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