Travel

Apparently the chalet came with flights from Gatwick so it’s no-one’s fault that take off was scheduled for 0740. Oh, well I’m sure we’ll cope - large chalets aren’t always easy to find & getting big groups to agree is a non-trivial undertaking.

Then we realised we had a double-whammy of early flight plus clocks going forwards. So it’ll feel like an 0440 check-in despite only being 0540. Lucky we have a hotel booked huh?

Checking in to the hotel was simple: someone stepped us through an automated check-in. We really didn’t need hand-holding through this very easy process but it’s easier to accept the help…

Getting to the room wasn’t so simple. The lifts were a nightmare - too busy for words. As for the car park - not what you’d call intuitive. And the restaurant was insanely busy … so we went next door.

In the end, we were in beds and lights out by 8pm (so 9pm once adjusted) with a 4:45am alarm call set. After several hours of no sleep whatsoever the alarm went off so we trogged off to check in.

The flight itself was uneventful (which, given recent aviation news, was a blessed relief). An hour and a half or so on a coach followed the usual (relatively pain-free for once) chaos at Chambery airport and we were finally at the chalet by around midday local time.

Preparation

Walking down the hill to retrieve our rented skis and associated paraphernalia was about as much fun as it sounds and, rather than carry it all back up, some bright spark thought it’d be a great idea to walk to the very close ski lift and ski back. Off to the button we went.

Big button or little button. Hmm. Amy and I plumped for the little one. Everyone else went large.

I guess it’s unsurprising she fell off at the first attempt. And required coaxing to even try again. But try she did and this time made it all the way to the top. At which point she fell over.

At this point I’ll mention we hadn’t gone to the ski shop with this return journey in mind so didn’t have the proper clothing. Most importantly, no gloves. So her hands were pretty cold and wet already. And we still hadn’t skied anywhere.

Fortunately the distance we had to ski could (almost) be measured with a school ruler so I was still pretty bullish.

And so it was that with only two more falls and a smattering of tears that we made it to skis off point ready to trog to the back stairs of the chalet - the home straight to the boot room and warmth.

I can’t ski any more, I hate this, I don’t want to do it was a common refrain from the children. It wasn’t just Amy who’d had these problems … but everyone else had had them from the big button, i.e. a rather larger distance away

Needless to say when Marianne later took Holly down to get her kit, they walked back.

Day One

Before coming away I’d been off sick from work so it was with some relief I felt well enough to ski at all on the first day. Unfortunately it does seem the kids are now suffering from the same thing so, for once, I’m now suffering from guilt. As it is, Holly’s already missed one horse riding lesson.

Combined with the shenanigans of the previous day and we’re not off to an auspicious start.

The weather is both with us and against us. It’s snowing - lovely fresh, snow, great! But the light is also very flat (a bizarre term I’ll agree but makes complete sense when you understand it means you can’t see the bumps in the pistes due to the lack of shadows) so actually skiing is harder.

And on some slopes the piste bashers had obviously not been round so there was eighteen inches or so of fresh powder. This is a rather different proposition to skiing on compacted snow and something I find much harder. And waaaaay more tiring. But lunchtime my quads were burning in the same way I imagine they would if someone thrust red hot hypodermics in and pumped them through with acid.

It was a good day though - there were a decent few runs on compacted snow

After a monstrous lunch, Holly and I did managed to ski back all the way to the back steps of the chalet. Winner.

Maximum speed: 30.8mph, calories burnt: 374

Day Two

My quads hurt when I got up so for the first time ever I seriously considered taking a day off.

Nah.

Kids off to ski school and we hit the bubble. A couple of lovely reds set the targets for the day but we soon found a horrible red with stacks of snow that’d been carved into lumps. I find that hard to turn on (it’s not light snow) and therefore exhausting. More burning quads. And cramps on the final run down to lunch… plainly I’m still not properly hydrated after being ill last week.

Another monster lunch and Holly persuaded me to bubble up again and ski down with her and the rest of the gang. That went well: all the kids had a lot of fun and it’s clear Holly’s a lot better today both ski-wise and health-wise.

Maximum speed: 40.3mph, calories burnt: 486

Day Three

The quads hurt again. I think this will be a consistent theme. Never mind, carry on regardless.

Today the fastest four were off on a marathon set of runs to try and cover all three valleys. The rest of us met up with a friend staying in La Tania and covered a few reds in the morning before meeting up with the girls after their lesson. Another red, then a blue down to the bottom to pick up the kids after their lessons and lunch…

Since my girls hadn’t been skiing today (still running temperatures) it was my turn to look after them. I can’t say my quads are sad to see the back of the slopes for the day though…

Maximum speed: 38.0mph, calories burnt: 807

Day Four

Holly wasn’t well so rather than have a lesson she skied with me. My quads thanked her for that and in the end we both had a good time - she’s a tad crazy in that she’ll try and go straight down any slope. It doesn’t work everywhere…

The chalet staff’s day off so a fondue dinner beckoned. And what a dinner it was. More cheese than you could shake a stick at. The waiter also finished it off when we were close to the end by mixing in some bread then cracking in an egg - I hadn’t seen that done before so just had to try it. Wow. I was stuffed but still managed to ram yet more food down my throat … just too good not to: a constant theme of the holiday!

Maximum speed: 34.7mph, calories burnt: 1025

Day Five

Good Friday. And a remembrance day of sorts - our good friend Ajay died this day seventeen years ago. A lot has changed. A lot has stayed the same. He’d have enjoyed this holiday…

Holly yet again had stomach ache so rather than join her ski lesson she went walking with mummy … a successful event by all accounts. She’d still done enough to gain her certificate though so that put a smile on her face. Switching to a gentle ski down the mountain for the afternoon we again saw her technique of snow-ploughing straight down any run in front of her … so a good time was had by all in the end.

Sam was determined not to be outdone by the children so a black was mandatory today. In fact we managed two. Well, the same one (Suisse) twice … but it was a lovely run. Blacks don’t come easier! In fact the red we did afterwards (Saulire), twice, seemed harder. A couple of the loonier fringe of our party tackled a rather more difficult black (Grand Couloir) in the meantime. They beat us to the point at which it joins Saulire so it obviously wasn’t that bad

My only fall of the day was rather embarrassing: on the easy green down to the button home. Well, it was slushy…

Maximum speed: 50.3mph, calories burnt: 1204

Day Six

The anticipation. The build-up to relief. The struggle to pull. Harder. The rush of blood to one’s extremities. The wave of pleasure that breaks over you. Sometimes I think the best part of a skiing holiday is taking off the boots…

So this was how the final day ended. Although it was Richard’s birthday the weather was pretty foul - visibility down to a cat’s whisker beyond the end of my nose and the snow rather slushy so we didn’t have the most fun ever. Although still better than a day in the office

Maximum speed: 40.8mph, calories burnt: 931

Day Seven

The journey home. A 6:30am alarm is never a good thing in my book but when you’re coming home from holiday it’s even worse. In reality the journey was as smooth as could be expected … and I’m looking forward to my own bed tonight because in the end, east or west, home is best

Now the great dropbox-powered photo sharefest can commence…