Week 15 - Awesome Tricks, Moonlight and going 'home...'
Week Ending 19/3/6

I can feel my knees this week. I’ve been practising popping 180s and the constant jumping and landing is making my knees twinge. It’s all good though, I’m pulling them off with more and more confidence all the time and it’s a nice feeling to be gradually improving.

Tuesday, I spent all day playing in good snow with beautiful blue skies overhead, popping jumps off kickers and trying 180s off lips. Throughout the day I got more confident and tried bigger jumps and even a few 'awesome' 180s off the kickers. I felt so euphoric to be achieving them that I almost bought a bottle of champagne when I got in.

That evening after dinner I was wondering what to do with myself when a few of the guys started talking about doing the moonlit descent. It’s a free event put on by the Val tourist office (paid for by lift passes) where we all went up the mountain in the dark to come down by moonlight. Here’s the link to the report I wrote for Natives on it….

On Thursday we had our bar/kitchen department night out. We were meant to be going to La Plagne, the resort down the road where I first learnt to ski and board. As it happened, La Plagne was full, so we ended up going to Courchevel to stay at the Bon Sejour, or ‘home’ as I called it during my first season in early 2005.

Courchevel was also where John did his first season and learnt to ski, so we both knew we wanted to get out on the slopes, even if it was only for a couple of hours. We got an afternoon ski pass and went out, spending our time on lifts pointing out ‘my first jump’ and ‘my first off-piste’. We both agreed it was a funny feeling being back, a kind of happy, memory filled joy to be in a place that we’d both loved so much, albeit at different times.

After spending a couple of hours hooning around Courchevel, we went up to the top of the mountain which separates the valley from Meribel. When we got to the top, the sky was clear and the sun was getting low in the sky. I’d forgotten how beautiful the awesome views are from the top of the 3 valleys. When I was here with Billy before, it was cloudy. Now, I felt like I truly was at the top of the world, looking down on everything. I just sat there, looking out at how beautiful it is. Mont Blanc - a pinky red in the slowly turning light and all the black and white peaks of a hundred different mountains in all directions reaching for the sky. The Three Valleys really does piss all over Val d’Isere in terms of stunning vistas.

John and I dropped into the Hotel Dahu on the way back (where I used to be a dish washer) and had a couple of drinks in the bar ‘where I did my first bit of bar work.’ After that, we went back to the Bon to meet up with the chefs who’d been drinking pretty constantly since before breakfast. This sounds a bit stupid, but I knew I wanted to have a shower in my old shower room on the first floor. I've never had a shower with such a beautiful view. It was just like I'd never been away. Hot shower, window wide open with the cool fresh air in my nostrils and the view of the mountains just as spectacular as ever, especially at sunset as all the mountains turned a salmon pink. Awesome.

As for that night, we all agreed before we left that what happens ‘on tour,’ stays on tour. It was a pact that was made up when we were thinking of going to Lyon, which would’ve involved a lot more bad behaviour and debauchery than it did when we went to stay in another one of our company’s hotels.

Plus it bugged the shit out of all the nannies that they didn’t know what we’d been up to, and as we kept Sshh-ing each other any time one of us started talking about it. Anyway, bound by the same pact, all I can say is, we had a great night. Even more so for John and I travelling down seasonairre memory lane, in all the bars, pubs and clubs etc. Yes, I did dance on the benches in Kalico’s with a couple of nannies till it closed, then passed out on the sofas in the bar/TV room in the Bon. Just like old times…

The next day, Phil somehow managed to drive us home, even though I think he was more smashed than any of us the night before. We did the obligatory McDonalds stop before heading back into Val for a very muted, tired and hungover, St Paddy’s Day. Thankfully there’s not that big an Irish population in Val so work wasn’t too tough…

I’ve changed this week. Apart from the fact that ‘awesome’ seems to have become a regular part of my diction. Which, I’m not sure if I’m embarrassed about or if I should be glad that I’ve been blessed with so many things around me that truly are ‘Awesome’ (like my 180s!) Basically, I’ve really been ‘feeling the love’ out here. It’s probably because the end of the season is fast approaching which puts every thing in perspective.

I don’t really want to come back, but I know and understand from the last few years of heading off then coming back, that all good things do come to an end. However, with the right mindset, you can start to look for new good things when others finish. With that in mind, I was quite excited to get a text saying to meet up with the Natives guys next week, to help with an event and to possibly apply for job for when I get back….