Friends Friends Friends!!!

I'm so sorry I've not blogged in ages!! I've been mental busy seeing two sets of mates visiting from England and been loving every minute of it! This is going to be a brief description of what's happened over the past couple of weeks so here we go!

The first group to come out to Morzine were the Jackrabbitt's! A fantastic group of mates I met while studying at Cumbria University, and really the whole reason why I can even ride a snowboard. It was so nice to have some familiar face's around the resort I really do miss it now!

These guys really hit it hard, going everywhere from Fornet to Linderets and then Chaux Fleurie, on and off piste, airbag, The Stash, Les Gets, Chatel....everywhere really..... honestly after that week my legs were shattered! It was so great to ride with them though and for the first time EVER I was not only keeping up, but keeping to the front of the group. I couldn't believe it, and honestly I think I surprised some of the guys teee heee! It's nice to know I can hold my own now and keep up with everybody I can't explain how nice it was to have friends zooming back and forth around me while I was riding it was just great fun! I think I had a smile permenantly on my face for the whole of that week, thank you guys so much for making it so fun, I miss you already!!! I remember a funny moment with Napper coming down a tree run into Ardent which turned into the cliff face of doom run. It got steeper and steeper to the point we were scootching under tree's, I couldn't stop laughing, what an adventure haha!

I do remember I had a spectacular fall in Les Gets where I was bombing down what I believe was a red run with everyone, and decided to turn quick onto my toes whilst heading over a ridge on the piste. It's one of those decisions where when your zooming along on ice on your heel and you think I'll either fall now or I can try and get out of it.....bad move! It ended up in me flying onto my shoulder and spinning around into a snowball! My right arm went numb for a bit but I think it was ok just a bit battered and shocked, apparently it looked good so I guess thats all that counts! However my shoulder had not seen the end of its hard times......


The following week I then had a fabulous visit from my ex work collegue Adam! I managed to get a full 3 days totally off work for holiday so I spent them trying to get Adam up to speed as much as his body would let him. I may have shouted 'TURN!!!' one too many times but I think by the end of the week he was really getting it YAY!! You can totally see an improvement as the week went on, good job dude! I'll ignore that one crazy flip you had on Tetraz where you caught your back edge out of nowhere and sent youself flying, that fall still baffles me but I'm glad you kept all of your limbs!! I'm also very happy to know Adam that you've now seen '10 Things I Hate About You', possibly the best film in the world!! Remember, stay upbeat, haha!!

I do think I managed to put Adam of ever wanting to head down The Stash in his life again! He was trying to film me jumping over what I'm going to call the 'spine', but it went horribly wrong. I picked up far too much speed and popped off it so much higher than I thought I would. I have very little control when I jump at the moment so all I could think of doing was landing on my butt, however I twisted and all the force of the drop went up through my arm to my shoulder by which point it went POP! I screamed and shouted for my arm not to be broken which thankfully it wasn't, but my god it was a scary moment. Sorry Adam but thank you for being my first aid'er!

Now everybody's gone work is getting back to normal. We have a group in from Newcastle this week so the accent is starting to rub off on me and Chris a bit. Got a day off tomorrow so thinking of hitting some more tree runs hopefully! I have uploaded a quick (possibly rubbish) video of my trying to get town the tree run on Tetraz so please check it out and giggle lots!!!

The Stash

This is a bit of a catch up session yet again because I've neglected you guys I'm sorry! I went to the Ice Hockey on the 6th January and watched an official match between Morzine and Briancon, it was amazing I've never seen a game before and its something I can now tick off my list!  The game went down to penalites which apparently really doesn't happen often, but I also didn't know that these games never draw so there HAS to be a winner. Unfortunately Morzine lost but they played so well, go on you Penguins! I must have looked like a right wimp because everytime they threw themselves at the glass I lept backwards, all the regulars just stood there and looked at me, oopsy!

I seem to be coming on in leaps and bounds in The Stash which is a bit of a shock because anybody who know's me would probably agree I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to this sort of thing. The theory I have at the moment is I'm going to fall over during the day at some point so why not do it doing something cool! I've been doing well on the boxes, managing to try them every time I go down but I still splash out on half of them so that need's some work! I've not given the infamous picnic bench a go yet but that's all in good time I have another three months to work up to that.

One thing I've been trying recently is the wooden stalls, the only problem is I'm no longer stalling on them....I'm flying over them haha!! The last set I did I backward rolled off the top and over the back, it didn't hurt but still I was doing well until I got a bit too comfortable with the speed element of a jump haha! I never thought I'd see the day honestly!

