Trip Report - Ski Trip 2009 - Alpe Du' Heuz, France

A "Full Pelt" report from the slopes by Kelsey Alcock

Well, what a week we had, with plenty of snow and sunshine in the Alps. Our journey started at Gatwick airport with a nice midday flight, not the middle of the night like last year! 19 of us gathered together with excited anticipation of the week to come. Some of us decided to start the holiday early by taking full advantage of the free alcoholic shots that were being given out in the departure lounge! You all know who you are! Start as you mean to go on I always say. The flight out was surprisingly very good and we had a nice smooth landing, unlike the year before! Baggage reclaim was a bit of a nightmare at Grenobles airport but you get used to that when you go on a ski holiday. I was small enough to get to the front though and grab peoples bags for them as they came along, with mine being the last bags out, obviously! Eventually though, all bags arrived and we were all settled on the coach for our journey to the beautiful resort of Alpe Du' Heuz.

Once in resort, we had a short walk to our chalet, which thankfully was downhill! We arrived too late for us all to get our ski and boot hire so it was a quick shower, change and then we met downstairs in the bar before heading into dinner.

Dinner was a three course meal each night, along with unlimited red and white wine! Needless to say, we made good use of the free wine, some more than others hey Frosty! I will say no more on the matter!

Next morning, we had arranged to meet for breakfast at 8am so we could get ski hire etc and then be up the mountain for first lift. This didn't quite go according to plan though. I myself was very hung-over after the excitement of the night before and drinking probably a bit too much free wine. I did however, drag myself down to breakfast for 8am, only to find about 4 other people in our group there! Nev, Christine, James, Haydn and then myself! No sign of Mr. Chilvers who had arranged for us all to meet at this time! Myself, James and Haydn then went off to get ski hire and we were on the slopes by 9am!

We spotted Nev on the slopes, shortly followed by Christine... on skis! We all thought she wasn't skiing so it was a big surprise to see her with skis on. Go Christine! Most other people managed to get onto the slopes about an hour later. Needless to say, we teased them about being lightweights for the rest of the day!

So, first day then, we all split up into different groups, depending on ski ability. Christine came with the advanced group which I was very happy about as it meant I was no longer the only girl of the group! It started off nicely but then some dodgy map reading meant that we ended up having to ski down a red run! For those of you who don't ski, green runs are the easy slopes, blue are moderate slopes, red are difficult slopes and black runs are crazy difficult! So, going back to the red run we had to go down, poor Christine did extremely well and managed to get down with just a few falls. However, she wasn't the only one to fall! So, well done Christine. After that, we stopped for Lunch and a much needed rest. A few late stragglers of the day managed to join us for Lunch and then the afternoon was spent cruising the blues to break in our ski legs. Then it was back to the chalet for cake and tea and some of us even indulged ourselves in the fantastic outdoor Jacuzzi hot tub! Great for soothing those aching muscles.

So, onto that evening then... I decided to rally round a few people to investigate the bars in resort. As usual, we stocked up on the free wine with dinner first then 5 of us headed out to Obar which we had heard from our waiter that they had 2 for 1 cocktails there! Those of us that headed out included Stacy Harper, Harry Bryant, Jonathan Dempsey and the legend that is John Musk. Obar was a small but friendly bar with a nice atmosphere. Stacy and I started on the cocktails which were only 2 for 1 until midnight so we had to drink fast. The boys were on Beer which was 5 euros a pint! This was the basic price for a beer everywhere. We noticed some of the reps out, included our chalet waiter Storm. Yes, his name really was Storm! They were all dressed up in bin bags as it was someone's birthday. So, lots of fun was had. After fun in Obar, myself, Stacy and Jonathan decided we weren't ready to go home so we went off to a recommended bar called Smithy's. When we arrived, there was a live band playing and the place was absolutely packed. People were dancing on the tables every where you looked so of course, once we had got ourselves a drink, we had to join in with the table dancing! We left when the bar closed so basically we were kicked out! Then it was back to the chalet for much needed sleep.

