Christmas Day 2014

         It was  a bit later rise for Christmas Day after a late night out for xmas eve . james had made eggs benedict for breakfast as a matter of fact it was an excellent christmas breakfast , as usual james and mariana looking after us, as we all came in for breakfast one by one much slower than usual mornings ! it was only myself and gerry up to begin with then slowly but surely one by one everyone came down to breakfast and some went back up to bed ! after much talk and a delayed start  in the end only myself and gerry went out to the slopes in the morning .

                it was a beautifull day bright sun but unfortuneately still no fresh snow ,i was very hung over in the morning and to lazy to put my helmet on i decided it was too much effort to unclip my helmet from my backpack ,and as it was christmas i would ski the first few runs in my Santa hat ,there were plenty others around skiing in Santa hats and varios outfits,so i used this as an excuse not to go to the effort of puting on my helmet ,unfortunately at some point my helmet unclipped itself and my helmet was lost, that was a bit of a pest as it also had my gopro attachments on it ! but it was a good days ski`ing  we stopped for lunch in the centre of avoriaz for a change( a nice bowl of carbonarra but sadly without the usual raw egg in the middle ) and bumped into nick marina and James then we bumped into thelma tracey and mick , but the rest of the group never made the slopes untill later mat anna and dave only got out on the slopes from mid afternoon , gerry is in his 60`s now but he used to be a ski instructer in canada , so he was passing on some tips and it was a good day just practicing some techniques .the days skiing was finished off with a few beers at neige rock with the crew ,mick joined us all excited he had got his board signed by brittish snowboard gold medallist jenny jones 

        A quick sauna before a few beers and wine with snacks in front of the log fire awaiting the start of christmas dinner .what a superb job of traditional christmas dinner james and marina done, james even carving the turkey on the table for us an excellent dinner all round really , we were all as stuffed as the turkey afterward and decided to just stay in the chalet for the chatting around the lounge 

day 3 xmas eve

  you wouldnt believe it but i am the only one down for breakfast with a christmas t shirt and hat on ! maybe its because its mats birthday , as usual we had a great breakfast and were all ready for our 08;30 trip to the slopes ,gerry decided to have a days rest so just the 6 of us in the mini bus me mick dave matt anne and anna , usual quick chocolat in the que up the cable car an happy we missed the big ques too the lifts ! but once we were right at the top of the mountain preparing for out second big run of the day we rerally couldnt complain abot anything what a lucky binch crepes and beers for breakfast then some good go.pro footage done a ski//board over the swiss side a few drinks to celebrate matts birthday and a trip back down for cake coffee beer a meet up withe rest of the group 

after our excellent day out in the slopes we had a few beers in avoriaz at trappers bar , and then got picked up from the car park bar called  neige rock a quick spell in the hot tub 5 mins in the sauna an excellent dinner and we all gotready to goo out to ttown for beers for Christmas Eve it was a pleasant walk to the centre of town and memmories keep flooding back especially as we stopped at the irish bart which was our favourite 3 years ago , then we went on to a bar clled the cavern which was right next to tibet bar and had a excellent Christmas Eve night out and walked the uphill road home to chalet at 3 am 

first ive seen one of these credit card next to tap !! 

day 2 tuesd 23rd dec

already we are starting to get into a routine ! its a 0730 rise breakfast as a group after breakfast we leave for the slopes at 08:30 still no bloody snow but avoriaz is high enough to get the cannons on through the night so theres enough there to ski all day , to be fair its perhaps not such a bad thing as our group have not all exchanged telephone numbers etc so when we di get split up it was easy enough  to find each other again ,or at least know if we waited at certain areas one of the group would pass , and also to be fair beautifulll sunshine high up in the alps cloud free is a lovely place to be ! we had a good day , and once the days ski,ing was done and we were back at the chalet having cake an coffee nobody was upset about anything or missing he other slopes and apris ski 

     although a power nap before the 19;30 dinner then showered and changed for a night out would maybe have been the wise move ! what actually happened was coffe an cake followed by beer wine proseco good company a bit of hot tub under a nice night sky a bit of sauna before a shower and changed for dinner a lovely dinner more beer & wine and a night of pleasant conversation  and woops to late (22:30 ) for a night out in town

