The Noughties

It seems that everyone is looking back on the 'Noughties'. Harriet and I were in the bar the other evening doing the same thing, thinking about our last ten winters. Then it dawned on us, why shouldn't I write a little about my skiing experiences, since 2000, on my blog? Here goes.

With ten European winters in Méribel and two winters down in New Zealand, sooo much has happened this decade. To become fully qualified as a ski instructor at the highest level, one of the hardest exams to pass is the 'European Speed Test'. This is a giant slalom race that has to be completed within a set time. Very tough if you have never raced (like me) or even if you have (plenty of French candidates struggle with it too).


I needed many Autumns on European glaciers and two winters down in New Zealand just to train for this one exam. Most mornings meant heading up to the mountain in the dark just before sunrise, to be ready in position for our first training runs.

Awesome experiences, but really tough at the same time. Our training squad was often joined on the mountain by the Austrian and US world cup squads on their own summer camps. See the photo of a nervous Martin alongside the super-chilled Bode Miller.


Some of the time that I was training to get fully qualified in the early 'Noughties', I was also able to teach here in Méribel, as a "stagiere"or trainee. But occasionally silly fun would be had with friends. Like jumping off the roof of a mountain hut.

And getting the landing slightly wrong !?!



A few years ago I finally completed the gruelling process of becoming fully qualified as an internationally recognised ski instructor, plus even more importantly gaining 'Full French Equivalence'. A massive relief after such an effort. This then meant my ski teaching future in France was guaranteed, and I could throw myself into full time ski teaching.

Does this mean work replaces fun on skis? NO WAY. NOT A CHANCE. I really look forward to the start of each winter. To feeling the sub-zero temperatures when the early season snow cannons are switched on to create massive piles of man-made snow.


Each time a major snow storm invades the mountains, I can't help but stare out of my apartment window to see thousands of snowflakes falling, feeling excited. Then the next morning popping down to the boulangerie in fresh snow, regularly looking at my watch just to double check I won't be late for my first lesson and ski lifts.



During the 'Noughties' I've met hundreds and hundreds of eager beginners, intermediates and expert skiers. They've been motivated, nervous, shy, athletic, sometimes hungover, sometimes out-of-shape, cosmopolitan, even tearful (!), usually excited to be on skis. All ready to share some of their precious holiday time with me. Some days I have no idea who I'm going to meet and what will happen.


An awesome decade. So what on earth will follow the 'Noughties'? No idea, but I can't wait to continue having the best job in the world, and to continue meeting more of you all in what I believe is sheer paradise.

Martin

Happy Christmas

Christmas greetings from Méribel. I hope you all had a fantastic time yesterday; Harriet and I certainly did.


My last post stated that I was quiet with work this week, silly boy, how wrong was I. Loads of work came in via the school and I've had some great fun. I've taught a US Naval Officer, an Australian physiotherapist, another Australian this time a chemical engineer, a Serbian architect, an English IT guru and then back with boy racer Robbie again for some amazing powder skiing on Christmas Eve.

For the first time in twelve winters, I booked off Christmas Day. Harriet and I pootled around, opening presents etc (thanks for my new helmet and goggles Harriet). Later in the morning we prepared for skiing: Harriet on normal alpine skis, but I opted for my telemarking kit. We then skied to one of our favourite mountain restaurants for a slap up Christmas lunch with a bunch of friends. A lovely way to spend the day, especially with it snowing off and on, a real white Christmas.

Later this morning I'm skiing with Robbie's sister Olivia, who is also rather impressive on skis. Then I'll be looking forward to skiing with Arthur and his family next week.

Harriet and I would like to wish you all the very best for this festive period.

Martin

Regulars

Over the last five winters I've had the pleasure of skiing with Chris, Helen, Robbie and Olivia several times each winter. It's been satisfying to observe Robbie and Olivia develop their skiing, which is now geared towards race training. But at the same time helping their parents to continue working towards their own goals in a less competitive manner.


Today Chris, Helen (pictured above) and I skied together and re-focused. They spoke about what was going through their minds in the last couple of days when freesking with Olivia. They commented that as soon as I was skiing in front of them this morning, their performance and focus immediately changed. We went to work on double checking that old bad habits were gradually being wiped out. The Japanese call this process 'Kaizen', and is best translated as 'constant and never ending improvement'. Phew, Hemsley, that's a little intense !?!