One other section that I have only tried a hand ful of times was a log jump/stall (your all going to hate me because I don't know the correct terms for the jumps!!) but it's basically a log lying horizontally with a run up to it for you to leap over. I tried it two days ago and obviously landed on my bum, but the second time around I landed it!! I should able to upload a video for proof soon once I figure out how to turn it around so watch this space.

What a welcome into 2012

A belated happy new year to you guys! I hope you saw in the night in the greatest of style and you got to spend time with the people that made your year exciting. It was an odd experience celebrating Christmas and new year here away from family, but luckily I've a couple of really good friends out here that really have made me feel more at home. I started off in the Crepu for a quick meet up with some folk, then ended up in a bar called Cafe Chaud and it was absolutely packed out but the music was great! We really wanted to go to Le Tremplin because this is currently the favourite hang out spot for me and my friends, but sfor some strange reason it was closed.....I still haven't found out why that is yet but it rattled us a bit. The night ended shortly after midnight hit because I was very aware I was on breakfast duty the next morning and didn't want to push my luck!

I had a heavy night out last night, I went from the Crepu to the Cavern and then over to Operafrom where I crawled into my chalet with Alice at 5am. I'm my disorientated state this morning I somehow forgot to take my lift pass out with me and decided instead of wasting another hour going to get it I'd just buy a day pass around Avoriaz for 30.50 euros. That's something I'll never do again GRRR!!

The snow has been unbelievable for these first few days of 2012 here in Morzine, there is a really solid base down so all we need now is a bit of sun. We have had at least another 20cm from yesterday, and tomorrow may be a right off for riding on the hills as 50cm and super strong winds are heading our way. Today was a powder wonderland up in Avoriaz and once the mist cleared by about 1pm the runs over at the top of Tour were absolutely stunning. I headed up Lac-Interets with Alice and tried heading down the Bleue d'Arare, however the mist was very bad and visibility was so poor we thought we'd try the other side to Avoriaz and hope the cloud didn't follow us. Alice and I headed down to the bottom of the Prolays lift and went from Crete, to Combe a Floret, but then turned off onto the red run Les Tannes We did this a couple of times as nobody seemed to want to take on the red section. It was littered with moguls but at least we had it to ourselves so bouncing around the width of the piste was no problem at all. I went up the Chaux Fleurie for the first time later that afternoon and there was a beautiful piece of off piste near the top of the lift Alice showed me, which then led into a tree run. I got extremely stuck in the powder and need more practise for sure but it was wicked fun.

I haven't been over to Chatel, Switzerland or Les Gets yet but I'm very much looking forward to when I do, I'm hoping to make more of a trip of it with friends.

Guests galore!

We are now into our third round of guests in Chalet L'Ubac and things are going well! Our Christmas guests were so lovely that they left myself and Chris a little Christmas present each on their bed which I found as I was doing the morning round's, how nice!! I had my first proper 'out out' night with them, and since I arrived in Morzine too. I started in Sherpa where we got given a free shot of a toffee liquer followed by a jager-bomb, went off to the Cavern which is the seasonaires hotspot and then headed to Opera. I think I crawled into bed at 4.45am and had to be up for 10am for heading out onto the slopes OUCH!! It's not advisable to do this it certainly makes boarding interesting to say the least, but I guess the plus side is you dont care about falling over at all! I can see what people say when you have a nice group of guests leave you, you hope to god the next lot can fill their shoes and are just as lovely. Our new guests are a cheeky bunch from London and they seem like a good laugh, the young girl gave me a giggle the other day when she paniced about not being able to find her slippers and they were just under the bed haha! They are giving us early evenings as they want to go out, and early brekky's too so happy days! They are with us until the 31st Dec when they leave us and we get out New Year guests arriving which consist of four adults and several children under the age of 10! EEEEP this could get messy!

I'v still been heading out onto the slopes as much as I can for practise you'll be happy to hear, think today was day 15 out there! I'm definitely getting more confident but I'm struggling to tackle moguls head on and pick up some speed. I find I can go straight for a little bit but that sooner or later I freak out just enough to slow down and lose who I'm with, which believe me has caused a couple of funny problems :P 

The snow heading our way in the next few days is insane! We are looking at another 50cm easy I would say, for you guys coming out in January the base is already here for you!!