bed now 

day 1 on the slopes for christmas

       an 07:30 rise and a very  pleasant breakfast we were picked up for the short transfer to the slopes the ski hire company had came to the chalet yesterday so we were all kitted out fed and ready to go at 08:30 , two of our group tracy and thelma are beginners they had lessons booked , so they are leaving later the other 6 of us got in the mini bus and were in the rapidly growing Que for the cable car to avoriaz before 9am the good thing about the lack of snow is the weather it was absolutely fantastic sunshine all day .but one of the bad things is the huge que for the lifts tme it wrong its like rush hour traffic ! fortuneately we timed it ok the que although big  was ok , we had a complimentery hot chocolate while we waited 

      ive not skied in this area for a few years but from what i remembered it was a bit of a dark bowl of a resort ! i was wrong it has some excellent slopes and the group of us had a good day its strange ski`ing with a bunch of people you have only just met but before the end of the day we all got to know each other's levels and at least werent out skiing or snowboarding alone 

    dinner was at 19;30 and i have to say marina and james really looked after our bunch when we get in from the slopes theres nice home baked cake and fresh coffee the hot tub is on , the sauna is hot  the fridege is full of drinks , so how can you not be happy an excellent first day so much so that we never left the chalet and sat around all night chattin 

christmas in morzine

a late night out at the black bull is not the best start to an early morning flight from edinburgh to geneva  but hey im starting my holiday ! so an 04;00 rise after just over an hours sleep to get booked in for my 06;30 take off was a bit silly ! i slept the whole easy jet flight over and had some breakfast oin geneva airport then met some of my fellow holiday makers /ski buddies at the airport transfer desk only a 1.5 hr journey from the airport to morzine was so we were settled in the chalet having cake and coffee before midday , 

     the big problem was theres no snow ! its sunday the 21st of december and nearly all our area of the alps has no snow ,only avoriaz becaus e of its hight has snow .So the ticket office were restricting ski passes to people staying in avoriaz and morzine only ! which we should be gratefull as we were more fortunate than the skiers staying in le get because they werent being allowed ski passes !so no ski`in for them at all ,we got a two day pass for avoriaz ski area 

      the chalet was really nice though i was very fortunate and i have an excellent room with a fantastic view over the valley  theres aq hot tub and a sauna and we are getting well looked after . when i say we i should explain that as i was heading of to the alps alone for xmas i done a search through the web , and decided to book through a company called pistepals so there was 3 more people like myself on the airport transfer bus mick tracey and thelma and we were the first to arrive at the chalet next to arrive was anna then at dinner time dave matt and gerry then late on at night anne arrived , we have james and marina looking after us in the chalet and they are doing a fantastic job the food and cake service beers and wiine etc are excellent and we are all looked after for transfer to the slopes and local info 

     another problem is ive forgot my toilet bag left it out to put my toothbrush in it in the morning , but forgot to put it in my case another good reason not to have a big night out at the bull before going on holiday , but thanks jen for the lift to the airport as there was no way cammy was gettinng up at 04;00 to take his dad to the airport 

Italy France ! No stopping these boys

     After the chambre Neuf last night we decided because we had not had any dinner we made a decision on what to do for dinner we would go to a nice restaurant for a change, so we went to the cave and the food was very nice, but the problem is when you've been drinking beer all day and then stop for a substantial dinner the belly can only take so much ! We were all stuffed . We went to the PUB but the beers were taking too long to drink because we were full !so it was an early'ish bed because we knew we were up early for the bus to courmayeur , no need for a massive chorizo pizza tonight! 

