The weekend spent in the French Alps was a smashing success. Sometimes, almost literally....smashing. I have flown over those beautiful snow capped mountains several times on my way to and from Italy, and have always wanted to get a little "up close and personal" with them. To my surprise I only wiped out on my skis 3 times, one time to avoid hitting a small child. (Keep in mind it was my first time to ski...ever.) We were always more of a "beach" vacation family than a "ski" vacation family. My mom is not much up for massive amounts of snow, or cold. I remember a few years ago my dad wanting to take us to Beech Mountain in North Carolina but it fell through for some reason and we never went.
I was so happy to be greeted at the bus stop by Kerry...and it was so surreal that I was with her for the weekend. I told her she is going to have to keep moving to awesome locations so I can continue to visit her! Have now visited her in Cannes and Courchevel! However, it made me miss Ashleigh on an entirely different level.
We put our stuff in Kerry's chalet, met a couple of her roommates and went immediately to be fitted for some boots and skis. Laura has skied before, so she had all the gear necessary to get going. I just rocked up in my leggings and waterproof North Face shell and hoped for the best. Ski boots are undoubtedly the most uncomfortable thing I've ever worn in my life. I suppose if you are a pro, you are either use to them or you have dropped enough money to get some that conform to your foot. They are tight, there are so many straps and buckles, not to mention they weigh a ton. By the time we got to the practice slope on Saturday, I was already exhausted just from carrying my gear.
We stayed in Le Praz, where Kerry lives, and practiced there...which was nice because we didn't have to buy a lift pass for Saturday. It was apparently a very small hill, but to me, a beginner, it looked like a giant mountain. They both sort of chuckled when I said, "You want me to start on that?" I guess you have to be on some sort of slope or you will have no momentum but I'll have to tell you my wheels were turning to what all kinds of bad stuff could happen if I wiped out.
I got a few "skiing 101" lessons from Kerry and Laura both, and then sort of pushed my way down the hill. I ended up going way faster than intended as my "pie" shaped stance just wasn't wide enough to stop me. Luckily, there was no one else where we were so the risk of running into anyone else was rather low. The bad part? The button lifts weren't running so we had to take our skis off and hike back up the hill every time.
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| Kerry!!! |
Check me out! I did even better on day 2!
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| Hiking back up. |
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| It was really warm....between the sun and the exercise we were hot! |
We headed in around 5:30 for tea and a snack. Of course, when I'm with 2 Brits naturally tea was always in our near future...no matter what time of day it was. We then decided to hit the luge up before dinner in Courchevel 1850, one of the resorts. It ran from 1850 to Courchevel 1550 then we got the bus back down to Le Praz. We rented these small sleds, with metal handles on the sides for about 4 euros a person from a nearby shop. I had no idea what to expect from this "luge" but I could tell from the amounts of people running by that this was going to be exciting. I'm not much of a thrill-seeker, although I love adventure. I hate roller coasters, and I hate going fast at super high speeds. Well, the luge combined all three. Luckily, the handles provided a way for me to slow myself down. People passed me with no hands on their brakes, no control and I just cringed. In two seconds, you could have been thrown over the edge down the side of the mountain because there were no barriers of any sort. It was 2 kilometers long with a 15% incline and a 300 meter drop.
Sound like my cup of tea? Absolutely not.
Did Kerry somehow get me to do it twice? Absolutely.
Kerry and Laura made it down to the bottom before me, obviously, and were patiently waiting on my cautiousness at the bottom. It was really a lot of fun, and I'm glad we went twice! And something I would have never done or even known about if I weren't with Kerry..so thanks Kerry! Even though she had to work on Sunday, she was a big help in showing us where to go to get to ski passes and to certain areas and slopes. It would have taken us hours to figure everything out.
We started around 10:30 am on Sunday with a full day ski pass in our pockets and our skis loaded on our shoulders. (I will admit we left the house in our boots with no skis and didn't realize it until we were a little bit down the road that, oh, hey...we might need our skis if we want to go skiing.) We took a couple of different lifts up and finally reached our destination. We stepped out of the lift and onto an absolutely breathtaking mountaintop view. The sun was shining down on our faces, the white snow was glistening, and the silence, stillness and peacefulness of the mountain was humbling. It was as if I was the only person in that moment.
