Goals

Since last weekend we've enjoyed fabulous skiing conditions. The snow deposited during those hefty storms has stayed fresh and light. Perfect for every visitor this week in Méribel. My main focus this week has been on helping Chris. Let me introduce you to him, second from the left on the chairlift.

I've skied with Chris for several winters and as always the main goal has been to 'stay as relaxed as possible to enjoy the holiday'. A totally understandable goal.

This goal could easily have been met by staying in the comfort zone of the fantastic Altiport (or officially named Blanchot) piste for five mornings. Don't get me wrong, it is an amazing piste for developing confidence and fine tuning technique. But there are other pistes that can be used to gradually ease the transition from greens to blues.

Chris is very analytical and precise in nature, skills he puts to good use as a Fund Manager. He truly understands the methodology of skiing. As always, isn't the theory of skiing quite simple? Putting it into practice is the tricky part. I've never come across anyone so driven, determined and intent on improving as Chris. We made it through the holiday, with improvement and staying relaxed. It looked as though Chris didn't want to stop skiing at the end of his last lesson, now that's a rewarding sign for me.

Next week promises plenty, I'm catching up with Sparkie, a motivated and successful equestrian rider. But also her husband of many (understatement) years of skiing. There's always plenty of banter with this bunch. But also Harriet is out again this weekend, just for a few days but I know she's looking forward to it.


Martin

Mr Grumpy Pants?

Being a Ski Instructor has many ups and very few downs, and I'm not talking about ski lifts being the ups and pistes being the downs. I passionately love sharing my knowledge with other skiers if it helps them improve or enjoy the mountains more. But we are all self employed, which means we only get paid when we work. This winter appears to be bringing fewer visitors to Méribel - and those who are visiting aren't booking as many ski lessons.

So does that mean all instructors are turning into Mr and Mrs Grumpy Pants with reduced income? Maybe some of them, but not this one. Not a chance. Forget it. Granted, I'm having to cut back on buying tartiflettes and ski kit, but that's no real loss. Less work means more time for free skiing.

On Thursday morning I phoned a friend in resort, Rick, to see if he fancied cruising around before my final lesson with Debra that afternoon. We met up and skied a few runs, marvelled at the scenery, made silly shapes with our shadows, and looked at various animal tracks in the snow. We also stopped for a strong coffee and put the world to rights. It felt as though I was on a ski holiday again just like all those years ago.

After coffee, I left Rick and skied off to the meeting point to join up with Debra. On the way there I had to pinch myself, to check that it wasn't a dream, because it was just so stunning. Commuting to work on skis, in such jaw-dropping scenery. Even in my eleventh winter season here in Méribel, it still gets to me. I don't recall having the same emotions during my summers with BSM, ie when not driving instructing, going for a cruise around the Coventry ring road for fun !?!

This week is also a little quiet for work, I have five mornings with Chris, who I will write about next time. We've experienced some brutal wintery storms here recently, don't forget to stay in touch with snow conditions by looking at http://www.merinet.com/snow_report.php . Snow conditions have really improved in the last week, with a little more due again on Monday.

Have a great week, and I'll post again soon.

Martin

PS. A personal message to Robbie after his nasty fall at the British Schools Championships. Keep your pecker up fella, and I look forward to seeing you in a few weeks time, please don't whack your sister too many times with the crutches.

A skier's dream

Today turned out so much better than I thought it would in many ways. As I left my apartment, skidding down the road, it stopped snowing. I collected my ski kit down at the school, walked towards the lift, and the sun came out. What with the first decent snow fall in a month, then bright sunshine, I had a good feeling about what lay ahead.

At the start of our session this morning, I learnt that Debra had never skied in fresh snow before during previous holidays. With the Altiport green piste only partially groomed, we soon had heaps of fun snowploughing in the virgin snow. In and out of the trees, checking our balance, testing our ski steering and making sure we made the most of these conditions. Smiles everywhere. Debra was buzzing with these new sensations. We can't wait to build further confidence tomorrow morning after the groomers make the pistes smoother tonight.

A couple of minutes before meeting Debra I received a phone call from a good friend of mine, Martin Jeffers. "Mate, are you working this afternoon?". Martin is a fellow ski instructor and also a keen photographer. I replied "No mate, not working but I'm still rough with man flu, little energy". He continued "Me too, had it for two weeks now, so let's go and play for only an hour. Bring your camera, I forgot mine". I replied "You Gumby, OK see you later".

Martin and I go back years, we took many ski instructing exams together, in particular the demanding Euro Mountain Security. This exam comprises of serious off piste skiing and ski touring miles away from civilisation. We trust each other and especially share the same passion for the mountains and skiing.

So off we went after lunch. We popped off here and there, got my trusty Canon camera out and just played. Fantastic fun, my first free skiing since telemarking a couple of weeks ago.

We didn't last long with energy, one hour in fact, but it didn't matter. As soon as I got home this afternoon, it clouded over and has been snowing again since. A skier's dream.

A cup of tea was gulped at home, then I plonked down on the sofa and fell asleep yet again for 45 minutes. Damn that man flu, can't complain though, it allowed me plenty of fun today with Debra this morning, and then Martin this afternoon. Even more snow is forecast for the end of the week, loads in fact. Bring it on. Just in time for Chris and Stuart's arrival.

Martin

It's snowing

This morning I was woken up by the noise of road clearers outside, nothing to do with litter, but moving snow. Fantastic, I really don't mind being woken up so early by that.

