Learn to Ski

If you really want to learn how to ski, i recommend skiing with the 9-year-old son of a ski-instructor for an afternoon. My goodness me, i have never skied so fast or done such crazy things in my young life. We followed little Mick, age just-turned-9, and currently 4th fastest in his ski-club, down the stash in Avoriaz/Lindarets. It was the first time i'd attempted any features and i still got dirty looks for only doing the baby "table" (like a rail but wider).

Next we were blasting down very mogully runs in a whiteout skiing by feeling our way with our knees only and watching Mick take 2m of air at the side of the piste. After that we just had to bop down 45 degree mashed potato powder over rocks and roots. Exhausted, you get to the bottom, only to be greeted by Mick who got there several days ago wondering what took you so long.

Thanks for a brilliant afternoon Mick - sorry we were so slow!

I love France: Reason #1, Exhibit B

More Mont Blanc, this time from the top of the Aiguille du Midi at 3842m.

Note the teeny climber dude to the far right, about to casually climb a ladder onto the viewing platform with a 1000m drop to his right.

Reasons why I love France: #1

Mont Blanc

As seen from the top of "The Elephant". I continue to be amazed at the fact that the Vallee d'Aulps at St Jean d'Aulps probably has the best view of this magnificent mountain. The mountains part for a perfectly unspoilt view of it which is unbelievable considering how far away it is and how difficult it can be to get to see it from anywhere in the Chablais. This photo was taken on my iPhone just after sunset. This is about a 35 minute 300m vertical run from our house, which is down there in the clouds, just to the left of the shot.

Snowboarding

Despite many promises, my long awaited next post has just failed to materialize. There are many half-written entries begging for time to be finished but that time is as elusive as the snow has been in January. Anyway, just a quick one. We tried snowboarding for the first time today.

After years of dissing snowboarders, actually... I'm ashamed to say it was really fun! We were padded like American Football players with impact shorts, wrist, knee, and elbow guards. That didn't stop me mashing my shoulder, however. After 4 hours including a 2-hour private ESF lesson at La Grande Terche we were able to make linked turns on the nursery slopes at the top of the Terche. As with skiing, it's actually easier when it's a bit steeper.

I'm not entirely sure what my aspirations as a snowboarder are just yet, but we're definitely going again. I'd like to get to the point where the whole resort is open to us on boards so it's always an option if the skiing conditions aren't up to it. Mostly it's just good to be learning something new.

Catchup

Many of my readers (ok one reader) have been wondering if i've been buried in powder for the last 3 weeks. Sadly not as there IS no powder. We haven't had fresh snow since the- ... since i can't remember it's been so long! Like since forever man! Anyway, i did note down 12 titles on my iPhone so I can remember what I have done every day. I'm happy to report that our of my EUR 612 lift pass i've currently spent about EUR 450. Can't wait til it's all finished up so I can stop skiing the resort and get out into the Back Country! Anyway... in-order but very very late updates to follow shortly...

10/11.3: Ski Test: Dynastar Sultan Legend 94

Day Three of our ski season coincided with the Avoriaz Ski Test. Nice of them to think of us. A Ski Test is where you can, in exchange for a blood sample, your family history to 6 generations, and you own head (on a plate), you can try out any skis you like. You get an hour and a half to go and do whatever you want.

The ski test stalls in Avoriaz

I have been itching to try out the Dynastar Sultan Legend 94s. I'm an intermediate skier and have been on Rossignol Bandit B78s for the last three years. Nothing wrong with the Bandits but I am beginning to think that their "all-mountainness" means that, yes, you can go anywhere and they can do anything, but also that that means that they don't do anything particularly well. They aren't good carvers, i find them wobbly on hardpack, and just average off-piste.

Specifically, i've found that i'm sinking in powder and I need to put a lot of energy into the turn to get it to happen. As I said, i'm only intermediate (and a very aggressive skier) so this is certainly down to bad technique but at the same time, i think a fatter ski is going to help.

For those still reading who don't have a clue what i'm on about the numbers in the ski name indicate how wide the ski is at the middle of the ski. My current Bandits are 78mm across the waist and the Sultan 94s are 94mm at the waist (the waist being the middle of the ski). Fatter ski equals more float in powder. More float in powder equals awesome skiing experience - like flying down a mountain just a few centimeters above the ground at 30kph.

So anyway, we eventually found the Dynastar stall and i asked about the 94s only to be told that they had four, but that they were all out on tests. Just before starting to weep, a man appeared next to me (clad in golden armour which shone with a light from within - Armor +6) and presented the lady at the stall with a pair of skis. Not just any skis but Sultans. Not just any Sultans but 94s and not just any 94s but 178cm (length) Sultans.

