 Poster: A snowHead
|
So, I had just booked up for the EOSB when I received an email from ‘Whitelines’ to say I had won a competition. Turned out it was a week’s accommodation for one near St Martin De Belleville to be used this season. Well I had already taken too much time off this year and business had been quiet during the bad weather so Easter week would be my only option. I checked with the chalet host to see if I could bring Mounta1nGoat and a deal was agreed for a few extra shekels. Mounta1nGoat agreed to the option of skiing rather than a cheap week in Wales Climbing (his preferred sport).
This was our first non agent ski trip, so Sleazyjet tickets Luton to Geneva were duly purchased, Mounta1nGoat did ask if we could go by train (more to that later) but by then I had booked the flights. The search went out for cheap transfers, got a bit of a shock at the cost of these until I remembered someone had mentioned www.bensbus.co.uk on a thread, £67 return each = booked!
Now apart from some superb lessons with rob@rar and Skimottaret of www.insideoutskiing.co.uk at the Hemel Dome, Mounta1nGoat and I had only ever had a few beginners group lessons on real snow in the past and we had never been very impressed by these. I felt that it was perhaps time that we tried again so asked Skimottaret, as he has a place in the 3V, if he could recommend anyone. He recommended Izzy Milne of www.piste2peak.co.uk, there were others on the list before any of his colleagues get upset but she was at the top  .
As we were about to leave I realised we didn’t have an full address to go to, just the name of the village, so sent a message to get details, reply was don’t worry give me a ring when the coach drops you off and I will pop down and pick you up. It did cross my mind for a moment that the whole thing might have been a wind up by one of you lot. 
Day 1 Saturday
Why do Luton taxi drivers struggle with the concept of skis? Especially when you let them know when you book! Flight was eventless and on time. Took about 15 minutes to spot Stu who was holding the ‘BensBus’ sign in the crowd, you need a bigger sign guys. Trip was painless if a bit slow (if it had been quicker we might have been able to ski the afternoon). Got dropped off in a lay-by outside St Jean De Belleville as it was nearer to the village we had to go to, thanks Stu. Quick phone call and James of www.greenmountainchalets.co.uk promptly arrived – he was real after all!
Accommodation turned out to be a spacious converted farmhouse / barn in the small village of La Combe. James & Gemma were our hosts and this was the last week of their first season. There would only be four more guests for the week, arriving in the morning and heavy snow was forecast that night. Unpacked and James took us up to St Martin so we could pick up our passes and have a look around. Looking round St Martin doesn’t take long so we were soon back for a delightful dinner in a vast cave/cellar of a dining room with our hosts and an early night.
If you’re a proper Gnarly skier you can finish reading here it’s not worth it!
Day 2 Sunday
It’s snowing! Breakfast then James drove us up to the lift at St Martin, five minute trip. Onto the Gondola, then the chair to the top. Deep powder everywhere, there is no piste! Off down Dahu, Mounta1nGoat breezes down, I seem to do a few turns and face-plant, repeat, repeat. The first time it took about five minutes to get my ski on in deep steep powder after that I get so good at it that I am quickly able to get my feet and skis above me whilst I glide through the powder face down on my helmet, oooh missus, so as not to lose a ski. We continue down Coqs and spent the morning skiing around the Meribel Valley dropping into Mottaret for some cheap tarts. It’s been fun but I’m a bit disillusioned and tired after falling over so much. Now it’s off to Meribel to meet Izzy for an afternoon lesson.
I get a call she’s been held up on a lift in Courchevel, will meet at the top of our lift, she will be in a black outfit with a green hat. We get to the top and wait, after a few minutes we see a skier come off the piste from the mountain way above us which looked like an almost sheer drop and straight lines directly towards us down the side of a rock and shrub strewn face, about halfway down we make out a green hat and knees which appear to move up and down quicker than I can think, Izzy has arrived!
