01 April 2002
WEEKS 11 & 12
SNOW AND CHALET REPORT
BUSC, Vodka, the Coupe du Monde
and Sunday Roast ...
Apologies for the joint report for weeks
11&12. Been having far too many flavoured vodkas,
and somehow the last 2 weeks seem to have merged into
one without us even noticing.
BUSC (British unis ski & board championships)
have been in town for the last week, bringing general
carnage to 1800, with 1600 students not even pretending
to take the racing seriously.
Jess and Steph have been working as promotions
chicks for Le Bowling and Natives, and handing out the
full range of flavoured vodkas to hungover students
on the slopes. Needless to say much sampling went on
(esp the cola bottle and mars bar ones) and too many
nights in a row were spent dancing on tables in the
Red Hot, still in ski and board gear.
 
Wednesday saw the bowling Coupe du Monde,
with everyone dressed up as a different country competing
for the Grande Coupe. Final results were 1st Manchester
(don't ask), 2nd Cuba, 3rd Japan (aka Rhod, Tony and
Nev).
 
Last Saturday saw an overnight dusting
of fresh snow, with some really nice powder blown into
the bowls around the Grand Col. Great to get out of
the board park and do a bit of hiking and explore again.
Easter Friday was scheduled for the 2nd
Huck fest. The venue behind the Mont Blanc has been
suffering in the sunny weather, so it was a mammoth
task with 10 people shovelling slush to make enough
for a run in and jump. Cheers to Gordy, Bratty, Phil,
Divvy and all the guys from the chalet for the effort.
Sadly the event was cancelled before it
even began, when Dave took the kicker a bit too fast
and ended up falling off the landing, over the piste
and onto the road below. After a major rescue operation,
he's now in Bourg hospital recovering from a dislocated
shoulder and minor fracture of a vertebrae. On the mend
and due out of hospital on Wednesday, he's even managed
to persuade the insurance people to charter a private
plane home!
Pete and Dan both left resort on Saturday
(how fast has their month's stay gone?!). The chalet
is already feeling empty without them ... Think Pete's
liver will take a few weeks to recover - and Rhod is
definitely drinking less hot toddys now.
Easter Sunday was a very civilised one
- with huge roast dinner all round to remind us all
of home. Big thank you to Katie (mum) who did us proud
on the cooking, and to Rick and Jola for supplying a
house sized chocolate egg to keep us quiet all evening.
 
Since the weekend, Rob, Dec, Scott, Steph
and Tony have been taking photos out on the slopes for
JunkUK. Amazingly found some soft snow still in the
rocks above the Grand Reynard, so hope the pix come
out OK. Look out for us as the new JunkUK catologue
kids!
Snow news ...
The sun's still been the main feature
for the last couple of weeks. Great for our tans, but
the slopes (although fun in the slushy afternoons) are
really beginning to suffer now, with runs back down
to resort all pretty sketchy. Fortunately it's still
been cold at night so the snow cannons have been on
full blast.
Snow up top is faring much better, with
some nice spring snow to be found in between the bare
patches. Snow is predicted for later this week, with
rumours of up to a metre due above 1800m over Thurs,
Friday, and the weekend. Looking forward to it. Here's
hoping for a repeat of last winter's April powder days.
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