Windiest Day
I have just begun working a ski season in the French Alps, but there's just one problem:
No snow, no snow, no snow.
No snow to the extent that on set-up week when we cleaning the toys before the first children arrived, we were outside the Snow Club in t-shirts with sun cream on. Sweet!
That was fine as I hadn't rented skis yet, but since getting some kit and dying to hit slope, it was discovered a fair amount of ice hanging around on the piste. It was like that kid at school who thinks he's your mate but you don't really want him loitering around you (was probably me at school). Thankfully Christmas Eve was just like in the movies and it was kind of a joyous occasion. This feeling was aided by the fact I watched Die Hard, on the 25th anniversary of the events at Nakatomi Plaza :) so good times all around.
No snow to the extent that on set-up week when we cleaning the toys before the first children arrived, we were outside the Snow Club in t-shirts with sun cream on. Sweet!
That was fine as I hadn't rented skis yet, but since getting some kit and dying to hit slope, it was discovered a fair amount of ice hanging around on the piste. It was like that kid at school who thinks he's your mate but you don't really want him loitering around you (was probably me at school). Thankfully Christmas Eve was just like in the movies and it was kind of a joyous occasion. This feeling was aided by the fact I watched Die Hard, on the 25th anniversary of the events at Nakatomi Plaza :) so good times all around.
I did not ski on Christmas but on boxing day it was the clearest day of the season and the snow was beautiful. "This is the reason I live in the Alps" was my mood of the day- and as my only Christmas present it was a seriously decent one (violins play).
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| Beautiful fresh snow on boxing day |
But then... came today. "Don't go," they said. "Too windy," was the warning. Yet it was my day off and I thought that if Winnie the Pooh can handle a blustery day then I could sure try to step up too. Joined by Ed and Michael I embarked out on to the piste. The nursery slope at the bottom of the mountain was as pleasant as usual- an excellent sign.
However, when we took the first chair lift, we were moved away from the calm part of the mountain, and it all started to go downhill. (Nb. for non-skiers, this is a metaphor for the situation getting worse- chair lifts generally take you up the hill.)
However, when we took the first chair lift, we were moved away from the calm part of the mountain, and it all started to go downhill. (Nb. for non-skiers, this is a metaphor for the situation getting worse- chair lifts generally take you up the hill.)
"'Icey no nicey', as they say"
Ed skilfully led the the group (he did not influence me mentioning this)(he did) but we could not avoid being blasted in the face with snow. All of the glorious powder from two days prior was disappearing and the ice and even grass were being exposed. This makes the skiing pretty rubbish to be honest- ''icey no nicey'' as they say. Ed said that he hated the wind nearly as much as he hates geraniums, and for what ever reason, he really hates geraniums.
If there's a thing I like to whine about it may be poor visibility on the slopes. As I'm not the best skier I really like to be able to see where my skis are going rather than 'feeling the mountain' as some people say one should do when its hard to see. (I'm not even going to comment about 'feeling the mountain' sounding dodgy, I just won't go there.)
You should wear goggles to protect your eyes from the sun and to shield yourself from wind blasted debris but I was really not feeling the tint on the dingy slopes. You can take them off while skiing if you're good enough. Well it turns out I'm not, and in removing them ended up pulling my bandanna from around my head to fitting tightly around my eyes - this turned out to be a problem.
It did remind me of a time on a school ski trip when, as fellow student who was pleased that his football team had success the night before, had tried to put on his football t-shirt mid ski which was obviously a stupid move. He ended up with it stuck around his head, speeding straight down the mountain and crashing. But he was a foul boy who spoiled Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince for me before I had read the ending, so I had limited sympathy.
I didn't have too much time to reminisce as I was now experiencing even poorer visibility than before. Yet I did manage to halt prior to sailing off a cliff . This near life experience hinted that it was time to go in as the mountain was no friend to me today. Sometimes you have to know when the mountain has beaten you and wait until you can ski in peace.
Thankfully I can afford to be a fair weather skier as I am here until April, though this does make me feel for people who come skiing for a week and have to put up with less than ideal conditions.
I'll finish with a picture from outside my window today. Happy holidays!
I'll finish with a picture from outside my window today. Happy holidays!
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| The view, pretty great right? |
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