When we’d arranged the sessions Izzy asked if there was any aspects of skiing that we would like to explore. I said I struggled with steeps and bumps and Mounta1nGoat wanted to try going more off-piste. When she arrived I explained my day’s issues. Well I’ll just watch you for a bit, but don’t worry there’s all this lovely snow everywhere. She quickly identified my technical defects with fresh powder and I started to enjoy the experience again, but still struggled to keep up with Mounta1nGoat especially on the steep and bumpy bits. Towards the end of the lesson she took Mounta1nGoat into the deeper off piste while I continued down the bumps trying to be taller (something I’ve been trying to be but failing since a teenager). Annoyingly a French Instructor going across the slope in the chair kept shouting tall every time I went to turn, why can’t they give the free advice when I’m not on a lesson? I was rewarded though as Izzy took Mounta1nGoat over a drop of about 6’ (he says), he hesitated and ended up landing in an explosion of powder. At the end of the 2 hours we were worn out but smiling.
Made our way back via Mottaret which was getting slushy and very hard work. Back down Jerusalem which despite being tired felt like an easy green after the lesson. Very slushy and rutted down to St Martin. Stopped for a drink at the bottom and rang James for a lift. The other chalet party had arrived and were just back from skiing, so he picked us up and took us to meet them in a nicer and cheaper bar ‘Le Billig’. The other party Paul, his son Jake and Girlfriend Sarah (Paul’s not Jake’s) were on their 2nd ski trip. They had spent a week at Christmas in the chalet and liked it so much they decided to come back again. So after a very nice glass of Grimberger we made our way back to the chalet for a shower, cake and another fine meal.
Day 3 Monday
Oh how we ached! Getting up was a bit harder but the weather looked great, it had snowed a bit and was sunny and hot. Same as before, lift from James and up to the top. Dahu was bumpy as a bumpy thing, got down without falling this time. We spent a great day cruising round blues and reds trying to avoid the slush down below and practicing! Saw some of the x-wingers. Had an enjoyable day and made sure we didn’t feel worn out for the next day’s lesson. Back for a lift and a drink another fine meal and a chilled out evening.
Day 4 Tuesday
Another hot, hot day. We skied down to La Tania for lunch, ‘Snow Food’ special, great! But the snow was very sugary and mud at the bottom and then worked our way back to the top of Verdon to meet Izzy for our next lesson around 1850. Izzy said she’d knew a lovely spot where we could practice bumps, but first the warm up which seemed to start with bumps on a wide red ‘ imagine your skiing between two great rocks…’ and ended with skiing backwards leaning backwards. ‘Now were off to that nice wee spot’……..
‘I want you to look 4 to 6 turns ahead’ I could only see about two rows of bumps and then lots of tiny dots…… Skiers?
‘Give me your camera I’ll take some pictures’
So we got to the point of no return!
And I was slow, and spent too much time thinking and not committing to the fall line ( that’s my I’m really enjoying this face by the way, not to be confused with the what the **** am I doing face).
And Mounta1nGoat started to get the feel of it and soared down the second half. Oh look there’s those rocks we were meant to imagine and I was correct the dots were skiers.
And I even started to get better but unfortunately not great, yet…..
Got to the bottom and promptly fell on the last turn back onto the piste!
Scary, yes. Hot and incredibly thirsty, yes. It was awesome! Now on for more….
The gentle bimble back to Meribel was hell in the slush and my leg muscles had decided they were on a separate holiday. Came back down Pramint, is this really a red? It's a cruise
As before, drink shower, eat and sleep!
Day 5 Wednesday
Up early, go for it, decide we will start on Mont Vallon today, waiting for the lift to open, however weather not looking so great. To the top of Dahu, misty, icy not nice……
Work our way over to Mont Vallon, snow poor and visibility variable, poor flat light or mist and light snow or fog. Come down Coombe du Vallon but the light’s poor and it’s busy despite the signs otherwise. Slopes lower down very poor, work our way over to Saulire but Courchevel valley looks no better. Decide to finish early afternoon as we’re not enjoying it and skiing in the slush is very tiring.
Hosts night off, however they still offer a taxi service. We’re very tired and want something simple so decide to try the restaurant of Le Billig (now our local). Food limited to pasta dishes, burgers, omelettes and crepes. My burger, cooked to order with a huge plate of fries was not only excellent , it was cheap too at 7.80 euro. Everyone’s food was in fact excellent. I think I fell asleep about 10:00.