      The bus was booked for 08:30 so we got up at 07:30, it was still pitch black outside, shouldn't need to get up so early on your holidays' we got organised to go and we got there in good time and sorted our bus tickets and ski passes. Once on the bus we were all sleepy but there was some fantastic views from this bus, some of the trees were bent double with the amount of snow that had fell on them. As We got nearer to the Mont Blanc tunnel, the monument for the disaster was an empty snow bound spot, but none the less a reminder that we were about to pass through a fantastic piece of modern engineering that required a bit more thought than first considered! I will make a point of reading a bit about the disaster when I get home, but nonetheless our journey through the nearly 12 km of tunnel was interesting but perfectly safe because things have changed so much since the disaster. we arrived in Italy at courmayeur to take the big Armani designer ski gondola Up to the start of the slopes we were impressed by courmayeur, we liked the layout of the slopes and the size was good it would be great to see how much distance we actually covered but we done a few km or miles and enjoyed 90% off it. if we had a complaint it would be the usual, that sometimes we had to ski in the shade. in the morning we skied while the snow fell in buckets blinding our turns , but in general it was a great days ski'ing and we were very fortunate that the last days skiing together we skied all the way down an excellent run in great weather to shake hands at the bottom to say thanks to each other for a fantastic week and an excellent day to Finish on courmayeur / Italy and the holiday as a whole was a great idea for the last days ski'in !

          We got back to the bus station and had time for some beers before the bus left ! Very pleasant it is to sit outside a cafe/bar with your mates in semi sun drinking beer and the staff start bringing out free pizza pieces ! Ali decided it was a good idea to buy 4 grappas !, not a good idea really schnapps or whiskey yes  is nice but grappa is like helicopter fuel it burned all the way down, cammy refused as he didn't want shots, even when he's out with his mates he doesn't drinks shots ( apparently ) ! Sensible boy for a change . Once the bus was organised we were on our way back through the tunnel and back into France to be dropped at the main bus stop , which was right next to chambre Neuf ! Our favourite bar it was 17:10 and the alps looked beautiful, the band would start soon it's our last day !, let's do it!! We had a beer a pitcher each ! Apparently they do around 850 pitchers a night here at €10.50 each not including the jäger bombs stupid stuff and ordinary everyday drinks 

        Common sense prevailed and we carried our skies back to the hire shop ( insert sad face ) that's it now, we are out of ski gear and already started packing ,but back out to see the end of the band which as I'm writing this are now finished it's been a fantastic day ,we loved courmayeur so much so that we would consider basing there one day . We have loved Chamonix but it's not the best for our skiing maybe if we were loving the off piste ! 

   Things to remind mysel for next year ! Vision is paramount I may need to at a minimum look at wrap round prescription sun glasses perhaps even consider contact lenses ! Fitness is different from ski fitness I can run a half marathon and i do well in the gym BUT ! Ski fitness is different I require now To train before a ski holiday ( not as young as I was ) I could do a half marathon tomorrow but my quads glutes and calfs were struggling on the slopes and now felling the pain as it's bloody hard work at times , enjoyable work but ! I wished I had trained more for a weeks  ski'in next year I will work my legs More in the gym cut back the running and hit the cross trainer , 

   Ok I'm ready to drink beer and finish my holiday now I hope you've all enjoyed the blog

The time is flying too fast !

Eat out        So last night we left the chambre Neuf after the band finished and headed to a place called the pub we enjoy the Chamonix IPA in there , there had not been a planned dinner there was still a big bowl of salad in the fridge and a lettuce ! I suggested we just have that and a bigger breakfast tomorrow ! But the boys were like Brits abroad and sent me back to sort out a side salad while they got what would acceptably be called carry out food ! I was hoping to have a healthy week in the alps these boys are fattening me up , a big pizza with extra cheese and chorizo arrived to accompany the salad I put out 

     We are all getting a good nights sleep as it's long days and short nights and were all up at 08:30 to head to the ski area called grand montets , there's a lot of good runs there and we had an excellent mornings skiing even though the visibility could be better, we stopped for coffee around half 11 . Ali and cammy had bought  a can of monster and they got me doughnuts with my coffee to take the piss out my healthy eating , I had brought along nice healthy trek cereal bars ! (It's no easy ) the runs in this area were good and if the sun had been out it would have been perfect , we had a few more runs after coffees then stopped for lunch . 4 soups and 4beers in a nice mountainside alpine building ,it would have been nice to stay longer but the days are going far to quickly as it is ! and our time on the slopes is limited, what we came here for was the slopes, so off we went and done a few more runs ,I've charged up my video camera and Ali has a new attachment on his helmet for cameras, so we got that fixed up and decided around 3pm to head as high up as possible and ski all the way down to the car park/bus stop to call it a day with the video running. and that's what we done. what a great end to a good day I hope the video does it justice we had a fantastic ski down and shared a celebratory beer at the bottom , this came down past a spot where I had a particularly big wipe out 6years ago so I enjoyed it but was wary  

