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!