Last night it was raining in resort, but the forecast confirmed that the precipitation was to continue with the temperatures dropping. Thank goodness it did. So here are just a couple of photos grabbed early this morning. I'll take the camera out to work today, so hopefully I can post a few more photos later on tonight. I'm really looking to forward to today's skiing.

Martin

Man flu

First things first: the sunny weather is relentless at the moment. Day after day has been glorious. I now don't bother looking out of the window first thing each morning in anticipation of what the weather will bring . It will be a shock to the system when the blue skies disappear.

Normally this week of the season is very quiet for work. Visitor numbers are always low. So when my "man flu" started at the weekend, I was relieved that I had hardly any work. Time to recharge, the free skiing can wait for another time, just get rid of the sniffles and sore throat. It's my biggest fear being ill during the winter because energy levels can drop, enthusiasm can wilt, and maybe that endless patience......... well let's not even consider what a disaster running low of patience would be. Most blokes can relate to the effect of man flu, we all try to avoid banging on about it, but believe me it's a challenge. Quite how us fearless blokes get through each day without complaining I do not know.

So my last session with Jim and Geraldine (with man flu, remember) really focussed on pressure control, we really went for it. Then Rick booked a lesson - he was willing to be exposed to my man flu, what a soldier! We went to town on extreme scrubby turns and extreme carving turns. Phew that took it out of me. But then Helmine, Louise and Phil contacted me for a couple of lessons, whatever happened to this being a quiet week? We also exaggerated pressure control, we went to war with squashing the bugs, and we made sure we piloted the skis. Lemsips and Sudafed were running out now. Then finally Mary, Jane and Rohiyah (pictured above) kept booking me to continue building their confidence snowploughing on the green slopes.

Maybe I didn't need to worry about the dire effects of man flu, the bookings kept coming. I personally think that Lemsips and Sudafed are overated. Maybe spending all day in the mountains, with sunshine and fresh mountain air being surrounded by motivated skiers is the best cure. Amazing stuff that, because keeping on top of man flu is no easy thing, as blokes know, not that we like banging on about it!?!

Early indications show that we are due some snow early next week, I'll keep you posted. Plus I'm looking forward to meeting Debra. Have a good week everybody.

Martin

Typical early January

With the festive period and the Russian Christmas behind us, Méribel is a quiet and more peaceful place compared to recent weeks. January is one of my favourite months with empty slopes, cold temperatures and very often sunny days. The first photo shows the view from my bathroom window, which was taken early this morning before going to work. It may explain why I start each day very happy and relaxed. There has been a trend recently of cold, clear blue sky days much like today, typical for January. I understand that the UK has been colder than normal this week, unusually getting almost close to alpine figures. The second photo was taken yesterday morning down at Chaudanne confirms this, please note the temperature reading of -10 degrees.

However, a few days ago we again received some light snowfalls just like last week. Even though it wasn't a heavy snowfall, every little helps. With the cold temperatures keeping the new snow light, and the excellent piste grooming every night, we are still enjoying good conditions.

This week has been fun catching up with some of my regulars, Dan and Kay earlier in the week, then Jim and Geraldine today and later on again this weekend. I also took Harriet back to Geneva airport at daft o'clock on Tuesday morning. This afternoon was my first spare time in several weeks, so I asked if I could telemark with Jim, Geraldine, Rick and Lisa for company. So after the morning lesson and lunch, I quickly changed into my telemarking kit, and off we all went over to St Martin de Belleville. It was great fun sliding downhill together, looking at the views and generally enjoying ourselves.

Next week looks very quiet for me work wise, so I will take this opportunity to recharge my batteries, and then go for a slide. I can't think of a nicer place to be.

Martin

PS. New Year resolutions need adjusting, three pizzas and one tartiflette have somehow popped into my diet in the last seven days !?! How are you doing?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody, and welcome back to a sunny but cold Méribel. Yesterday and last night we received some fresh snow which freshened the mountain nicely. The first two photos were taken today, what a great start to 2009.

These photos introduce you to Arthur, my companion for this week. At 8 years old he is a typical smiley fella, who is now increasingly on the lookout for jumps. We've certainly found plenty of those so far this week, even a few extra secret routes containing bumps and jumps in the Altiport forest. But, interestingly for his age, he also adores learning technique. This means every day I'm able to go through some exercises with him which directly improve his skiing. He is desperate to ski as well as his much older brother one day, I have no doubt that this will happen.

On New Years Eve I took part in the torchlight descent. It was as much fun as ever, and a real bonding experience with the other instructors. Maybe this is something to do with various drinks being passed around before the off. There were a couple bottles of the local brew, genepi, that I spotted which I was able to avoid. Unfortunately my hip flask of whisky didn't last long, thanks Ian and Mike !?! This time my torch didn't blow out on the way down for the first time ever, result.

We all have another descent next week to help the Russians celebrate their (orthodox) Christmas. The numbers of people on the pistes will drop drastically this weekend with the end of the festive period. Next week I'm looking forward to catching up again with Dan and Kay, and also with Jim and Geraldine.

My New Year resolutions are to ski more, and eat less tartiflette and pizzas. It's not going very well though, I ate a tasty pizza at lunchtime with Arthur and family, oops. Have a great week.

Martin

PS. Thanks to Arthur's parents for permission to take and use the photos.