My first time in the Alps

My first time in the Alps 

As a regular blogger on this site I am always looking for different stories to tell about skiing. This week I have managed to get a guest blogger to share their experience. This tale comes from my wife. I am happy to say that since this experience she has become a dedicated skier and snow addict. Disclaimer – I was not on this holiday with her.

402399_10150531255103194_126137440_n“There’s one spare space on our ski holiday, anybody fancy it?”I look up from the magazine I have been browsing through at the lunch table in the staffroom. I’d always wanted to find myself a sport. At school I was always the last one chosen for teams and was always looking for a reason to excuse me from the dreaded cross country. But maybe skiing could be ‘my sport’?Visions of me dressed in ‘all the gear’, tanned face, gracefully shoop, shooping down the slopes in the French Alps passed through my mind and I find myself saying “yes please”.

The first question that is then asked is “do you ski or snowboard?”. A great conversation across the table then ensues about the merits of each sport and I am left a little bemused. I decide to follow my general rule of ‘going with the majority’. As most people on this said ski holiday appeared to be snowboarders – snowboarding it was.

As the next few weeks pass I find myself visiting every T K Maxx outlet store in London, as I’ve heard it’s the place to shop for the cheap, stylish ski clothing. I slowly start to realise that my purse strings won’t stretch to the ‘dope’ outfit I had researched on the internet and practical it had to be.

Next, my thoughts turned to my ‘apres outfit’ which I hear is as important as the ‘on piste’ outfit. The hat remains on, the goggles go up, but the jacket comes off, so thermals/layers need to match the salapetes. So many rules.

Only once the bag is packed do I start to think about what I have done. What if my attempts at skiing turn out to be as successful as cross country running? What if I break my leg on the first day? What if I can’t get on the first button lift that comes my way? Had I even sorted out any insurance?

On arriving at our chalet, all these thoughts left me and I was lulled into a false sense of security about how relaxing a time a ski holiday is. I was feed amazing food by the chef in the Alpine Action chalet. The host topped up my wine. I soaked up the surroundings from the hot tub. What a gentile holiday this was going to be.

9am, after a superb breakfast, in all my gear, we head off to the nursery slope, where my ‘friends’ give me a few pointers and then jump on a lift shouting “just leap, you’ll be fine.”

 

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