Incredible good luck as that is the perfect length for me. After getting my hire card (which actually was very straightforward: drivers license and credit card) i was clutching the 94s only moments later.

Eagerly clutching my Sultans

The label said "Come On Ski", so we did heading over to Fornet. The variable conditions we've had here over the past two weeks were actually great for my test. I found ice, steeps, some shallow powder, bumps, and nice groomed pistes as well. Each ski is only 16mm wider than my Bandits but the difference is incredible. Even on only a very light dusting of powder you're riding much higher. And even on crusty stuff i found that i was on the snow as opposed to in it like i am on the Bandits.

I have a lot to learn and clearly, this being the first fat ski i've skied, the skis are much better than me, but that's the point - to learn something new. I found that they are much more stable than my Bandits. They have wider sidecut of the Sultans at 18m vs the Bandits with 16m. Even though these are really off-piste powder skis, i found them much more fun to carve on the pistes. Bumps were more difficult and I couldn't really do my whippy turns that i can do on the Bandits on moguls.

Natalie off-piste on Fornet. I really like this part of the PdS.

The biggest test was going back to the Bandits after and hour and a half on the Sultans. My Bandits felt weak and whishy-washy after the power and stability of the Sultans. I think I adapted to the Sultans pretty quickly. I realised immediately that these were a totally different beast. On powder I found myself being super-aggressive as usual, but these didn't like that at all. I needed a much lighter touch to carve a turn on the powder. I can't wait to try them in proper deep stuff.

As Natalie said, the fact that I noticed the difference was a good sign. I'm not really good enough to ski these yet and I'll have to take it easy at the start, but I think they will be an excellent 2nd ski for me. Father Christmas, are you reading this?

PS. Avoriaz did a great job keeping the resort open on Saturday. Heavy rain has decimated the snow all over the Portes du Soleil but they managed to groom some great pistes and even build the Arare snowpark. The snow has started again today, so it's still looking like a very good start to the season.

Catered Chalets

This is going to be a weird post. With all the major humanitarian problems the world suffers with I can't see that there will be a lot of sympathy for my little rant here, but anyway, this has been bugging me so...

Chalet holidays are too cheap. Since moving out to France we've met a lot of chalet operators and not one of them can actually afford to live out here the whole year round purely on what their chalet generates in the Winter. And yet they all continue to make a loss and do oodles of other jobs to compensate and carry on living their Alpine lifestyles. I think this is madness. There are about 100 independent chalet operators in Morzine. They're all in close competition with one another and they all charge about the same amount.

Peak weeks are about 500 - 600 EUR and low weeks are about 400 - 500 EUR. For that you get 7 nights accommodation, breakfast and a 4-course evening meal. So that's an average of about 70 EUR per night per person. A four-course meal at a restaurant (and a lot of chalets serve very high quality food made by professional chefs) would set you back at least 30 EUR. And there's usually free wine. So let's say it's 50 EUR a night to stay and 20 for food. Most places now have en-suite bathrooms, saunas, and outdoor hot-tubs. All this for about 70 EUR a night.

So now, my question is, where can you stay, anywhere in the UK, for 60 GPB a night with breakfast and supper included? You can't even stay in a Travel Lodge off the M25 for that money. The last time i stayed at a Travel Lodge off the M25 (which was recently unfortunately) i don't recall seeing the hot-tub and sauna either.

Basically I just don't get it. Your lift pass is about as expensive as your accommodation. Why do chalet operators willingly make a loss and their lives so difficult? They could charge double and it would still be value for money: 140 EUR for 4 star accommodation with breakfast and supper? Last month we paid over 200 GBP for Natalie to stay in a random 4 star hotel in London for one night - no breakfast and no supper.

They are driving themselves out of business. It's not even cheaper to stay self-catered. We've tried both and there's really no super-cheap option. Possibly Caravaneige would be cheaper. Caravaneige is staying in a caravan in a campsite in the snow.

So... what am I saying? I think i've even confused myself here. What I'm saying to my non-chalet-operator readers is that you should stay in a (good) catered chalet or hotel because it's unbelievably cheap! Most chalet companies have a lifespan of about 5 years - and then the owners give up and run self-catered apartments or just pack up and leave. It's also really only the English that do catered chalet holidays. The French, Dutch, and Germans stay in small hotels or self-catered or in the aforementioned campsites. I suspect unless something changes (like the Euro plummeting) that the traditional English catered chalet holiday could be coming to an end.

As I said, not really earth-shattering. I don't expect this post to be on CNN or anything, I just think it's strange to willingly make a loss and work so hard just to be out in the Alps. When you read on the operator's website that they love the mountains, I can attest that, and this (sort of) proves that, they really do!