It's all about routine

Hey guys!! Sorry it's been a while since I last posted but this is the first time in a long time that I have the energy and the concentration to write you a new entry! Not that I don't love you all and want to keep you up to date, but because all I'd be able to type would be zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So what's happened during this last week, well I can tell you that our first lot of guests have left the building and were very happy indeed. We now have our Christmas guests in, two very lovely families who have been very good to us so far. They have been diving straight into the scrabble tonight which has given me a great chance to set up for breakfast tomorrow and have a couple of hours to chill tonight.

I'm really getting into the swing of things now, get up and serve breakfast followed by a couple of hours of cleaning rooms and bathrooms and then the afternoon is mine! I have regular spots each day that I can get out onto the slopes which you'll be more than happy to know I'm doing! I've been up every chance I can get so far and makes a total of 9 days at the moment. Tomorrow I'm hoping to meet up with my friend Rob in Chatel up in Avoriaz to give The stash another go, and maybe get some evidence of box completions. Yes that's right, for the first time EVER I cleared not just one but two boxes! I couldn't believe it! The people I were boarding with had no idea just how much of a milestone that was but I was extatic! Although I didn't get evidence of my victory, I did manage to get a couple of great falls from Rob and Sarah on the bench. It was pretty much a white out and they were so brave diving straight off it blind so full credit to them, please enjoy the video as I thoroughly enjoyed filming it!

I think I'm getting a lot better in my turning. I went out with a new group from the Nantegue yesterday and man are they quick! It was great for me because I got to push on my boarding a bit more than I would if I were alone. We bombed around Avoriaz all day and my legs were absolute agony after, a true sign of a great day's boarding!

Pleney is up and running......sort of

Just quick catch up! I had my lesson in Avoriaz on Thursday and it went very well. I was learning how to just control the board with my legs and not keep throwing my weight backwards and forwards, Our instructor got us to go down with our hands behind our backs and it was hard to start with I can tell you. I got the hang of it though in the end, so he moved me onto to trying to learn some buttering. I still have a way to go with this but it was nice for him to push me onto something else. We went up Tour for most of the day and kept on running down some really nice blues. The wind was horrific though and really the lesson should have been cancelled. I was heading along a flat section and remember being stopped dead by the wind and then having to duck to save myself from being blown over, ridiculous! We were boarding blind for most of the afternoon so I should be a frikkin pro soon I've earnt it haha!!

Yesterday for the first time in a long time the entire piste was shut down. We had a massive snow storm which dumped a ridiculous amount, which I suppose is a good thing. We have at least a further 30cm today and it's still going strong! Hope it clears up a bit tomorrow though because it;s my day off so more time to play.

I went up the Pleney today as this is the day it was due to open. The que to get up was enormous so when I finally got to the top I just went down the first run I saw and took a blue which led to the Belvedere. When I got off that I had no idea where to go because of course I forgot to pick up a new piste map, so I ended up taking a green which was such a big mistake. I took Piste B down to the Mouilles, that was a nice run. The weather was setting in again so I just made a run (or stumble) for the botto, so took Piste D and went off. They had shut off both home runs but I thought meh I'll give one a go, but foolishly took the red down. I was catching my edge and face planting the whole way down literally disappearing in snow tee hee! I got tired near the bottom and was a bit bored of being over taken so I sat on the board and sledged the rest of the way down, falling once more for good measure. I don't think I'll try going up the Pleney again until I know for sure more run's are open becuase it was very hard getting around.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Yesterday I had a bit of a baking day!! I made five different kinds including american chocolate muffins and a butter almond cake oh yeah!! It was great getting to know my way around the baking kitchen which is on the ground floor next to my room pretty much so it's very handy. I've also now learnt the daily cleaning routine so I'm feeling a bit more settled and like I know what I'm doing finally!!

Avoriaz was just amazing today, a good 2 foot of fresh powder to play in. I met up with the lovely Alice and we took a jaunt around as many runs as we could fit in. We headed up Prodains and took the Verare and bombed down to the Grandes Combes on a red, oh yes! I don't normally go down red's because, well quite frankly they scare me. In the powder was a different experience and a very fun one! We got this lift and headed off on the Lac-Intrets blue's which were tough. It was hard work in the thick of it up there, snow hammering down and whiping us in the face. Alice learnt a very valuable lesson in never forgetting your buff when it's snowing OOPS! We went all the way down to the Ardent on some more lovely blue's (if you can believe it!!) then headed up the Prolays and suddenly realised it was time for us to get back. Good thing by then we'd pretty much got our barings and we got back down in good time!

I also had a dummy run of an evening service with friend's of the chef here so I'm getting proper nervous now EEEEP! Tomorrow I have a seasonaires night out to go to, looking forward to meeting lot's of new faces!