      Once back at the apartment there was 4 individuals trying to decide the best thing to do tonight, we had skied all day and were expecting a full days skiing tomorrow. we like food we like nights out, options were limited for us. Power snooze ? Shower ? Spar for dinner ? Eat out after the band ! Time was marching on. it was now 5pm, the band were due to start at the chambre Neuf ,we want to ski in Italy tomorrow at a place called courmayeur and that requires booking ourselves on the transport as it's through the Mont Blanc tunnel. We have now booked this and looking forward to it!

     Decision made I laid out snacks we had a quick change out of sallopettes and ski gear, we got our jeans on and headed off to chambre Neuf ! And here I am blogging away as the band plays there's a bunch of Irish guys from Munster joined us ,  the band are doing their set it's all good solid rock classics  ,bob and Ali have got the bus for tomorrow all sorted out ,it's paid for and we have managed to get tickets printed out via the bars hotel reception , so if we manage to get up in time it will be an 08:30 bus to Italy tommorow morning!!

        Maybe I should go to bed now and refuse anymore pitchers ! But then again it's not Amstel I'm on tonight it's Murphy's and very tasty, many more beers will be had tonight, it's inevitable!

Alls good in the alps

                We were up and on the slopes in the sun in plenty time this morning ,and we had decided to ski an are called la flegere today .we chose it because it was in the best position in the valley to get the sunny morning (the weather report said it was to cloud over later in the afternoon ) the lower slopes were excellent lots of nice well pisted wide easy runs , but unfortuneately for some reason some of the upper regions were closed and unpisted possibly due to avalanches or the risk of them through the night , so there wasn't a lot of the longs red runs and/or decent black runs to keep us entertained all day .by midday we had pretty much skied out the all the available areas and bob and Ali wanted to try a unpisted upper section ! They were not alone I've never seen so many people ski'in/boarding off piste ! So for the first time our wee ski group split into two and we kept In touch with our walkie talkies .me and cammy done a couple of easy runs taking our time and taking some photos then went for a lunch time beer ,bob and Ali joined us there and said it was difficult in parts in  the upper sections but got better as they came down we never missed anything really ! It's slightly better for them in their all mountain skis and if the weather stays the way the forecast is going it's looking like me and cammy will be changing to a set of those before the weeks out , 

       Before we knew it our day was disappearing and it was nearing 2pm ! we had changed ski areas back to brevent and decided to have some lunch there , after lunch cammy pronounced he was shattered and wanted a sleep he was going back to the apartment , so the 4 became 3 and we skied a few red runs in brevent before the light made things dull and we decided to call it a day ! We got back to the apartment where cammy was already sound asleep , it was around 16:20 and we thought if you can't beat them join them ! It had been a long hard day we deserved a snooze ! So we all had an hours sleep and some snacks before heading out for beers at 18:00

    Over the past couple of days perhaps because of all the wet snow around cammys common sense had taken over and he has been wearing my big moon boots out .but tonight he is back to his 10bob sliders walking the freezing pavements with his hands in pockets lol ( oh to be young ! ) , ther was no need for a group talk we all knew we where we were heading ,so here we are it's 18:40 and I'm finishing off today's blog yet again in chambre Neuf while the resident band no limits are rocking out some classic rock numbers so far we've had Bruce Springsteen whitesnake and a queen number , alls good in our world it's shaping up to be another damm fine day ,  and we are making plans for tomorrow's ski area (it's looking probably grand montets ) Jesus how can a band jump from born to run to take on me by aha ! Lol that's a change this band likes to play to a mixed audience 

       

Day 4 the snow must go on !

