Annecy road trip

After a visit to the local doctor this weekend, I was ordered to take some time out of ski boots. I've hardly had any days off in the last few weeks so I wanted to make the most of this time. I grabbed all my camera kit including various lenses, filters and tripod, and jumped in the trusty car and drove out to Annecy.

Now if any of you have ever flown into Geneva, and then had a transfer to Méribel, you will remember this stunning town and lake en route.

Annecy has a typical alpine lake surrounded by mountains, with the town itself having stacks of history and architecture.

I prefer to drive around the eastern side of the lake via Talloires. It's a shorter distance, a little fiddlier but definitely prettier. For most of the day the weather was a little murky, hence the arty conversion into black and white with a couple of the shots.

I always enjoy walking around the town, people watching and listening to buskers. For years I've wanted to head up to the old castle to have a nose around. It has been converted into a museum about the history of the town and the local environment, well worth a visit.

On the way home I stopped at Talloires and was determined to get a sunset shot, close to the church with the lake and mountains in the background. But the colours didn't develop. However, just as I was about to give up in a sulk, I noticed a peculiar development. Shadows of gravestones were forming against the church itself, spooky. What do you think, does it work?

I'm now back on skis again, fighting fit. I've had a couple of sessions with the mad Irish couple from Dublin, Mike and Grace. Plus all day today I've been with a family from Paris, where we had great discussions about the difference between French and English food, films, the royal family and someone called Sarkozy.

Sorry this post wasn't that much about skiing. However it didn't do me any harm to have a slight change of environment, plus appreciate even more the beauty of the French Alps.

Martin

Saulire torchlight descent

During February the ski school puts on an event each week which demonstrates the skills of ski and snowboard instructors, the resort's history and a small firework display. Last Wednesday this show went ahead with an added twist: a torchlight descent from the top of the Saulire peak, to help celebrate Méribel's application to be the host for the World Cup Finals in 2013.

The list of names went up on the notice board down at the school the day before, where there was the usual scrum to see who had been 'selected' to take part. Yep, halfway down was written HEMSLEY Martin. Initial reaction was blast, or words to that effect. There are times when at the end of the working day there is nothing better than taking the boots off and going home for a cup of tea. But a torchlight descent delays that precious moment by three hours.

But, what an experience. It had been a gorgeous day, which turned into an even more stunning evening. Down in the depths of Méribel valley we never really see a sunset; the high peaks and ridges block out the colours. So when the 'condemned' eighty or so instructors jumped on the bubble to the summit, we were treated to a stonking sunset. I had an explosion of emotions, but thankfully had my camera with me, which meant I could use various techy tricks to get some grab shots, but deep down I was gutted that I didn't have my tripod to take some high quality sunset landscapy images.

Anyway, there we were standing at the top of Saulire at an altitude of 2,700 metres at 18.30 hrs, at minus daft degrees centigrade, with all the snow cannons working and piste bashers rumbling past and even a helicopter hovering overhead (!?!) watching the sun go down. Then suddenly all hell let loose, a rush for our torches, and off we went in a random snake on a long bumpy minefield back down to resort.

Chris and Helen asked me the next morning 'So what pistes did you ski down?'. Not a clue, no idea, I got totally disorientated by the darkness until we reached the Rond Point. I really enjoyed the evening. I'm now scheming about how I could evade the authorities one evening soon and stay up the mountain after the lifts close to take more photos, this time with my tripod. By the way, I still enjoyed taking my boots off at the end of the day, and especially enjoyed my 'drink' even more when I got back home. Enjoy your sunsets where ever you are.

Martin

Loopy Lou

Stunning sunshine with cold temperatures has followed last week's stormy weather, we even had a little snow last night as well. I'm with Chris, Helen, Robbie and Olivia this week, and have we made the most of the conditions?

Today Helen, Olivia and I went over to Les Menuires to ski down the Lac du Lou itinerary. The girls ski to a very high level which means taking them off the beaten track, ie pistes, is an enjoyable experience. Itinerary means that it's off piste, but often a popular route used by capable skiers. The area is huge with plentiful route options after dropping over the first ridge. We found loads of fresh snow, which made our smiles grow bigger.

After skiing the itinerary we rushed back to St Martin de Belleville to meet up with Chris and Robbie for lunch. Poor Robbie injured his knee a few weeks ago whilst ski racing, which means he is unable to ski now until next winter. Every day this week the skiers have met up with Robbie for lunch. Often he is wearing his new sunglasses, what do you think? They are called Ray Ban Radiators, no sorry that doesn't sound right, maybe it's Aviators.

Today we went to La Ferme de la Choumette, which is more than just a mountain restaurant which you soon realise on approach. It smells a little farm-yardy, in fact it is a full-on alpine farm. After placing our food order, I took Robbie and Olivia down into the barn to see the animals. The first thing that hits you is the smell: it stinks, quite frankly, but in a funny way. There are cows, sheep, goats, a horse and a massive bull. Plus cheese-making next door. I'm not sure how many times we need to wash our clothes again before the smell will disappear? Sorry Helen.

