Friday, March 26, 2004
Hello again,
Well this is almost getting to be frequent updates!! I've just tried hotmail and yet again, can't get on, so that either means there's a problem with the server or someone's sent me an attachment and it's too hard for poor hotmail to open it!!
There's been a total change in the weather this week.... following last week's hot spring sunshine, we're now back to snow and just below freezing!! On Sunday at the airport, the boys turned up: Derek, JP and Gary, along with Colin and Cliff who I don't know, and they've been staying in La tania, so on Wednesday Barbara and I drove round there to spend the day with them...initially I wasn't sure if this was a great idea, due to the weather conditions, but we set off anyway and got their about 10am.... we took the bubble up and immediately disappeared into cloud, so our first run of the day was pretty naf: you could barely see from one pole to the next, and luckily the boys new the run, because it was just like skiing blind!! Anyway, we headed into the Meribel Valley and stayed low where the visibility was much better.... the boys were trying a bit of off piste, and Barbara and I followed where we could, but in some places there were lumps of ice under the powder - nice!! After lunch we headed into the Courchevel Valley and found some more off piste which was just soft white powder.... JP and Gary made their way through snow almost waist deep, whilst I managed to ski straight into a wall of powder and do a complete sumersault - luckily it was all soft stuff and I sat there laughing for about 5 minutes! Barbara took a good picture of me....I'll have to get copies from her when I get home.
During one of my 3 falls I must have slightly hurt my neck as I couldn't turn it to the right yesterday, and it's still a little bit stiff now, but nothing major.... and it's cloudy over here today, so I can't be bothered to go out on skis... maybe tomorrow (oh the luxury of being able to choose!!)
Anyway, that's about my gossip for now, except that I've got a flight home booked for Saturday the 24th April - not long at all now.......
Will go and try hotmail again....
Well this is almost getting to be frequent updates!! I've just tried hotmail and yet again, can't get on, so that either means there's a problem with the server or someone's sent me an attachment and it's too hard for poor hotmail to open it!!
There's been a total change in the weather this week.... following last week's hot spring sunshine, we're now back to snow and just below freezing!! On Sunday at the airport, the boys turned up: Derek, JP and Gary, along with Colin and Cliff who I don't know, and they've been staying in La tania, so on Wednesday Barbara and I drove round there to spend the day with them...initially I wasn't sure if this was a great idea, due to the weather conditions, but we set off anyway and got their about 10am.... we took the bubble up and immediately disappeared into cloud, so our first run of the day was pretty naf: you could barely see from one pole to the next, and luckily the boys new the run, because it was just like skiing blind!! Anyway, we headed into the Meribel Valley and stayed low where the visibility was much better.... the boys were trying a bit of off piste, and Barbara and I followed where we could, but in some places there were lumps of ice under the powder - nice!! After lunch we headed into the Courchevel Valley and found some more off piste which was just soft white powder.... JP and Gary made their way through snow almost waist deep, whilst I managed to ski straight into a wall of powder and do a complete sumersault - luckily it was all soft stuff and I sat there laughing for about 5 minutes! Barbara took a good picture of me....I'll have to get copies from her when I get home.
During one of my 3 falls I must have slightly hurt my neck as I couldn't turn it to the right yesterday, and it's still a little bit stiff now, but nothing major.... and it's cloudy over here today, so I can't be bothered to go out on skis... maybe tomorrow (oh the luxury of being able to choose!!)
Anyway, that's about my gossip for now, except that I've got a flight home booked for Saturday the 24th April - not long at all now.......
Will go and try hotmail again....
Thursday, March 18, 2004
I survived Snow Blades!!
Well, Barbara (the other resort mananger) mentioned the word snow blades down the pub last night, so the challenge was taken up and we survived!! For those of you who don't know, snow blades are just very short skis that attach to your ski boots in a slightly different way, and don't come off if you fall (potentially bad!), and you whizz around the mountain on them with no poles.... so firstly you have to get your balance right - basically in the middle as they are too short to let you lean too far back or forwards - and then you have to deal with not having any poles - this is quite bizarre, as although you are sure you don't really use your poles, all of a sudden not having any makes you feel really wobbly!!