       As predicted another good day . We knew already it was snowing all night and was likely to snow all morning and the sun wouldn't be out untill midday . So there was no rush to get out of bed there had been big soft flakes off snow falling all night and morning . great for the slopes but not so great to ski in for us ! Fantastic if your snowboarding but not so great for skiers who like their piste bashed ,( like us )

         So we got up a bit later and Ali and bob decided they would go to the ski hire shop and ask to change there carver skis for all mountain skis and try a bit of off piste in the soft snow ,just to see if things could be good for the valley Blanche ! By the time they changed their skis and got on a bus it was 10:30 ,way later than our normal but a pre made decision , we headed to a ski area on the west of the valley called brevent . It was a good choice but to be honest the best of a bad bunch because there was a huge amount of soft snow and very little visibility as the clouds were so low . I had my prescription  sun glasses on then my everyday prescription glasses on with my ski goggles over them no glasses only goggles and also no eye protection  ! But The light and conditions changed so often as we went above and below the cloud ,with some few moments in the sun it was a hard mornings ski ! Battling soft snow and poor light moments of torture and moments of joy blended together but ultimately became too much work for the team ,we all had at least one fall (some more than others ) we went for lunch at a nice restaurant called 2000mtrs and got pizza chips and coffee (well chocolate for cammy ) after lunch we decided enough was enough the clouds came in the snow turned to sleet and we finished for the day ! It was 14:00 we had decisions to make about the valley Blanche as Ali and bob were told to see how they got on with the skis because the conditions off piste at the valley Blanche were deep soft soft , 

         With all that in mind we went back to the apartment left our skis and boots and went to the cable car for the aiguille de midi. To look at the arête and conditions , this I believe is the highest cable car in Europe , and myself and bob got into a debate on cable span as I have done the sugar loaf mountain cable car and think the span between pylons is bigger there ? But All debates aside this cable car has a few records for good reason it reaches the hight of 3842mtrs with very few pylons it swings a bit and the temperature at the top today was -14 centigrade ! The new glass box was closed which was a shame ,and the clouds hid a lot of the beautifull scenery and exposure , but it was a fantastic experience , bob was in his element pointing out climbing routes the various peaks cammy was frozen and had one look at the arête for valley Blanche and said no way ! We had a group discussion and it's not happening the conditions are not right we are not prepared ! It's 15km off piste deep snow with crevices to avoid there is no safety rail,yet in place to walk over the arête so ropes and crampons required in ice and wind with your skis on your back ,Sometimes common sense prevails I'm not taking my son down there (yet ) and my buddies agree it's not for us this year ! 

      We had a great afternoon up there and we got back at the right time for our favourite apris ski . So went straight to the chambre Neuf in time for happy hour and the band to kick off,we had to leave a little early or we would miss spars closing times ,so we got out just as the people in the bar were shouting one more sing at the band and just in time to catch the spar for beers and stuff for dinner and snacks, I made a lovely salad and dressing which everyone thoroughly enjoyed we had a few beers over dinner and got changed to head out ,

  Half man half mattress (aka ail ! ) has hit the hay and not heading out myself cammy and bob went out to munsters but they had no wifi so we are here at the south bar now to end off another lovely day , tomorrow's conditions look our best yet so should be a great day tomorrow 

       

Day 3 snow required please !

Another good day on the slopes the day started off really well for me and cammy especially , Ali was up bright and early and made the boys scrambled egg on toast so me mad cammy having a slight reluctance to getting out of our beds ! We got given our coffees and scrambled egg in bed 

    Once we were all up and organised we walked over the street to the bus station it's very handy here at the apartments Ali organised for us we have a locker room in the basement for storing our skis and the bus station is right out the front .we made the decision to go to the ski area known as le tour which is at the totally opposite end of the Chamonix valley from yesterday it's at the northern end and a bit higher .i looked at my watch when we were traveling on the bus and it was 09:30 

         The morning ski' went really well it was a bit overcast which we were expecting so not the beautiful sunshine like we had yesterday and parts of the slopes had exposed ice ,but all things considered a good morning ski'ing ,this area borders Switzerland so it would have been nice to have been able to do a border crossing on skis like we have done on previous years ,but it's not possible here.  we stopped for lunch today's place chosen specifically so it wasn't as expensive as yesterday's .we had coffees and baguets for €22 today so that was less than a quarter the price ! after lunch it was getting more overcast and a bit chilli , there's a lot of pomas at this area and two of those were interesting ! One pulled you right of the ground as it yanked you uphill ,bob fell twice trying to take this poma and the other was perhaps the longest poma I have been on I was cold by the time I got to the top (,I was glad I wasn't in my kilt on that one ! )

