going down

Leaving the snow under the 'new' telecabins

MMmm mountain honey, too warm to get close enough to peek inside

skiing is forbidden in on the roads and squares within the village

Chester dog and Justin, taking a break on the way down

civilisation, well, a mountain village is a lot more than we have been used to

Just for a change Justin and I walked down to the village. Something I had never done before, but often thought about. It took over two and a half hours to descend via a steep mountain path and over three and a half to climb back up to the chalet, the beers at lunchtime probably made the climb back up easier to start with.

I hardly ever go down to the village at all as I know that each time I go I will come back many euros lighter. There is never anything I need to buy, but always a temptation, perhaps a ‘T’ shirt or something to eat, chocolate, or a couple of beers on a pavement terrace. All perfectly allowable expenses, but easily avoided by not being there in the first place. Skiing is free and extremely enjoyable, as is walking and the weather has been incredibly warm for a while.

The difference was amazing, normally we head up the mountain into the cold and snow, I had almost forgotten that spring was on its way and things were starting to enjoy the warmer weather and longer days. The valley floor was carpeted in lush green pasture and as we descended the woodland was brimming with the ground level activity that gets its growing done before the trees are in full leaf. Violets and anemones were everywhere, the occasional drift of primroses, hints of blueberry plants that will carpet whole slopes later in the year. Now and again a warm breath of air, full of the scent of spring, the promise of the summer ahead, bringing back memories of hot days on the moors surrounded by heather, cliff top walks back in England and a sensory reminder of things to look for.

We talked of our different lives, of the freedom in europe compared to South Africa, where it is too dangerous to roam the countryside, especially if you are white, for fear of shootings or theft or kidnap. Of the greed in the world and the workings of big business, marketing and control of resources. Of options and choices and our need to tread more lightly on the planet before it kicks us off by natural means or otherwise. Of our time in the chalet, the lessons we have learned and memories we will take with us. Of travel and moving and the importance of material goods around us. It was great to have such discussions with someone from a different culture, background, age and upbringing and interesting to hear how somewhere else sees itself in the world. (South Africa that is not just Justin himself).

Chester dog was great on the way down and surprisingly calm on a lead. I had only ever seen him ‘loose’ in the mountains, never even with a collar on. He walked into the village next to me as if it was the most normal thing to do. We stopped at a bar for a couple of pints in the sun and he rested with us. A few people came to pet him, he tolerated that too, even the children, although we knew that he was more scared of them than they of him. Other dogs were good to say Hi to, the smaller the more scary he appeared to be. Two tiny dogs appeared from nowhere and he nearly tipped me off my chair in an attempt to escape their interest, though he soon calmed down.

It was good to sit and relax in the village and watch the world go by. Real people with proper lives and places to go, it made such a change from the skiers I become so used to in the winter. I know better now why Cameron came down to the village so often, without a love of skiing, living up there must have been maddeningly boring and inert of stimulation. A small part of me knew that it was nearly time to move on, that and the fact that more snow was melting every day.

The climb back up was a challenge. My legs had been rested but complained never the less. Chester no longer bounded ahead and Justin did moan just a couple of times about how far it was going to be. I convinced him that it was worth continuing if only to loose the calories that we had just imbibed I started discovering things of interest as we took a different route back up the hill. A few dandelion leaves to take away the taste of old beer, a primrose or two to remind myself of the taste, violets because I had never tried them direct from the wild, Parma Violets were once the height of fashion and were, in fact just violet petals coated in sugar. Watercress straight from the stream edge and of course a nettle leaf or two, yes, you can eat them raw and without getting stung, if you roll them tightly and chew them straight away. It passed the time well, gave us a great topic of conversation and enthused me further about finding somewhere new to go. The thought of working on a straw bale house, still in the mountains certainly seemed like a strong contender by the time we got home.

Most of the climb took us up an old farm track, though fields and woodland and in exactly the right direction. The remainder was on the road which was not ideal with Chester, though he was so tired and calm he hardly needed his lead, until of course we were just about to arrive at the chalet. Clare called out and he was off up the road like a shot, as if he had all the energy in the world, rushing to say Hi to his owner and to tell her all about how exciting and scary it had been. Justin and I continued at the same speed that we had maintained most of the way, arriving not that far behind. Mark was busy in the kitchen and dinner was almost ready. There was the rest of a barrel of beer to finish before we all left the chalet and an early night to be had.

going down more images

church steps with fresh mountain water

primrose colour primulas,

(I only just noticed that, I thought that I had taken a photo of some primroses!)

anemone nemerosa

mother nature doing her thing

probably not this one, but it does need some tlc.

last chance to ski

Justin and Calvin left a few days ago and the chalet seems awfully quiet without them. There have only been guests for the previous two weekends , no one during the weeks, so plenty of time to ski and do all those other jobs that need doing at the end of the season. All the remaining firewood was moved out of sight so that it doesn’t get stolen whilst the property is left unattended, not that it often is with Chester being around. Snow tyres on the car swapped for another season and a pretty good spring clean throughout. There was a certain amount of disappointment when it was realised that we would not be free to go skiing every day but we made short work of the tasks and profited from some late season snow and completely empty slopes. Mornings are always the best as the sunshine and warm breezes soon turn the south facing slopes to slush, or “soup” as the french call it, though it didn’t deter us from making the most of the sunny days, skiing until end of play, often being chased off the mountains by piste security. I haven’t played cards so often in years and it was good to pass on a few different games of poker rather than the ubiquitous ‘Texas Holdem’ that everyone seems to play these days.

