For many years I have skied with Robbie and his family several times each winter. The last three or four years Robbie has thrown himself into ski race training, up until recently. He has now decided to retire from racing, for different reasons including various injuries and impending GCSE exams !?!
Yesterday we skied over to Val Thorens in search of some good snow, and to enjoy a bit of cruising. Robbie is now revelling in free skiing (and I have to say, doing very well indeed on his slalom race skis) away from the confines of the race pistes. Whilst on the Moutiere chairlift we spotted some bumps on a black piste, got fidgety with anticipation and I was dead chuffed that Robbie was more than keen to give them a go.
Last week I didn't have any of my own work, so I returned back to the ESF ski school and opened myself up to their planning. What a cosmopolitan week I had, due to the start of the main European holidays. I was given a group lesson in the morning, and loads of private lessons that filled the rest of the time.
It was a great week last week, finishing off with a decent fresh snowfall today. About time I hear you all cry !?! Here is Robbie from today in the fresh stuff before he flew home for some mock GCSE exams. Good luck.
Yesterday we skied over to Val Thorens in search of some good snow, and to enjoy a bit of cruising. Robbie is now revelling in free skiing (and I have to say, doing very well indeed on his slalom race skis) away from the confines of the race pistes. Whilst on the Moutiere chairlift we spotted some bumps on a black piste, got fidgety with anticipation and I was dead chuffed that Robbie was more than keen to give them a go.
We spoke about different techniques that can be used in the bumps and practised together underneath and in full view of a very busy chairlift (no pressure then!) Whilst practising together, I decided to take some photos with Canon. This time I took my skis off to get a lower viewpoint of Robbie, and guess what happened on this steep black - one of my skis decided to slide down the mountain below me, rubbish.
Both Robbie and everyone on the chairlift above us found this highly entertaining, with Robbie taking a sneaky photo on his mobile phone when I side-slipped down on one ski to retrieve its offending partner. Thanks everyone, very funny !?!
Last week I didn't have any of my own work, so I returned back to the ESF ski school and opened myself up to their planning. What a cosmopolitan week I had, due to the start of the main European holidays. I was given a group lesson in the morning, and loads of private lessons that filled the rest of the time.
My group each morning consisted of three from England: an Investment Adviser, Intensive Care nurse and an 81 year old retired Surgeon - and then we have a Parisienne singer, a Dutch Community Care Adviser and two Russians.
We had fun enjoying experiences together, sharing our language skills, learning about each others' cultures and jobs - and building confidence on skis to move away from the comfortable green piste of the Altiport to further afield.
I think one of the most interesting things from last week with this group, was not only how quickly they built confidence with improved technique, but the realisation that the mind can be a used in a very positive manner. For example, ignoring the colour of the piste markers at the side of the piste, and focusing on how to ski each turn one at a time.
It was a great week last week, finishing off with a decent fresh snowfall today. About time I hear you all cry !?! Here is Robbie from today in the fresh stuff before he flew home for some mock GCSE exams. Good luck.
Have a great week everyone.
Martin
P.S. Apologies to Robbie's family for being 35 minutes late for our very nice lunch yesterday. We got carried away by squeezing in an extra bumps run, plus I slightly mis-judged our route back from Val Thorens. Oooops.
2 comments:
One ski slipping down the mountainside! Wasn't there another incident in full view of the chairlift or is this a case of the author dictating history?
I thought owning up to two mistakes in one morning was enough, one of my skis sliding down a black whilst taking photos, and arriving late for lunch. Ok, fair cop, I fell over in the bumps everybody. There, I've owned up to it. Mind you, two full weeks of snowploughing before whizzing off with Robbie was a nice shock to the system.
Note to self, must ski more in the bumps.
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