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| This is what we were skiing down? No way. |
Then, I looked down the mountain and my face flushed white and fear came over my eyes. I looked at Laura and said, "You want me to go down that?" No way, I thought to myself. It was this ginormous mountain, much bigger than the day before with skiers passing by like lightning on either sides of me, with no end in sight. My stomach churned. I kept imagining all the bad things that could happen...which I believe is something else I picked up from my Granny. My sister has always had a "no fear" kind of attitude and I am completely the opposite. Laura reviewed "skiing 101" and was so patient to wait for me as I started to go, little by little. We practiced turns which is suppose to make you go down the mountain faster, but I just end up spinning out of control. Within the first 3 minutes I was on the ground. I remember kind of rolling down sideways, my skis popping off and my ski poles flopping about behind me. Laura was close, and came to my rescue....but I was quickly up on my feet and back at it again. I got a little further and almost to the beginning of the run (yes, this was just the preface to the run...not even the actual green run...) couldn't stop myself and had to fall because I was about to run into a child. I could damage myself, but certainly not a little child. He was about 4 years old and certainly doing better than I was at this point. It was more of a skid and fall so I only lost one ski..no harm done. I looked over and a boy around 6 years old was crying to his mommy as he had fallen in the same spot. He naturally didn't want to get up and start again, and I wanted to look over and explain to him that its best to learn now while you don't have far to fall!!!!
The actual run was good. There were parts of it that were a bit rough for me, but I didn't fall completely and actually enjoyed it. Not to mention got an excellent workout. I was able to practice my turns and stops, and balance. I was certainly happy to see the end (30 minutes later) and decided it was time for a much needed lunch break. We propped our skis up and hobbled our way over to a café for some nourishment.
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| Crêpes and Limonade, and loads of water. The water in the mountains was incredibly delicious, ice cold, and fresh. |
After a more-than-pricey déjeuner and well deserved rest we strapped on our skis again for another couple of runs. We took a path that was a little less traveled, which turned out not to be a run at all and one of my worst topples of the day. It was on ice, and I landed right on my tail. Needless to say every time I sit down I am reminded of it.
I will say I think I did pretty good for a first-timer! (Better ask Laura...she might have a different opinion.) By the end I was making turns and picking up a little speed! And came out with no broken bones...success!
By mid-afternoon I was shattered and knew if I didn't quit now while I was ahead I would never make it back down the mountain. I left Laura to actually ski the runs without having to look behind her to be sure I'm alright and get the full use of her daily ski pass. Besides, I was so anxious to get my good camera up on the slopes. I went down the mountain by myself, was happy to give my rentals back to whom they belonged, changed clothes, grabbed my camera and headed back up. I didn't have a backpack to bring during the day so it was really the only option if I wanted some non-iPhone photos of the world around me!
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| The flash didn't really work out well with this one, but the panoramic view is nice...no? This was taken at the verrry tip top of the slope we were on. |
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| Sunshine! |
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| A hotel/restaurant seen from the lifts...the chairs are enrobed with fur! |
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| The resort town of Courchevel 1850. |
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| Look at all that snow... |
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| Seasons almost over...the snow is turning into rain! |
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| Mmm...yummy après-ski snack. Raspberry filling, with hazelnuts on top. |
Sunday night we went with Kerry and her roommates to play "Pub Quiz" at the local pub. We didn't go to bed until around midnight, which made our train super early the next morning. I'm certain we still haven't caught up on sleep and my muscles still ache. I used muscles skiing that I never even knew existed. And like I said, I'm still feeling that ice fall every time I sit down.
Huge shout out to Kerry for being such a wonderful hostess! She really made our weekend, and her roommates were all very welcoming. I'm so glad we decided to spend the money and go, it is a trip I will remember for the rest of my life. Not only was it my first time in the Alps, but my first skiing adventure! Can't wait to go again...hopefully in the near future!
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