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Published: August 13th 2007
Meribel
Christmas morningChristmas 2006 was the one and only we’d get to spend with our flatmates Rena & Andy before they waltzed out of our lives as quickly as they waltzed in. And since we were all champing at the bit to get back to the slopes we decided to plan a boarding trip for Christmas to Meribel and the 3 Valleys, the largest ski field in Europe. Juicy, Jessie and Marty all came along for the ride too.
We got there with only one minor hiccup, the airline forgot to load all the ski and snowboard gear. Even though we were flying a chartered plane on a snow package holiday. Thankfully the gear all arrived the next day so there wasn’t too much down time.
This time Baz and I could definitely see that we’d improved and both of us were happily sliding down mountains with only the occasional flip. The snow conditions weren’t great though; they were probably the worst we’d seen. There was so little snow that every morning the mountains were a sheet of ice and every afternoon turned to slush that was shallow enough to expose the dirt and mud beneath it. A lot of the
Meribel
CK, Marty & Juicy runs were closed due to lack of snow and the snow machines were working overtime, but on some days it was too warm for the snow machines and the snow would melt before it hit the ground. Even with the choice of the whole 3 Valleys and Meribel there weren’t any great runs.
We managed to do different runs on different mountains each day and even ventured a few reds, some of which were seriously scary. Ice and Rock on what seemed like a vertical drop.
Nonetheless we were all having a ball and Barrie and I were finally spending more time enjoying this sport than hauling our arses off the snow, out of trenches, out of trees….
We woke on Christmas Day at the crack of dawn to open presents and enjoy a champagne breakfast. And spent the day boarding, just like every other day! But that night we all went out for a traditional turkey dinner and caught up with Rena’s cousins and a few of Baz’s mates who were all at Meribel at the same time as us a bit by chance.
As we had 2 apartments next to each other we didn’t
Meribel
On top of the world! venture out too many times, opting for drinking games in our lounge room. Party Marty didn’t disappoint though, he ventured out nearly every night and made friends - he thinks - with the local bouncers and snow bunnies. Of course he can’t remember getting home most nights and managed to lose a key and his jacket!
I’m not sure I’ve seen excitement quite like when Andy and Juicy discovered that you could legally (?) buy and let off fireworks in the French Alps. That provided a few nights’ entertainment - throwing firecrackers from our window onto unsuspecting pedestrians below and letting off a load of fireworks in the carpark downstairs, only to be scared away when the sirens screamed round the corner.
We did taste test the nightlife a couple of nights and it wasn’t too bad, they had alcohol, they had music and they had dancing! What more do you need?!
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