As I sit here using all my mental strength to resist the
constant urge to scratch, I contemplate the parents of the little girl who gave
me chicken pox. Her parents said to us
that she was feeling unwell on the drive from London to the chalet, but the
penny dropped when she came out with bumps all over her body the next morning.
“It will be fine” the collective audience replied. “Everyone’s had it by now,
surely?” Well actually it turns out that
I hadn’t had chicken pox before and adults get it a lot worse than
children. In hindsight the child should
have been put in isolation in her room but wandered throughout the chalet
touching everything. I tried to stay away from her but it was inevitable. I
have a fever, headache, sore throat and not to mention the bumps. It pretty
much sucks. Cry baby.
On a considerably happier note, March as been pretty good.
We managed to get two light snowfalls in the past month which was badly needed-
both for the mountain, and my mental sanity. Danielle, myself and some friends
have being doing short hikes along ridge lines and into nearby valleys to get
some untracked powder. We have also been riding up at Val Thorens more because
it’s at a higher altitude so it has more snow and better quality. We even
managed a night out in VT which was a welcomed break from the Piano Bar in St
Martin. One week we drove out to Les Arc which is a ski resort about an hour
away. Although the weather wasn’t good we still had a good time exploring a
different mountain.
From the 14-16th of March the European X games
were on in Tignes. We couldn’t miss this opportunity to see the best in the
world performing in our sport. The drive to Tignes only took about 1 ½ hours
including a small vomit stop (Thanks Sy for getting none in the car!). The land
rover had 3 mates in the back. Jenny, Jakob and Sy who had decided to come
along for the day. We also got a free day skiing courtesy of having a 3 Valleys
season pass which was a bonus. During the day we managed to see the Mens
Snowboard slopestyle, Mens Ski slopestyle, the snowmobile demonstration and the
Mens Final of the superpipe, as well as some exploring on the mountain, and a
few laps of the terrain park. It was a massive day and totally worth. To see
Shaun White and Louie Vito flying massive Playstation tricks over your head is
simply awesome. This is the link to see Shaun’s winning run http://search.espn.go.com/shaun-white/video/6.
I even got a high five from Louie Vito and the end of the final. Check the vid.
Classic.
On the work front March has been steady but we did have a
week with only 5 guests which was amazing. All the staff had a chance to get
some much needed rest and recharge a little. The guests that week didn’t even
stay for the whole week. It also looks like the relationship between the chalet
staff and the owner has turned weird. The other couple that we work with have
taken another job for next season at a different chalet after a disagreement
with the owner. The owner seems happy with the professional job we have all
done this season, but there seems to be something that is possibly personal to
attribute the shift in his attitude. To be honest, Danielle and I don’t really
care. Ha! We also found out that we are finishing on the 21st of
April- 1 week earlier than we expected. Danielle’s pretty happy about that as
she has been keen for a new scene. I’ve got mixed emotions. I’m keen for the
work to stop, but I’m now counting the days of snowboarding that I have left. 3
more weeks. I'm already looking forward to Canada next winter.