This evening I took part in another special torchlight descent. I'll write about it in the next few days, but let me leave you with a photo of the sunset from the top of Saulire before we lit the torches and skied off into the darkness.

Martin

PS. Thanks to Chris and Helen for allowing me to take and use the photos of Robbie and Olivia.

Sorry boss

The month of Feb means holiday periods from all over Europe. This week is the first of four weeks of holidays for the French. So when I ask my boss for a couple of sessions off work this week I tend to get the shoulder shrugs and funny mouth shapes. Why do I want this extra time off? It's been snowing heaps and heaps of course. My own work has been thin on the ground, so why not catch up with friends and go for a ski?

My first phone call goes out to Martin Jeffers, mentioned earlier last month in a post. We soon got kitted up for off piste, and this time both armed with our Canon DSLR cameras. Although the visibility this week has been poor, bad news for award winning photographs, but still just about OK for epic powder runs. As always I'm dressed in red, and Martin in black.

The last couple of days have been bitterly cold, great for keeping the light snow conditions. So Baltic in fact that lunchtime today at the top of Saulire peaked at -15 degrees, with the bottom of Méribel only rising to -9 degrees, almost Siberian. Speaking of which, dodgy link intended, I have skied with my first Russians in the last three years.

Elena and Yury are from Moscow, on their third week skiing holiday. One of the many great things about my job is meeting people from all walks of life. We had three mornings together, and have spoken about Russian politics, Russian economics in the last ten years, and commenting on other Russian visitors to ski resorts and their fashion sense. It was so nice for me to learn more about their culture first hand.

Next week for me sees the return of the Joneses. So heaps of high level skiing, in what will be very good snow conditions indeed. Will my legs hold out from all the skiing? Will my belly hold out? They always try to force feed me with 'Filets de boeuf', Tartiflettes, and any other naughty treats on the menus and of course I can never resist.

Martin

PS. Sorry if I've over done the powder photos from Monday. I couldn't bear to show you the other photos from yesterday as well !?!

New boots

One of the most important piece of skiing equipment in the arsenal of skiers is ski boots. Without good fitting boots, it really doesn't matter what skis or what snow conditions are like, if you have ill fitting boots then your enjoyment is massively affected. My alpine boots tend to last for two winters, about 40 weeks, before their performance is reduced.

Most people often delay replacing their ski boots because their current ones feel comfortable, even amongst my colleagues. It's a big day when you walk into a shop and say "I would like a new pair please". Simply because it can be a gamble, you are trusting the boot fitter with your comfort, and certainly in my case, skiing performance. I can't deny it was any different this time when I walked into a local shop called Freeride. I didn't care what colour or make they were going to be, they had to fit and perform, that simple. Almost two hours later I nervously walked away with a new pair. And after three skiing days later, with a couple of tiny minor tweaks by the boot fitting staff, I'm very happy and relieved. No blisters, no pressure points, no tears during the day, and no constant fiddling with the clips plus additional performance. Result.

After teaching the Bolderos, Nicky and Sue, and then Martin, James and Andy this week I decided to take a well deserved day off. I popped lower down the valley to Les Allues and had a walk around this traditional village with my camera. It was the second day in a row of snow and overcast weather, so I opted for some close up photos.

How strange to see my own monument already !?! This week appears to have very low temperatures forecast and further heavy snowfalls during the middle of the week. Perfect conditions then to continue testing my new dancing shoes.

Martin

Funny times

What a bizarre week it's been. Harriet's visit this weekend was longer than originally planned. I was able to spend a couple of afternoons after work free-skiing with her and friends, a rare treat. Sunshine and great conditions enhanced our enjoyment.

Harriet left Méribel on Monday morning to go back to work at Jaguar Land Rover, only to return in resort again ten hours later. Her flight from Geneva into Birmingham was cancelled, something to do with heavy snow falls in the UK. How odd, the UK has ground to a halt after just "a few centimetres" of snow. It's all too easy for us out here to chuckle about such problems, when in the Alps life goes on as normal in such eventualities.

The snow conditions here continue to be very good. We've had some very high winds yet again recently, but this time the slopes haven't been affected anywhere near as much as earlier on in the season. The photos of Jonathan, taken yesterday, demonstrate this.

I've skied with Sparkie for a few mornings this week. We've been together now for three winters, and it's so nice to see her develop technique and confidence each visit. I've lost count the amount of times where skiing can be compared to other sports, one of which is her main sport, eventing (serious horse-riding!) Sparkie is also one of a group on holiday together.

She loves having lessons before catching up with the others in the group for more skiing. And then later being part of discussions about ski technique, ski psychology, going for it (!?!) and all the other stuff that we tend to talk about in the evening.

What's to look forward to in the next few days? We are due some more snow again. Plus, I've just had my first boot fitting for alpine ski boots in the last two winters. How did it go? How will they feel? I'll let you now in the next post. Enjoy your snow in the UK.

Martin