Home from christmas trip ready for val T

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snow at last !

  woke up a little rough from a late night and looked out the window ,At last the whole valley was covered in a blanket of snow ,Real shame its the last days ski`in but i was keen to get out and make the best of it , this morning when we got to the slopes the boarders and skiers split early on and me anne and dave headed over to the swiss side of avoriaz with the fresh snow falling rappidly ,sometimes big flakes sometimes small , blown in at speed with the mountain top high winds sometimes swirling fresh snow into small spindrifts at times and strong winds in mountain top unsheltered areas were strong enough to blow you along on your skies , but as usual the biggest problem for me is the visibillity my new prescription goggles were no good as they were wrap around style with side vents the coating was too dark and the side vents were ruined by the wind .in the end i settled on my normal prescription clear glasses trapped below my ski goggles and then the fun started ! 

          anne had found her perfect ski surface and was uncatchable loving the fresh snow over the hard packed pistes .she didnt want to stop for lunch she was having such a good time we met anna and matt at lunch time my dinner was delayed so we were a while at lunch ,after lunch dave got very cold especially his hands , i gave him some of my spare stuff including a pair of warmer dry gloves and then we had definately our best most fun aftermnoons ski`ing of the week the time absolutely flew past as we did piste after piste hardly noticing we were running out of time . an unbelievable piece of luck found us meeting matt and anna heading up the chairlift back to avoriaz on the way back to morzine , so the 5 of us could ski our final hour on the slopes together ,fortuneately matt knew the area well and we found ourselves sneaking under the piste closed barrier and wooping like kids as we found the perfect last off piste route possible, we all had one or two tumbles including myself but it was no problem as the snow was soft and deep it was a real shame that darkness was coming and the chairlifts were shut , we were at the end of the ski week and at the super morzine bubble cars back to town ! there was only one thing for it ! one last beer on the slopes in the most beautifull mountain chalet i have been in very picture perfect with thick snow covering it , and only really our group in it as it was late and most the place was shut down the fire was on and there was individual music boxes on the tables very pleasant surroundings to finish of the most excellent day on the slopes 

        we arranged to meet the rest of the group in morzine for some apres ski so all 9 of us had a few drinks in a nice bar while we waited for the mini bus to take us back to the chalet the snow was still falling heavy with little wind which was very pleasant to look at but a bit tricky for the drivers .it took two journeys in the mini bus for us and then a last excellent dinner in the chalet i was packed for my 06;00 rise in the morning for my airport transfer . only one thing lefet to do to finish the week off head into town , only dave and mick were game for the walk into town and we ended up in the budha bar mick got into a dance of with some girl and we had a pleasant night .

 

Boxing Day 2014

Boxing Day is the designated staff day off for the chalets , so we had to fend for ourselves at breakfast oh the hardship ! but worse yet no lift to the slopes we had to walk to the bus station ! the first bus drove right past us it was full , the second bus managed to squeeze all 6 of us in ! it wasnt a long bus journey from the stop as we could still only ski in the avoriaz area there was a snowfall forcast for that night and the slopes were really needing it a white christmas would have been the best gift santa could ever give morzine , the cable car que was very small considering the bus`es were full  and this was the only area around with snow , 

          i went into the lost and found office in the hope somebody would have handed in my helmet but alas no , the girl in lost and found was very helpfull and took my details and number just in case ,and we set off for our second last ay on the slopes .we all now knew the pistes around this area very well and after a few morning runs a stop at the usual crepe and coffee hut things were settling into a decent days skiing for the conditions we just had be carefull for icy and muddy patches . i decided to go ski over the swiss side anne joined me and then later we bumped into david we found a run on the swiss side we enjoyed another good day regardless off the rapidly disapeering snow 

      no chalet staff for lifts home so myself and david and anne got the bus and marched up the hill to the chalet as the sun was setting . perfect timing no cake for us today ,but we had a restaurant in town booked for 7pm so we all got ready and marched in to town found the restaurant who seated the 9 of us at what we thought was our table .the waitress took our drinks order and 8 meal orders just as anne was puting in her order they top waiter came over and there was a bust up about a wrong booking and 9 people had arrived who were the real booking ! to cut a long story short we had to shift we got a free drink and were about to move on when they decided they could squeeze us in at another spot not as good a table but hey we were there and comfy , dinner was ok gerry and dave had snails i would have tried them but was worried about not liking my starter (coward ) . after dinner i talked mick gerry and thelma into beers at the irish bar i like the rest of the crew went home

 

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