Day 2 on the slopes. Everyone made it down for breakfast this time and most of us were on the slopes just after 9am. As usual, we split up into smaller groups and off we went. Leg muscles were hurting a little today so we decided to have an easy morning on the blues again. We had all week to tackle the reds and blacks! Later on that night, more of the group joined us on a night out in resort and we headed out to a bar called underground. This bar was right across the road from our chalet, so a nice staggering distance. We had all had lots to drink and Underground bar was a small but lively bar open until the early hours of the morning. At one point during the night, the Legendary John Musk was up on the table dancing with a young girl with his shirt off! Thanks to his efforts, the bar staff gave us all a free shot and 2 jugs of beer free. Well done John! The rest of the night was spent dancing and on the way back to the chalet, one of us was so drunk that they could hardly stand up and had to be half carried back! Not like me to get so drunk! Apparently we also woke up half the chalet that night by talking and laughing loudly in the Corridor. Oops. Sorry everyone.

Mid week, some of us decided it would be a good idea to tackle the 'Serene' on the slopes. This was a 16km black run and also one of the longest runs in Europe. Why? You may ask. I was wondering the same thing myself. Anyway, once at the top, I was having serious second thoughts. The top was narrow, icy and full of moguls. To make matters worse, due to it being so windy up there, the wind was blowing around all the loose snow so it felt like you were in a snow storm. Not a pleasant experience but once down a few hundred feet, the wind died down and it did get easier. Then it was just a case of getting down in one piece! The run itself had not been bashed (smoothed out by snow ploughs) so it was tough on the legs all of the way down, due to the snow being very lumpy and bumpy in places. We all made it down though and had a much needed rest at a small restaurant at the bottom. I was very proud of myself for doing it, especially being the only girl in our group to do so, but would I do it again? Probably not in a hurry! That night was the chalet staff's night off so we all went out for dinner to a small pizzeria in resort. We had to wait for our table so we all dived into an Irish bar across the road for a few cheeky drinks whilst we were waiting. The meal itself was very nice and again, lots more wine was drunk and after leaving the restaurant, certain people decided to indulge in a full on snow ball fight! I wonder who started that... Nev! Before getting back to the chalet, the usual suspects decided to stop at the underground bar first for a quick one. 2 hours later, last ones standing included myself, John Musk and Harry Bryant. However, we were in for a treat as just as we were about to leave, and Elvis impersonator arrived wearing a mankini! Of course, I then insisted we stay for just a bit longer. I must say, it was great entertainment.

Other highlights of the week included my day out with the girls. Christine Hine, Linda Dodd, Stacy Harper, Alison Cunningham and myself spent the whole day exploring the quieter green and blue runs and found a lovely restaurant out of the way to have lunch. Later in the afternoon, we stopped for hot chocolates and glue vein and chilled out for a while on the deck chairs under the hot sun.

Onto the final day of skiing then, I was back with the boys and it was full pelt on every slope we did. I always seem to ski my best on the last day as I just go for it and all my aches and pains have disappeared. So, when someone suggested we ski a short black run, I was well up for it. However, once we got onto it, it was a totally different matter! It was the steepest slope I had ever encountered and it was jam packed with mogul after mogul. We all got down it though, even if we did side slip down most of it. Some people had seen a sign at the top warning you it was a very difficult slope and for advanced skiers only. I totally missed this sign which made me think, would I have done it if I had seen the sign? I think not. Again though, we all got down in one piece and you always feel good when you have conquered a difficult slope.

With the week having flown by, the time came for us to pack up and return home. Again we had an afternoon flight so we didn't have to be up at stupid o'clock. Back at Gatwick airport, our luggage came through much quicker and then it was time to say our goodbyes. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who was on the trip. Thanks to Andy Hine, Christine Hine, Linda Dodd, Stacy Harper, Alison Cunningham, James Hume, Alan Chilvers, Haydn Haynes, John Musk, Harry Bryant, Dave Wells, John Friend, Sam Ash, Keith Wakeling, Jonathan Dempsey, Greg House, John Sowle and Steve Frost.

Can't wait for Ski 2010!