On Saturday and Sunday I skied with their son Robbie. As mentioned in the previous post, he had an unlucky accident last winter which resulted in a major knee operation. So my responsibility was to ease him back into skiing. Hmmm, a 15 year old ski racer easing himself back, on perfect snow, empty pistes and accompanied by a well-motivated instructor. Let's just say that we skied miles and miles. However, being a perfectionist, Robbie soon got frustrated by the occasional weaker turn like this.


Although it may look impressive as an action photo, if Robbie skied in this same way on a steep icy race course he would soon lose the racing line and precious time. So we spoke about having a stable robust body position, required for these speeds. Incidently, positioning the body over the sweetspot of the ski is exactly what we aim for whatever our level, a snowplough skier, a parallel skier or a budding ski racer. In Robbie's case it looks a little more extreme that's all.


You should have seen his beaming smile after nailing together a few of these turns. It was the same type of smile that Lynn had over a week ago when overcoming her green and blue piste fears.

So what's happening in the next few days? Most importantly my wife Harriet is flying out from Stansted on Wednesday. Or I hope so anyway, I've heard that it's been nippy and a little snowy in the UK recently that's affected a few things !?!


I have very little work now until the weekend, so maybe Harriet and I will get to ski together over the Christmas period, and bump into the odd stunning 'Dali' sculpture on the mountain. Have a great festive period.

Martin

P.S. Thanks to Robbie's parents for allowing me to take and use these photos.

Brass monkeys

It's now officially uber freezing. I went to Chaudanne first thing this morning where the bottom of the lifts and pistes are located, also the warmest place in the Méribel, and noticed the temperature at minus 17 degrees.


'Global warming', I hear some of you cry. If so then I personally blame the flatulent alpine cows !?! They munch away in the lush meadows during the summer to faithfully produce amazing beaufort, tomme du savoie and reblochon cheese. So maybe this comes at a price like now with our extreme temperatures.


But it's perfect conditions for the resort to continue launching into the production of man made snow. It's pretty impressive stuff to observe. The snow is blasted out at very high pressure which soon creates huge piles of the stuff. How big do these mounds get? This big.


Normally during the ski season we are unaware of what can be done with these snow cannons, mainly because the deep snow base has already been produced. Often the cannons are used to just 'freshen up' the pistes.


So how do the big muscular piste grooming machines flatten the mounds? Cue my mate Canon, who stayed as dedicated as ever and focused on the same mound.....

On Friday I hope to ski with Nicole, who by all accounts sounds like a rather impressive skier for an eight year old. Then this Saturday and Sunday I'm skiing with Robbie. He unfortunately had major surgery this summer on his knee, due to an accident whilst training for the British Schools Championships last winter in Italy. Robbie and I have skied together for many winters, and he always turns up in his catsuit plus jacket. Bearing in mind how stupidly cold it is here, I hope he doesn't end up too chilly.

Martin

Continuous improvement

It's getting cold, very cold. Which is brilliant for snow making and for keeping the conditions in check. However there are times when you are reminded that popping over to Val Thorens, the highest ski resort in Europe, requires certain extra clothing considerations. Fortunately my first lesson of this winter included Paul, Rick and Caroline who are very experienced skiers and were prepared accordingly.


I've skied with them all over a number of years. Basically they are able to ski on anything that the massive 'Three Valleys' can put in front of them. Now that's saying something. So why do they book further lessons? I guess it's because deep down they each feel as though they are capable of an even better performance and experience. So we spoke about and broke down the different aspects of technical excellence, and fine-tuned these movements on the empty pistes.


What a buzz for me to see them respond so positively and dynamically. One of the last pistes that we skied on before a very tasty lunch at the Mont Valon restaurant, was Lac de la Chambre. Half way down the piste, we re-grouped and agreed to re-name it the 'Big Grin Piste'. Emotions were running high, but I didn't want to get carried away with it all, so I decided to hold back and look at their tracks left in the snow as they skied off to lunch. Track analysis is the same as 'the camera never lies'. Caroline was the last of the skiers, so it was easier for me to double check her carving lines. Check these out, perfect clean lines, with her outside turning ski track deep, clean, stable and grippy. Fantastic.


Caroline regularly writes articles for the excellent http://www.merinet.com/. It's well worth a visit for information, webcams and up-to-date snow condition reports just like this latest http://www.merinet.com/snow_report.php?id_snow_report=3663 .