Mark, the chef has gone too, he headed off this morning leafing a gleaming kitchen and a huge pan of french onion soup for Clare and me. That with leftover chicken curry will do just fine for our last dinner here. I am heading off to work on an eco building project for a few weeks, helping to contstruc a house out of wood straw and mud, I am so glad that the spring is here and the days will be warm and long, I didn’t much fancy taking that opportunity during the winter. Clare is heading off to stay with friends for a well earned break before her next guests arrive.

After the slushy mess of melting snow on the pistes yesterday I was in two minds as to whether to go out again today. Last day excitement and the thought of not skiing again for a year got the better of me. The conditions were excellent. It is absolutely amazing what a cloudless sky and a plummeting night time temperatures can do. No slush, perhaps a touch icy in the shade, but the best snow in ages. Clare and I enjoyed the morning much more than we had expected, returning to do each good run that we found again and again in case the next one was not so good, “shame to waste good snow” the sun shone and the sky was blue and everywhere we went was marvelous. Even the slow slopes provided plenty of speed and we covered most of the mountain in record time. As we often do, saving the big black ‘Terrenere’ till later on, earlier in the season it remains icy well into the day, so it’s best left for a while, not so now, the sun is higher and its popularity meant that it had been well used by the time we got there. Bumpy and a bit slushy, it was quite churned up, fun but heavy going. My legs, already tired from a morning at breakneck speed complained most of the way down and Clare felt the same so we decided to head to a mountainside restaurant for lunch.

An hour or so later I passed the top of that very same piste on my way to a more promising run and the top was roped off, I glanced at the signs which warned of avalanche and thought little more of it. Avalanches frequently happen here, especially when the weather is warm so they had probably closed the run as a precaution. I could see several new slides in the distance well away from the path of any marked routes and marveled at the course of nature and the changing of the seasons, I had been there just a couple of weeks ago enjoying fresh powder, off piste, without a care in the world. Would I have done that today, No Way.

I found that wonderful last run and blasted it a couple of times before heading back down to the chalet. I leave tomorrow and still have washing and packing to do, nothing like leaving things till the last minute, at least I know where I am going next. Up the fast six man chair, across to the Mirabelle which was so beautiful this morning, now cut to shreds and smattered with stumbling beginners, unused to the changing conditions and further down the mountain. The narrow snowy ski track passes the bottom of the ‘Terranere’ and I remember the signs. Looking back up the mountain, with high peaks looming above the ski trail I see why it is closed, there was an avalanche, not a huge one, but impressive none the less and completely covering the route that we had taken not a couple of hours before. I thank the powers that look over us that it waited until we had passed by and that I have spend another most wonderful winter enjoying these great mountains without mishap or injury. There are many who think I shall return.

satisfied customers

Calvin with an amazing electric cheese grater one lunch time

My thoughts precisely.......

Justin, Mark, Calvin, me

Ann and me

The holidays are over and the chalet is quiet once again. There were still several guests staying last week, but it is completely empty now after being filled to capacity for almost a month. Clare, the owner, Mark the chef and I are feeling a bit dazed from the experience and looking forward to a change of pace until the end of the season.

Unlike last year when the team remained the same throughout the season, people have come and gone sporadically this time, which has meant constantly training new arrivals to get them up to speed, checking that chalet standards are met, adapting to new characters and their requirements then saying good bye to folk every couple of weeks and carrying on as usual. Clare described her management style the other evening as “somewhat Basil Faulty” so there is never a dull moment.

Now that the season has quietened off a bit I have time to reflect and ponder some of the characters. Earlier ones that were here when I arrived went before I had really gotten to know them that well. Ildi, the Australian Hungarian girl had been here since December left a couple of weeks into my stay, she was great at chat, chat about anything and everything, even stuff that had nothing to do with you, within hours of my arrival she wanted to know what I thought about her relationship with James, someone who I had never and would probably never meet, having declined to comment I was then offered her mobile later in the evening to have a chat with said James and was momentarily put out when I said I didn’t want to. She bossed and organised everyone in a fun and jovial manner and was great to have around.

Graeme left about a week later, right at the start of the busy season, not entirely his fault, more an issue of visa expiration, another Australian, he had to leave Europe as his visiting time was up. He annoyed me immensely to start with, with his constant questions about random things, he would ask and ask the most trivial and detailed of questions during dinner service or when someone was in the middle of working. He had a great smile and was easily amused which made up for most of his annoyance. I put a stop to me being annoyed and started to enjoy the challenge, beating him at his own game from time to time and supplying him with inordinate amounts of trivial detail that he loved. As the best skier in the group Graeme and I had the best times on the slopes even though opportunities were limited and he was gone before I had really gotten to know him, after his departure I continued to learn snippets from Cameron and Clare and think that we would have had a great time.