Anyhow, both of us survived a few hours on the piste (ok, so we did make 2 bar stops, 1 for a drink, 1 for an icecream!) and had a really good laugh. We're still in one piece, so will have to see if we can get back on skis tomorrow!
The past few days have been so warm.... we went to Albertville yesterday as it was day off, and just to get down the mountain and avoid the snow/slush...we didn't manage to find the nice part of Albertville so ended up at MacDonalds instead - I know that sounds really sad, but I've not had a MacDonalds since I've been out here, so it was actually a pleasant treat!!
I'm still fighting unsuccessfully with Hotmail.... unable to connect yesterday or today... I'll keep trying!
Well, Barbara (the other resort mananger) mentioned the word snow blades down the pub last night, so the challenge was taken up and we survived!! For those of you who don't know, snow blades are just very short skis that attach to your ski boots in a slightly different way, and don't come off if you fall (potentially bad!), and you whizz around the mountain on them with no poles.... so firstly you have to get your balance right - basically in the middle as they are too short to let you lean too far back or forwards - and then you have to deal with not having any poles - this is quite bizarre, as although you are sure you don't really use your poles, all of a sudden not having any makes you feel really wobbly!!
Anyhow, both of us survived a few hours on the piste (ok, so we did make 2 bar stops, 1 for a drink, 1 for an icecream!) and had a really good laugh. We're still in one piece, so will have to see if we can get back on skis tomorrow!
The past few days have been so warm.... we went to Albertville yesterday as it was day off, and just to get down the mountain and avoid the snow/slush...we didn't manage to find the nice part of Albertville so ended up at MacDonalds instead - I know that sounds really sad, but I've not had a MacDonalds since I've been out here, so it was actually a pleasant treat!!
I'm still fighting unsuccessfully with Hotmail.... unable to connect yesterday or today... I'll keep trying!
Monday, March 15, 2004
I love skiing!!
Hello all, yes I've made it to the internet cafe again, after far too long, but I've had quite a lot of guest injuries to deal with so I've actually been doing quite a lot of work over the past 2 weeks - shock horror, not real work!!! Anyway, spring has arrived and I've had a gorgeous day today....out all day skiing in sunshine, clear blue skies and ridiculously warm temperatures.... nice bit of hardpack and ice in the morning which then softens into sugary snow....
Other than that, there's not really that much to tell... I went over to Les Arcs again last wednesday and skied quite a lot of the resort.... we may head back again this wednesday as there is a 'big air' competition, and the weather is still meant to be sunny, so we may just ski across and find a pub to sit in and watch people madly hurl themselves off jumps and somehow land [or not] without breaking anything!!
There's only 4 weeks to go, and it's a bit depressing that this is coming to an end, but it will be good to return to blighty and catch up with everyone.... if anyone hears of any temp jobs, let me know!
I'm going to try to get on to hotmail now... didn't have much luck earlier!
Hello all, yes I've made it to the internet cafe again, after far too long, but I've had quite a lot of guest injuries to deal with so I've actually been doing quite a lot of work over the past 2 weeks - shock horror, not real work!!! Anyway, spring has arrived and I've had a gorgeous day today....out all day skiing in sunshine, clear blue skies and ridiculously warm temperatures.... nice bit of hardpack and ice in the morning which then softens into sugary snow....
Other than that, there's not really that much to tell... I went over to Les Arcs again last wednesday and skied quite a lot of the resort.... we may head back again this wednesday as there is a 'big air' competition, and the weather is still meant to be sunny, so we may just ski across and find a pub to sit in and watch people madly hurl themselves off jumps and somehow land [or not] without breaking anything!!
There's only 4 weeks to go, and it's a bit depressing that this is coming to an end, but it will be good to return to blighty and catch up with everyone.... if anyone hears of any temp jobs, let me know!
I'm going to try to get on to hotmail now... didn't have much luck earlier!