Saturday afternoon I had my first lesson with Lynn. Before this weekend the last time she had skied was ten years ago. She skied with friends the previous day who were better skiers, and had also unfortunately had a nasty head-banging fall the morning before the lesson. When I was introduced to her at the start let's just say that confidence was not showing. However after a chat on the bubble lift up, and a lovely cruise down on a very gentle slope, we soon loosened up and went straight to work. We immediately simplified ski technique and started the practise phase. Goodness me, an instant improvement, quite evident by the more relaxed body language. Again it's such a buzz for me to observe these improvements, whatever the standard.


Oops, I've just quickly re-read this post and realised I've gone on a bit which has probably made it my longest yet. Maybe I'm getting carried away with the teaching again, oh well.

As mentioned earlier, it's pretty chilly out here right now. This meant that Canon and I have observed some impressive snow making and piste grooming today. I'll post some of these photos in a couple of days time.

Martin

A snowshoeing road trip

Last week Canon and I went to the Chamonix Valley to take some photos for a new website. Joy invited us over and was very keen to introduce snowshoeing to me.


For the last few years Joy has been studying for, and passed, gruelling exams to become an 'Accompagnateur de la Montagne'. During the winter this means that she is fully qualified to guide people around the mountains using snowshoes. Being motivated with this success, she was keen to advertise on the internet, which is where Canon and I came in.


Problem was, I had to wear these things for the first time to get to location for the shots. Snowshoes are short in length, they don't have releasable bindings or sharp metal edges at the side, in otherwords very different to my familiar skis. Mind you they were dead easy to attach to your walking boots. A little unnerving in the first few minutes, but I soon got the hang of it. Actually it was all really good fun (who said that, not a ski instructor surely?).


Jim and Kimberly were the obedient models for the photoshoot until...... Joy suggested everyone had a snow ball fight. "Sure" I said, "Why don't I record it all with Canon?", knowing full well I should avoid getting hit by pesky snowballs with a camera in my hand.


Little did Joy know that both Jim and Kimberly were damn good shots.


In fact I almost felt sorry for her at the end. Tut, children !?!


Anyway, back in Méribel this week the early season skiing has been fab. With mostly cold sunny weather, great snow on the top half of the mountain and very quiet slopes. All of a sudden I've got some lessons starting from tomorrow morning. I'll be meeting up with Paul, Rick and Caroline who I've skied with before. Plus I'll be meeting Lynn for the first time on Saturday who hasn't skied for ten years.


I can't wait to start ski teaching again this winter. But in the back of my mind I'm definitely going to keep a look out for childish snowshoers over my shoulder.

Martin

P.S. Best of luck to Joy O'Flanagan with her venture this winter. Thanks for the introduction to snowshoes, but my alpine skis and telemarks will just stay in front of snowshoes in the ski locker. So much fun to have each winter, in so little time.

P.P.S. When Joys website is up and running I'll let you all know.

First day emotions

I, amongst many others, had been waiting for today for a long long time. Why, because some of the Méribel valley lifts opened today to officially start the winter of 2009/2010. Problem was, those damn first day emotions appeared right on cue.


Would I remember how to ski? What pocket do I put my lift pass in? How many layers should I wear? What clips do my ski boot buckles stretch to? Will my ski edges be sharp enough? I hope nobody recognised me, so today was out of ski school uniform. It doesn't matter how much experience or mental preparation was involved, the sneaky little doubts still crept in. Get on with it Hemsley, I mumbled unconvincingly.


Both skis thumped down onto the snow, two clunks were heard as my boots attached to the bindings. Just as I pushed off with my ski poles I got distracted with laughter in front of me and nearly fell over!?! But hang on, what was all that fuss about? Couldn't deny that I hardly felt like a world champion, but who cared, I was sliding downhill in absolute heaven.


For the record, the piste conditions on the top half of the mountain were brilliant with soft, light and cold fresh snow. Lower down still had plenty of cover, but with slightly firmer 'man made' snow. This is where I bumped into a friend of mine who is also an instructor. Funnily enough, he also confessed to feeling a little fragile and under pressure within himself.


I'm willing to bet my last glass of Chateauneuf du Pape that Gregoire and I weren't the only people on the mountain today suffering from the dreaded first day emotions. But we all survived and can't wait to get going again tomorrow.

Martin

Snowing

How much snow at resort level have we had since Sunday night ? This much.


I'm not sure if the pisteurs and tourist office are going to use Hemsley's new method of measuring the snow depths, but you get the picture. It's great seeing Méribel looking like a ski resort again. All of these photos were taken this morning.


Canon and I are heading off over to Chamonix this afternoon for two days. We've been invited to take photos for a new website. I can't wait to see Mont Blanc up close in all of this fresh snow; it should look amazing.