        It was 2pm and the weather was turning to snow but light almost rain like snow which makes visibility hard .coating your glasses in my case but goggles for bob Ali and even cammy had his goggles on today ! I really must invest in a decent pair of sports prescription glasses! The clouds were dark and sinking down to our hight which brought visibility down to I would guess under 20meters, we all had a fall at some stage in the next hour bob had one at a fair speed while on decent enough slopes , Ali went over an edge and required to climb back up to the slopes so we decided enough was enough for today we had a good day but by 3pm it was time to follow the fairly steep icy red all the way down to the coach park and get the bus home .the slopes are needing some snow so we can't complain and expect beautiful days everyday 

      Of course this left us the dilemma of when to start our apris ski beers ! The happy hours and bands don't start untill 5pm ? So we went to the apartment and half man half mattress (cammy ) got a beer then fell asleep swiftly followed by the man in Velcro pyjamas (Ali ) , me and bob tidied up and got everything ready for dinner . Woke the boys up when their dinner was ready and then we all headed to chamber Neuf in time for the live music , the band were excellent and pitchers of beer (about a litre and a half ) for €10.80 it's been a great night so far , I'm finishing this blog in the bar now .the bands just finished and it's only 19:45 ! So we are still out having a good night , the Reston today's blog will need to wait untill tomorrow ! The snow is pouring down outside the beers are flowing the bars great I predict another excellent day tomorrow 

Day 2 life's good

What a fantastic day ! It wasn't easy getting out of bed this morning especially for me and cammy having had late nights out on Friday .so Ali and bob made the coffee and bowls of cereal and toast with plenty shouting to get me and cammy shifting . It wasn't all our fault thought as  I wanted to go home at midnight , but bob and Ali wanted two more beers beyond midnight which I was too tired for and for once in our over 15yr friendship Ali finished my last pint ! (I was shattered ) 

  On the up side I slept like a log and when we did get up I felt refreshed and ready to go , we decided to ski an area called les houches which is well southofchamonaix a 15-20 Minuit bus trip away .we took our cable car trip up and I must be honest my first 10-15 minuits of skiing the first since last year where not good I just didn't feel right .new boots a hard icy surface and feeling sleepy combined into what could only be called a bit of a negative attitude !  The rest of the boys were well up for it and left me struggling behind ! Fortunately it was just tempory and after the first chair lit to a very nice red run in the sun my confidence and skiing all cameback together . And we were all skiing together like the unit we always are and were all loving it . What a day fantastic sunshine , it would be wrong to complain about too much sun and once we took a few layers off got the sun cream and shades on .we had no reason to complain except that the snow is melting too fast .so some parts of the slope had patches of exposed ice and grass . But we have all skied on much worse so no complaints it was great . All we need is some fresh snow 

    We stopped for lunch at 1pm and we really should know better but we chose a nice place in an ideal location .we grabbed a table for four there was plenty space and bob just ordered 4soups & 4 beers the bill came to €92 we were all take by surprise by that it wasn't even all that great soup lol ! That's £78 for 4soups and four beers ! We learned a lesson from that , which we really should have remembered from previous years if a place looks plush in the alps avoid it ! We could have went next door and got our lunch at a third of the price without the nice decking and sitting on plastic seats but same food, 

     Cammys twin tip skis although very loud he is actually enjoying them and although he had one wee fall( him and bob had a tumble ) due to their easier turning ability he is actually enjoying them , my new boots came good in the end and all of us are happy with our equipment , so after a great days skiing cammys legs were tired and I was struggling to see as the sun was dipping behind the slopes to leave them in the shade.  Ali and bob wanted to take the Kandahar ski run to the bottom ! Me and cam opted for the bubble car down cam's twin tips wouldn't go in the outside ski holder so we had to take his in the bubble car with us, we got stuck with dumb &dumber chatting non stop drivel all the way down the mountain . 

        We got a beer at the bottom then before we even started our beers Ali came on the walkie talkie to say they were down ! 

