Quick link to Winter 2004/5 report: [1]
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14 Feb 2005
SNOW AND CHALET REPORTS
Tignes (report by Pete or Kirsty?
Not sure...)
As we sit here on Valentines Day it is
time to reflect again on the goings on of the Tignes
Tribe in the last two weeks - and what an eventful two
weeks it has been!
The newies arrived - Julie, CJ and Scott.
They have settled in very quickly getting to grips with
life in the flat. Thursday 3rd February is now known
as Black Thursday. On that fateful blue skied sunny
day in two different French valleys certain individuals
were about to see a change to their season.
Julie was happily ambling down on her board to Le Fornet
when she decided to use her left arm as an additional
brake. 6 hours later, three x-rays, one snowboard lighter,
three shots of morphine and one plaster cast Julie was
back in Tignes with a broken left wrist. On entry to
the flat it was quite apparent all was not well with
another member of the team. Ray (in his own words) was
showing off and going too fast in Les Arcs when he hit
a double bump, was thrown at least 6ft in the air and
landed with an almighty crack. This resulted in a broken
right ankle and torn ligaments. Happy is not the adjective
to describe Ray! Unfortunately we have said good bye
to Julie, adieu to Ray as he goes off to explore the
best that Amsterdam can offer and see ya soon to Damian
who went back to London for two weeks.
Obviously there have been lots of flat outings to watch
the rugby resulting in copious amounts of drinking due
to disastrous scorelines. Pete H demonstrated his ability
to down a jug of Amstel in under a minute whilst Rich
managed about half his jug in two minutes. Pete did
then politely excuse himself from the proceedings and
collapsed on the sofa for a couple of hours. Fair play
he was back out in the Loop by 10pm.
Julie's leaving drinks turned into Julie consuming as
many different flavoured vodkas as possible in the Crowded
House, begging strangers to buy her drinks as she had
a broken wrist and then demanding to go home even though
there was no bus for 45mins. This did not stop her as
she drunkenly grabbed her coat and wandered off. Kirsty
and Rich stopped her and in the end Spanky, being the
gentleman he is, walked her back across the lake. The
rest of us paid Jacks a visit and went dancing!
Pete O is currently experiencing memory loss whenever
he goes out drinking. We can fill in a few gaps and
the name was Amy. Scott is proving to be a tealeaf and
last night came home with two jacket potatoes, a copy
of Maxim and a Jack Daniels glass which subsequently
broke in his pocket. CJ has set himself a punishing
training regime which he has currently done about twice
though apparently tomorrow is another day and he can
do it then - yeah right! Spanky has returned from London
with a stash of DVDs, cocktail shaker and cheese.
Kirsty has her room to herself again - Beth be warned
she will do anything to be alone in that room - do you
really think Julie fell over on her board!!! On another
note Beth you could make heaps of euros by bringing
out cheddar cheese, salad cream, cocoa pops, chocolate
spread and Branston pickle and auction them to the highest
bidder.
So another two eventful weeks have gone by, we did get
our Tartiflette from Pete, a few more bones were broken
and the new flat mates are alright.
Chamonix (report by Julene)
It’s been snowing again! This is
extra specially good news as it immediately followed
several days of weather doing a passable impression
of a wet and windy Saturday in Bournemouth. There is
only so much Gran Turismo you can play (isn’t that
right, Trevor? The only other things that keep him up
till 3 are romantic internet chit chat and the runs).
We’ve had two days of the best powder to be had
anywhere , but not without a price! Jon Dearnley who
we all suspected was some kind of superhuman proved
it by busting his ankle on a rock and riding valiantly
for nearly 1000 metres off piste through powder and
moguls with only the occasional expletive to show there
was something wrong. His only regrets were that he had
to sideslip so much fresh and that we wouldn’t
let him ride all the way down (we wanted to take some
humiliating pics of him trussed up ‘like a kipper’
in a stretcher).
Another man down this week. Johnnie (Haxton –
who might like to be called the Silver Fox on account
of his barnet but we prefer Grey Badger) sprained his
shoulder whilst executing an otherwise perfect tail
press in Courmayeur. To avoid powder temptation and
the inevitable surgery if he does it again, he has gone
home for a week, which is good news for the rest of
us as he is going to come back with marmite, bacon,
hobnobs and a new car complete with four wheel drive
and roof bars. Roadtriptastic!
Elsewhere in Planetsubzero Chamonix, housemates are
busy improving themselves in other ways. French lessons
and life drawing classes are being taken but the cynical
ones among us can’t help wondering if the former
are simply aimed at increasing pulling potential and
the latter at sneaking a peak at some bare flesh.
This week saw the departure of Big Jim, Tash (who proudly
tells everyone that her name means stain in French),
Caroline, Ed and Si. Cue a big piss up in Argentiere
that saw a strange reversal when Chamonix housemates
were left stranded after missing the laughably named
‘night bus’ (the last one goes before most
people are even warmed up). This same piss up resulted
in hangovers so bad that even industrial-strength, hospital-issue
shoulder pain relief couldn’t shift them.
Mid-season cabin fever should be setting in very soon.
The early symptoms are definitely there – Playstation
addiction, universal failure to get up for first lift
on powder days, the kind of ennui that leaves some housemates
so bored they can’t even be bothered to go to the
pub… The only known cure is bluesky powder days;
we’ll keep you posted.
Meribel (report by Rachel)
It's mid-season now and it seems the hardcore pace
of riding and drinking has been taking it's toll. The
guys in the Meribel apartment have been suffering from
a whole bunch of injuries including black eyes, tendonitus
and board boot induced foot injuries. But by far the
worst off is poor Phil who ended up in hospital for
four days following a nasty boarding fall and now has
big metal staples holding him together! We're wishing
you a really speedy recovery Phil - hope you can get
back out on the mountain again soon.
But those who are still able have been getting out
and about in the snow. Kirsty and I had a great day
exploring some of the runs at the far end of the valley
and everyone has been making the most of the recent
snow fall to learn some new tricks. Kirsty has sorted
180s and James has pulled off a
360 - hurrah - and the others have apparently constructed
a monster of a kicker and from the sound of things are
pretty much learning to fly!
Two of the original Meribel Crew from back in December,
Chris and Pete, have both been spotted on day trip visits
here in Meribel. Good to see you again guys. And now
it's snowing again, and the English half term skiers
have all left resort, so we should have a good week
coming up!
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