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Big Mountain Blog Third Season
Happy New Year
A bit belated I know but I hope everyone has had a good one and 2010 is getting off to a good start - even amidst all the snow that we hear the UK has been having.
December and January are continuing in the same busy vein with work and friends out on holiday. We’ve both had work doing various things (massage, guiding, transfers) and gigs too. Andy’s ribs have finally recovered (much to my relief, honestly, it was worse than man-flu). We’ve had some very cold temperatures but we’ve also had a lot of snow and have spent the last 2 days skiing fresh powder.
Christmas and New Year were overwhelmed by the Irish ....and Kerry’s birthday lunch...
this actually took up most of the day on the 29th from 1pm ... although I was home and in bed by 9pm so I felt fine the next day ....
We had a couple of gigs in New Year week so Kerry and Ivor graciously did their very good impressions of Susan Boyle and Frank Sinatra respectively which went down very well. Then they finally went away .... and we breathed a sigh of relief .... only to be invaded by the Aberdeen folk!
 
namely John Park first in an upright position in the trees and then having himself a wee face plant in the powder. Give him his due it was very steep indeed!
Mark and Polly Tandy were also out at the same time and we had some great days skiing with them. Mark has left Andy his telemark skiis and boots so there’s no excuse for Andy not having a go this season.. watch this space ... I shall be in attendance at his first lesson complete with camera.
We finished off the week in style at the Grand Marnier with the obligatory vin chaud.
So this week sees us with Mark Masson and all his chums, then we’ll get a bit of a break. Almost a welcome break!!! We then have a busy week next week with a gig in Chamonix as well as here in Val, and in Tignes. Already we are nearly half way through January, this season is starting to fly by. I’m planning a very wee trip home at the beginning of February to visit my parents - but I think I’ll wait until the snow disappears, if it ever does. I’m sure you’ll all thinking the same.
Happy new year, ingrid.
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Christmas Day!
What a busy month December has been - that’s my excuse for not blogging anyway! Merry Christmas to all. Although we have heard there’s been loads of snow in Aberdeen I wonder if it’s a proper white Christmas? it certainly is here, it’s been snowing all night and I don’t think it’s going to let up much today. Not so good for actual skiing but it will be good when the sun comes out to play again.
We’ve been doing a lot of skiing with other people this month ....
This is at the top of the Motte with Andrew and Jimmy. We’ve had very variable weather - this week alone it was -23 on Sunday (cold in the extreme I have to say) then by Wednesday it was +8. It even started raining last night before it turned to snow about midnight. We’ve played a few gigs here and there, nothing completely definite yet. I’m also back on the buses as from tomorrow - I start my transfer job for Crystal although I’m not sure yet where I’m going. Our Christmas day is busy with skiing in the morning, then I have the transfer meeting at 3pm, we’re playing at 4.30pm, and Christmas dinner (a great big pot of chilli that Andy made yesterday!) with our Irish friends Ian and Lesley afterwards....
Ian and Lesley at the top of the Funival. They came out last Saturday then Ivor and Kerry (the other half of the fearsom foursome) arrive tomorrow for New Year. We’ve had a great week with them although conditions have been a bit trying at times. Andy said the same about Ian too.
The new sports centre opened last Monday and is a huge improvement. It boasts 3 swimming pools, sports hall, gym, squash courts and wellness area. I have just joined and got myself a swimming pass as the gym doesn’t open until 11am which is really a little bit late for me. So I’m back to doing all my running outside again this season. Which is fine until we get a big dump of snow like today!
 
Andy has managed to injure himself already, taking a bad fall in the trees at La Daille and landing on a very large rock. He doesn’t think he’s broken any ribs but has been in a lot of pain. And doing a lot of groaning I have to say! Fortunately he can still play his guitar, although it’s not the most comfortable thing to do at the moment.
We wish everyone a very merry christmas and happy new year when it comes along next week!
ingrid
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Friday 4th December
And so it begins again ..... we can’t believe that we’re now at the start of our third season.... how time flies!
After a great summer in Aberdeen we headed off on Monday 30th November, arriving in Val d’Isere on Wednesday afternoon. It feels like we’ve never been away. We did some mandatory unpacking and then went out and met up with a few friends. One of the nice things this year is that we’ve made a lot of friends who are back again for another season and it’s great to see them again.
Yesterday morning was looking ok weather-wise so we managed to sort out our ski passes (this always seems to be a complicated procedure for some reason) and went up the hill. We got a few runs in and it feels like we just skied yesterday. It’s a great time of year just now as there are hardly any people around and the snow is really good - although the calm won’t last long and it’ll soon be the christmas and new year rush.
We were out at night for drinks then started our job of trying to get some gigs - and we had some success! We play our first gig next Wednesday night at La Foret. It’s only a trial as they’re having some real noise problems so we’ll see how it goes. But at least it’s a start.
During the evening it started snowing quite heavily so we planned to get up and out in the morning and see what it was like. We met up with Andrea who is an Italian ski instructor (if anyone is coming out and needs lessons I’ll see what I can do girls ...) and is also an amazing skier. We found some off-piste and had a
great morning although the altitude was getting to us after a wee while. The cloud then came back in and it started to snow again quite heavily so we called it a day. It’s very, very cold today, as can be seen by the ice on one of the unopened chairlifts ...
But better cold than grey and wet ... not that I’m suggesting that’s what Aberdeen might be like at the moment!
A bientot! ingrid.
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