Day 6 Thursday
Weather fairly good, pistes good and firm at the top. Worked our way over to Courchevel, went down to 1850 to buy ‘lunch’ in the Spar minimart. Met Izzy at the top of Saulire. ‘We haven’t really looked at carving and I know where there’s really good snow for it, quiet too'. So we worked our way over to slopes above 1650. For once I could get ahead of Mounta1nGoat (no father son rivalry here then) Being heavier, fatter able to get lower and on skinny skis was an advantage for once! Had a great afternoon at speed and it felt almost effortless most of the time, It felt great doing things like running my fingers through the snow whilst turning hard and started to lose my transitional traverse. Couldn’t believe it was all over so soon. Said good bye to izzy and worked our way back to Meribel. It was slush and ruts most of the way back and we only just made it. They closed the entrance to Olympic 90 seconds after we got on! It was like waterskiing down the end of Jerusalem as we got to the bottom we saw the lift staff about to get on St Martin 1 to go down so raced down to join them rather than ski the rest.
Didn’t bother with a drink, just lift, food, and fell asleep just after 9:00!
Day 7 Friday
Woke to find that Mounta1nGoat had a headache all night and hadn’t slept much. Went to check on him after breakfast, fast asleep! Did the fatherly thing and woke him to check if he wanted to ski – ‘NO’, so I did the right thing and went off without him. He did raise concerns about my ability to ski alone however I decided this was going to be a relaxed bimble with a lunchtime return. I found that the other family were going on a guided morning with James (our host, he’s a boarder and from Leeds but I decided to treated him like a normal person anyway) with the intention of skiing their first red.
Weather was great, visibility excellent and the snow firm and well prepared. So I spent a relaxed morning on cruisey blues above Les Menuires with my headphones on and chilled out and relaxed. Every now and then when it went quiet carving great big fast S’s or short snappy turns. Then back to Jerusalem for the return. Skied with Paul, Sarah and Jake down the bumpy start to make sure they were alright then flew down the rest carving as hard as I could till I hit the slush at the end- easy   .
Hot and sweaty, back to the chalet for cake…… Gemma (host) sunbathing out the front, Mounta1nGoat dead to the world still, teenagers eh!
Paul, Jake and Sarah had arrived by train and Sarah had to leave that afternoon for a family event so James drove them down to Moutiers so she could cat the train back. About an hour later we got a call, there was a train strike no trains at Moutiers so they were putting Sarah on a bus to Geneva!
Paul and Jake were due to catch the late Sat train back, Moutiers was shut for the weekend so Paul spent the evening arranging alternative transport ended up hiring a car so he could drive to Lyon or Paris to catch a train if there were any!. Excellent meal some local homebrew Genepi then bed.
Day 8 Saturday
We were up at 4:15, the skiing is over, I’ve got a cold and I’m 50 bollux! James dropped us of at our pick up point at 4:50 and Ben’s Bus duly arrived at 5:05. Trip was much faster this way. Arrived at the Airport early and had an uneventful trip home.
So the 3V as usual delivered, apart from the slush.
The Chalet was excellent, roomy, slept up to 13 in a quiet scenic location. Great for families probably not so ideal for party animals however James and Gemma were always prepared to give lifts and there are always taxi’s. It’s only a few minutes to either St Jean or St Martin and even VT isn’t that far away.
So thanks to:
Easyjet for being on time and not being a train.
Stu of Ben’s Bus for excellent good value service.
James & Gemma for being excellent hosts I hope your next year goes even better.
The 3v lifties for keeping it running (we used 60 or 66 lifts according to the pass office, couldn’t read the second digit on the screen)
Paul, Jake, Sarah and Dave (don’t ask) for being good company, hope you all got back ok.
Rob and Scott for the training so far and Izzy’s number.
Izzy for some truly inspiring skiing and coaching, the ability to always find the right snow and a great sense of humour.
Merlin for being a great ski buddy, even if he is better than me! 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 12-04-10 18:07; edited 3 times in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
finished, pictures work
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| anarchicsaltire wrote: |
| Rob and Scott for the training so far and Izzy’s number. |
It's a pleasure mate, in more ways than one! Very rewarding to see the progress you've made over the last few months.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
skimottaret, Izzy says I need fatter skis
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Nice report - and good decision not to go by train!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sounds like you had a really great time
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
anarchicsaltire, lovely report, sounds like you had a blast! I love that 5th photo and yes, fatter skis!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
