wonderful, sunny, warm days. Unfortunately the amazing Marvel green run to the village is closed. Rpft7 has been skiing with my dad & is horrendously fast – thankfully we have 4 adults to 2 children – and need this. It takes 2 people to ski with rpft4, we choose safe runs & ski to one side. Michel has taught her plough parallels – but she hasn’t skied on snow before and it is quite slow going, also, due to lack of snow in nearby resorts, the resort is busy and there are loads of scarily fast and seriously out of control people skiing. Some of the boarders are frightening, both girls are used to the Norfolk Ski Club boarders who are fast but talented. I can’t quite believe how many people are skiing & boarding beyond their capabilities – I haven’t ever noticed quite so many people being rescued off the mountain either - am I getting old? People are actually skiing dangerous lines into crowded pistes at incredible speeds without the skill to negotiate beginners doing unexpected things.
On Wednesday, Mr rpft gets sunstroke, his knee was sore, so he sat outside the mountain restaurant for the girls! Hot sun, cold beer, no sun bonnet & a distinct lack of hair = sunstroke
By Wednesday, Morillon has turned into a quagmire – the recent snow, then temperatures of up to 16 degrees have turned the walkways into mud. We are all covered. The girls keep slipping on the hills & caking their bums & hands with mud. Their ski kit is turning a browny colour – thankfully I always overpack & have packed about 4 suits each(!)
Dad’s hip was fine, he took it quite carefully (in his books!) and although skied quite fast, had lots of breaks & stopped whenever he felt tired. He had 2 eyewatering falls, which is v. unusual for him – but he must have felt more nervous than usual. After the ski holiday – they drove to Nice for a 4 day break with some friends & drove home via Val d’Isere for another weeks skiing. So the operation was a great success!
We decided to document all costs this time – big thing for us as we usually just close our eyes & throw cash at ski holidays, it was quite an interesting process. The journey to the alps was £200 each way for us – diesel & tolls and the food costs quite high during the week. We always do self catering as the journey is part of the holiday for us & we can throw everything in the car (& wine etc., on the way back).
If we return to Morillon, it would be at half term and to the same apartment. Next year we will probably try another small French village – but higher.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great waffle, oops sorry report rpft,  really enjoyed it and it sounds like the kids did really well.
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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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rpft, where exactly is Morillon? 
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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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rayscoops, grand massif - the same area as flaine.
Leis, Thank you - they loved it!
Ray Zorro, & provenjohn, it is worse than that actually - because the dog shampoo is for her eczema & slightly toxic, it is high up in the bathroom - away from 4 yr old reach!! boy it smelt awful - no more itchy scalp though
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provenjohn, our kids did the hairpins too, when we were there last. terrifying really, when your beloved 5 yr old disappears into a wood at speed! Have you read frosty the snowmans report about this? The apartment is just off the marvel run - you can ski down to it, under normal conditions.
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FAQ
