I made it…

With March beginning, the world seems a lot better.  The school children and their unbearable parents have vacated the slopes and life’s returning to normal.  It’s amazing how the town changes once February comes to an end.  There’s a sense of optimism March brings, snow is falling thick and fast most nights, making the skiing phenomenal.  The world always feels better after an off-piste run through fresh powder.

For me, money has got a little easier with the toastie bar becoming established and now most mornings, there’s a queue.  Phew.  The success of the toastie bar has helped banish the work daemons I had from my old life.  I feel better knowing I’m a functioning member of society, making a valued contribution.  I’m now feeling happier and for the first time in eighteen months, I have savings!

Teaching you child to ski, isn’t always a good idea.

Teaching your child to ski may seem like a great money-saving idea but consider this, ski instructors train for years, sitting refresher courses to ensure they keep their clients safe.  The ski school of mum and dad often has a few weeks experience in total and no idea what to do when plan a does not work.  Teaching your children the fundamentals correctly will not only improve their skiing later on but more importantly, will keep them and everyone else around them out of danger.

If you want to save money on a family ski holiday, consider having a few ski lessons before you leave the UK.  I have used SkiPlex and found their rolling carpet to be very helpful.  It allows a beginner to master Pizza and Chips, sliding from side to side before entering a crowded piste.

I always worry when I see the comedic dad ski school going horribly wrong and not only for the child zooming out of control towards a ski bar but for those in their path.  Ski slopes are dangerous places and most people, finally, are insured.  The sad truth is with insurance comes lawyers.  If your “little cherub” causes an accident then sadly these days a bill and legal action could follow.

We could debate the necessity for ski slope insurance and the lawyers it attracts for days, but in short, teaching your children to ski to save money is often a false economy.

Ice, Ice, Baby…

Snow is not falling all around me, would be a more accurate description of the current mountain conditions. Things are better than last year, at least, there has been some snow and skiing is possible. The snow cannons have been working around the clock for weeks now making the slopes icy and the skiing tricky.

For holiday makers, these conditions are far from ideal and even skiing a blue run can seem tricky. Most apres-skiers rely on snowy conditions to help slow them down. The lack of snow means skiers have to slow themselves using technique rather than luck.

The first few days back on the slopes are always the hardest and with tricky conditions accidents are likely, I should know.

A New Hope, it’s 1977 again…

As Burton say “You need to know where you’ve been. To know where you are going.” Burton’s new Throwback snowboard clearly demonstrates this sentiment.  It’s directional styling and swallow tail, remind me of a skateboard, converted for snow use, the emergence of snowboarding.

This board is ideal for those days when a few inches of fresh snow has fallen. There’s no need for expensive boots because it has no bindings. Most resorts will not allow you to take it onto a piste because it has no metal edges, making expensive lift passes a thing of the past.

Sadly mine has arrived with some minor damage. The foot plates carry a permanent indent from the handle. It’s a shame but with Christmas coming and snow falling. Do I return and add delays, drive to the shop for a replacement or suck it up and live with the fault?

Pomme de Terre Crumble.

The delights of buying a catered ski chalet holiday are questionable. In the most part, your wonderful food will be cooked by a nineteen-year-old with little culinary experience and who believes a pot noodle is a gourmet dinner.

During the first weeks of the season, the great unwashed of the British middle-class arrives to learn how to cook your menu. Chalet workers are given a one week of culinary boot camp to learn the basics. During culinary boot camp, sadly ingredient substitution is not explained. The chances are the same children substituting your lemon squash for Cif Lemon cleaner a week earlier on your supermarket shop are now creating your evening meals.

The funniest gastronomic mistake story I have heard was potato crumble.

The mistake happened because of a lost in translation moment. “Buy tinned, pre-pealed, pre-chopped” goods. I agree this is a time-saving tip, but it hardly makes for as gastronomic delight.

Lucy was more concerned about how her arse looks in ski pants than learning how to cook. I did feel sorry for Lucy, she came dreaming of snow selfies and unwittingly became the star of a ski guide’s sex tape. She was beside herself with self-loathing – I’m sure the link is still on XHamster.com, I digress.

On this particular day, Lucy had popped down to the local Sherpa to collect the ingredients for the upcoming weeks’ food. Straight to the canned fruit isle, to stock up. In her drunken haze, she mistook Pommes, for Pomme de Terre. She prepared the crumble, hungover and didn’t realise until it was time to serve the dessert. The following week a complaint letter arrived at the head office, the customer didn’t appreciate this take on a classic.

Board research…

There are two ways to look at buying a new snowboard. The bad news is the cost involved and the good news a new toy. It’s suffered a “De-lam” and although I love the idea of contacting Salamon and asking them to replace the board, the large gauge missing, and chipped edge makes me believe this could be futile.

So sat in a coffee shop, drinking a warm cup of joe, I’ve begun my research and to start with I have been amazed by the number of options. The first thing I have to have in my life is a Burton Throwback Snowboard, they look great and should be a lot of fun on penniless powder days. Something always worth considering if you plan to spend any extended time in a ski resort. Ski resorts are expensive places and having something to mess about on when you cannot afford a lift pass makes total sense.

For me, it’s important to put a plan b in place. I need a fallback option. It helps my mental state and makes me a happier person to be around. Nobody wants time with a miserable person, again another learning from this year.

I’ve been snowboarding for just over a year and as such I need a soft and playful (in other words forgiving and flattering) snowboard. I personally like a flex rating of two or three and need a length of 160cm(ish). The snowboard I choose will need to work with my Salamon Rhythm bindings. I finally decided on the Freestyle Snowboard Men Ride Agenda Wide 157 2016.

 

 

Life and more importantly Skiing is better when it’s free.

There’s something magical about the first day of the season.  It’s the day I had been dreaming of for quite some time, the weather was perfect, it was a bluebird day.  A bluebird day is something magical, it’s fresh snow, sun glaring down on crisp mountains from a cloud free sky.  I always remember my bluebird days fondly and this one would be no exception.  Not because of having the perfect run, in fact being the first day back my Bambi’s legs and I were making a meal out of everything but because it was free.  Yes, a free lift pass on a bluebird day.  Now that’s a memory to cherish forever.

I had finally finished everything I needed to do for the day and rushed to the ski lifts, I was busy getting changed whilst driving (not something I can wholeheartedly recommend) but needs must.  I get to the ticket office, having just made “happy hour” and an older women with rosy cheeks hands me a free lift pass.  Yes free, my excitement levels tripled and up onto the bubble I skipped.  I finally felt things were going my way.  It was amazing and all of the worries, regrets, concerns and problems I had drifted away with this simple act of kindness.

For me 2015, hasn’t been a great year, in fact it has seen me experience some of my biggest hurdles but somehow, I’m still here and now I’ve decided to make December my trial run for 2016, putting into practice the techniques I learnt and living for the now, oh and free ski passes.