      Bus back to town then a few beers at the south bars happy hour before a quick spar shopping trip , and I cooked us all chilli made with  steaks and rice .all in all a bloody good day I'm posting this while drinking a Chamonix IPA in a bar called the pub in the town centre and alls well in my world 

Day one

All went exactly to plan and we set off in plenty time to put bobs car in the flying scot car park ,through the revamped edinb airport security with plenty time for a witherspoons breakfast and two pints of real ale before our 06:10 flight, it was an un eventful easly jet flight whic basically me and cammy slept 90% off the two hour flight bob had very kindly made a couple of sandwiches so that was great to have just before landing ,put the watch forward one hour and had a beer while we waited on our airport transfer mini bus by alpybus 

   Yet again me and cammy slept most if the bus journey from geneva to Chamonix ,cammy said he never got any sleep after the funeral he was at and I was out with Davy Stephens for beer in the afternoon an dandy mac at night so it all took its toll 

     Once in Chamonix the apartment wasn't ready so we put our bags into store and went for a stroll round town which became a bar lunch atchambre Neuf which was an excellent lunch and could be a good bar at night ! We all had Swedish meatballs and helped ourselves to the salad bar 

       Once into the apartment at 15:30 we didn't even unpack we just all crashed out for a sleep for over two hours ,then went for our skis we nearly got big off piste skis because Ali asked for off piste skis as we are planning to do the valley blanch but then the shop assistant said we can change skis the day we choose to do it if it's available to do ! The situation seems to be its doable but guides are only taking groups of two because the ridge sections will require us roped up and you don't want anymore than four on the one rope ,this will raise the costs considerably if we get a chance to do it  ,cammy endy up with twin headed skis which I've never tried before so I'm looking forward to finding out how he gets on with them tomorrow 

       Cammy went for a shower while me bob and Ali went to the local spar for beers and snacks off the apartment , it was nearly €81.36 which is £68 and we didn't get a lot of stuff I think the French alps are going to be expensive 

Pre-ski, an outsiders view.

(Written by Jen)

Well Kenny's been dashing about like a bee on speed today getting everything ready for the big trip tomorrow. Quick dash into town in the handsome new red polo for some travel essentials.

Euros, done

Gaviscon, done

Condiments (no salt required), done

Charger for video camera (for erotic ski-themed home videos) done

A bit of frantic run-around-the-house packing followed, with a couple of mugs of coffee to fuel the mania. Once the packing is complete it'll be time to get into proper holiday mode with a nice bar lunch and some beers with old friends.The beers will have to finish reasonably early, however, because Captain Bob is collecting the boys at 03.30hrs for a 6am flight! They're abandoning Bobster's car there for the week, so hopefully it won't be ravaged by raccoons or eagles while they're away. It's always a risk around these parts.

I'm sure the 4 of them will be very well behaved this week, I can't imagine they'll be having more than 2 or 3 beers a night, knowing them as I do. They'll come back all refreshed and re-energised. Wink.

Here we go !

It's just under a year since the last ski holiday blog , but it's that happy time again to head to the alps for a week of snow fun ! This year Ali chose our destination way back in May. Ali said he has wanting to ski the Valle Blanche ( possibly the most famous off piste route in Europe ) for years and now feels he is good enough and fit enough to ski it ,it's on his bucket list and as he is heading for his mid fifties he is concerned he may never get the chance again ! It's up to you if you think mid fifties is old or not but I think my mates got a few good year in him yet 

          So Chamonix, it was decided.we have been there together before; me Ali and bob went to Chamonix 6years ago. This time cammy is joining us. He has been away all day today (Friday ) at his friends funeral his mate Rab had a long battle with cancer which unfortunately he lost on Sunday , cammy wanted to go home after the funeral,so hopefully he will be rested and ready for his holiday when he gets his 03:15 wake up call ! 

      I've been out for beers with my bro , Davey Stephens , and Andy Mac and TBH could do with a few more hours sleep but I'm packed ! ( I hope ) Ali and e are paying for extra luggage this year for our ski boots and helmets , helmets are a big issue and talking point this year Ali has been wearing a helmet this past few yeArs me and bob are wearing a helmet for the first time ,cammy refuses point blank to wear one