There's more snow forecast again towards the end of the week.

Martin

France

What is it about France that we Brits love so much?


Is it the food, numerous independent shops, the weather, the romantic language, the architecture, the mountains or the vineyards? I can't quite put my finger on it, but it has to be said it's a magical country.


I had an overnight stop booked in a tiny hamlet nestling between Gevrey Chambertin and Nuits St. George in Burgundy. So waking up being surrounded by Grand Crus vineyards confirmed my love for the country. Even though the vineyards were hardly in their prime this time of year, they still had a 'presence'. Did it spur me on to buy a few bottles of wine before heading up to the mountains? Oh yes. So how is Méribel?


As stunning and gorgeous as ever. Boy oh boy have I missed this place in the last six months. Mind you, I think someone has forgotten to remind Méribel that it's winter and not autumn. Since my return on Tuesday, each evening has become cooler and cooler though.

But don't panic everybody, there's a storm heading our way starting Sunday evening. With the temperatures dropping significantly, I'm convinced more snow cannons will be switched on to work at full pelt. This final picture was taken this morning looking up to the Arpasson mountain restaurant.


I'll keep you posted regarding the conditions. In the meantime what shall I have for dinner tonight: French cheese and freshly baked French bread sloshed down with some fine French wine, followed by a strong French coffee !?! Perfect.

Martin

Bursting at the seams

As a kid I always watched 'Record Breakers' with Roy Castle on TV. I'm sure that one episode featured how many adults could squeeze into a Mini. Today, Harriet and I had our own version of how many items can be squeezed into our Peugeot estate with roof box. I swear we will be the world champions for many years to come. The glove compartment is bursting at the seams, we were even able to find some available space between the fuel flap and cap.

This week has been bonkers, what with visiting various friends and family to say goodbye for the next six months. Plus finishing work with BSM on Thursday. We have checked out of the flat in Coventry, and bumbled along UK roads to complete the circuit of goodbyes. I will leave the UK on Monday morning through the channel tunnel to arrive back in France. An overnight stop is booked in Burgundy on Monday night, ready for the final autoroute hit to Méribel later on Tuesday.

I'm now officially over-excited about getting back to the mountains, to start skiing and ski teaching again. This will be my twelfth European winter season, but the level of anticipation is as high as ever. I'll post again as soon as possible in resort.

Martin

Is it only patience?

Often when I meet up with friends or family, a question pops up 'How's the driving instruction work going Martin?'. After my reply they will say 'I don't know how you do it, I wouldn't have the patience'. But hang on a minute, is that all you need for instructing?


The great thing about my summer and winter jobs is meeting people from all walks of life, finding out about their backgrounds, their jobs/studies, what makes them tick and how they respond to instruction. For example Don, Emir and Kelly are all very different personalities but they all learn in the same manner. They are, respectively, a masters graduate of finance and economics, an accountant and a criminal psychiatrist. Their learning styles are based around using rigid procedures and specific set sequences on the open roads of Coventry. Anything away from using these learning styles would quickly backfire and possibly have disasterous consequences.

Whereas Inderjeet and Adam (a milk distribution manager and a teaching assistant at a school for autism), have slightly different learning styles. Once introduced to the above-mentioned procedures and sequences, their improvement depends on being given the 'freedom' to try them out at their own pace on different roads. The skill of the instructor is to vary the types of roads and junctions to the level of the learner. Some learners are easily spooked by other road users, where other learners aren't affected at all.



As individuals, our learning styles often cross over to other areas, especially when learning to ski. The mountains are an open environment, just like roads, where other factors affect skiers' progress. Weather, snow quality, business of slopes, peer pressure, the list goes on.


Some skiers thrive on a full technical breakdown through discussion. Other skiers will learn more by watching demonstrations. Others will learn more by following behind the instructor. Some benefit from constant direct assessment whilst practising.


When skiers improve, some will want to stay in their comfort zone and won't want to try steeper slopes until they've made 100 perfect turns in a row. But other skiers when they reach, let's say, 60 perfect turns out of 100, can't wait to then try their new skills on steeper slopes.
So just like teaching learner drivers, the art of instructing is to quickly find out each individual's learning style then selecting the appropriate teaching styles, followed by continous re-assessment. So the next time I hear someone say to me that I must have loads of patience to teach, I will agree with them and say "Yes, I've got bucket loads of the stuff", and leave it there. But there really is more to it than that.

Martin

P.S. One more week to go before heading back to the Alps, I'm really really getting excited now.