White Powder

Being a Park Ranger in New Zealand has made it very difficult to live in the concrete jungle that is London. I am now homesick more than ever after getting a small taste of life back in nature.

Julie and I have spent the last week in a French alpine resort snowboarding. Being in the mountains again reminded me so much of home. The difference is however that it took us 20 hours to get there on a bus which was delayed for 7 hours at the Chunnel due to the driver being an idiot. You might not believe me but some services in England especially long distance travel is more difficult and uncomfortable than third world countries like Bolivia.

After a nightmare journey we arrived in Flaine in the Le Grande Massif (close to Chamonix). It was about 16 degrees, sunny and from first glance the snow did not look to good. The fresh air, clear skies (London skies are never clear due to the planes)and amazing mountain views filled us both up. All our hanging on sickness, sores, stresses, troubles disappeared instantly. To me it felt like the first glass of water after two days walking through the dessert.

Our holiday was all inclusive. That meant three buffet meals a day, accommodation, gear hire, lift pass and half day lessons every day. Did I mention that there were three buffet meals a day!!!! The first day we had a massive feed, a nightcap and then went to bed with the door open

slightly to let the fresh cold air in. Over night the resort was transformed. From a grey resort with dark green conifer stands dotted around the mountain to a fairytale white christmas postcard. It snowed all night and all the next day leaving about 1400mm of fresh clean powder snow.

The next few days were spent carrying out a routine which I could quite happily adopt for ever. We woke early to a buffet breakfast followed by a morning of snowboarding lessons with a group of equal level. Twelve o'clock back for buffet lunch then back out for more boarding this time with friends. Once you had fallen to many times and were aching with exhaustion it was back to the resort for another buffet meal. The evenings were spent at the bar sharing stories of bad falls and comparing injuries.

Being a natural at everything it didn't take Julie long to be the best in her group and look forward to the end of her beginner lesson when we would go on the harder slopes. By the end of our time Julie was the envy of her group able to board switch down red slopes with ease. I started off in the beginner group but changed as all the surfing I had done meant the basics were a bit to basic. By the end my group was riding of piste (trail) in the powder as much as possible. Riding through the trees and finding little jumps to hit. The powder was so light that I was able to accidently try back flips with no fear of hurting myself. I never landed anything more than a 180.

During the week it never really stopped snowing which meant that it was possible to get fresh powder tracks every day. The conditions were the best on the last day when the sun came out after a night of solid snow fall. There was so much powder that if you turned even slightly you slowed to a halt and were stuck deep. The only way to get out was to take your snow board off and walk/crawl to the nearest packed trail.

We are back in London now and have moved flats. Our new place is in Brixton. It is known as a rough area but our rent is cheaper and we have some nice parks close by for the little tiny summer to come. We also have a backyard with a BBQ and lots of couches in the lounge for any would be travellers who are thinking of making the mission over.