Cameron stayed the longest and has only been gone just over a week. Another Aussie with dual nationality, Scottish this time, had come to experience the snow and mountain life at the end of an eight month trip round europe. We found common ground in obscure comedy shows from the past and had lengthy discussions about the state of the world and the influences that come to play. There is nothing like repeating a long lost line from some comedy scene or other to start the banter and laughter going. He was great company even though he was more than ready to return home and get on with life. Unfortunately tried skiing and had not found it the exhilarating sport that some (I) do and was bored with the lack of inspiration living high in the mountains. He should do well with stand up comedy when he gets back to Perth and I may surprise him one day by visiting and seeing him perform live.

Ian came and went in a fortnight. A trainee trainer for a financial institution in London, he came to learn to ski, improve his French and use two weeks of annual leave. He didn’t really fit in that well as he already had all the answers and knew how everything worked even as he walked through the door. (no experience necessary). He proudly announced that he was achieving all the targets that he had set himself for his time here without enquiring as to his efficiency or performance, talking over any comment or advice that anyone tried to give him. Chaos behind the bar and a pro at providing guests with random made up information He wanted me to help him learn to ski which I patiently did for half a day before dismissing myself as a hinderance as I clearly didn’t know what I was talking about. His crowning moment was when Clare returned from the town with loads of provisions including a large box of table place settings. He took one look, saw the 500 pieces written on the side of the carton and declared that he would do the jigsaw after lunch. The tension took several days to subside after his departure and I have severe concerns as to the safety of my money if the whole bank is trained by people like him. One piece of advice to you if you read this Ian, you cannot just know everything, often you have to learn it.

Ann was whirlwind of a completely different temperament, the very model of german efficiency, what is it they say on the Audi commercial? “vorsprung durch technic” and there you are, Ann. Before she had taken her coat off she was making notes of how everything worked, she was serving drinks and taking orders before lunch and had everything down to a tee before the end of the day. A day later she was up serving breakfasts and snowboarding like a professional on her first day on real snow. She did have prior service industry experience which gave her a head start in the chalet and a three hour snowboard lesson in a frozen shed somewhere in Holland that helped the boarding somewhat. We spent a couple of days on the slopes together and on the Saturday it was really quiet, there was no one waiting for the lifts yet Ann had to go right the way round the barriers on her snowboard instead of taking a short cut through the ski school entrance. The second time she did this I was just about to tell her to stop being quite so german when she did it herself. She laughed on the lift as we discussed countries traits and the fact that germans are hugely law abiding and find it so difficult even to bend small rules, hopefully she will learn during her time at university in france. She was great.

Most recently we have two young South African lads helping, well, I say helping, they are now that they have been taught how to do just about every task they have been asked to do. I guess their stay has been the biggest learning experience for me. Some people, through no fault of their own have no idea of how to do anything domestic. With a privileged upbringing in a country where domestic help is the norm, why should they know anything. Most helpers have some idea of how things happen and have done some chores about the home. No such luck here. It has been a challenging few weeks discovering how easy it is to assume without meaning to and teaching skills when I have had to think hard to break them down into individual parts. How to clean a bathroom suddenly becomes a minefield of unexplained tasks and washing up miraculously takes five or six times as long to complete. How do you sweep a floor? hold a brush or use a potato peeler? How do you get a duvet into a duvet cover, lay a fire or set a table the same way every time? Frustration has been overtaken by a great feeling of achievement now that these two guys are suggesting things that need doing like setting the table before meals, taking the rubbish out and ironing without being constantly prompted. Unfortunately there is little practice now that we only have guests at the weekends. We make up for it by skiing almost every day on empty pistes, having a great deal of fun and relaxing by the fire in the evenings. Hopefully they will remember their newly learned skills for the future and that we will have contributed to their lives. More satisfied customers and they don’t even realise it yet.

chalet life continues

This blog thing just isn’t happening at the moment. Since I arrived back at Chalet Lou Rider so many things have been going on that I have just not found the mood or inspiration to write. So I apologise to those of you who keep checking to see what I have been up to. The time to write will return, as it always does and I will resume a more normal service.

Until then, a quick synopsis.

Since I wrote last, there has been snow, loads of snow and some great skiing, followed a couple of days later by some ‘wonderfully’ warm sunny weather, the pistes turned to ice and the mountains lost their beautiful white blankets of cover, returning to an unseasonal brown colour. Days later the same thing happens, a good dump of snow followed by a couple of excellent days for skiing before more warm melty conditions. Diane, a guest, who stayed a week or so ago provided me with some excellent tuition and we skid together most of the time she was here, improving our english and french language skills and having a great laugh together. My skiing is much improved and hopefully I have shaken off some of those lazy habits that I had gathered from last season. Dynamic skiing is the way forward, I love it.

We have just had the biggest snowfall of the winter so far, it came down constantly for over 24 hours, blown by fairly high winds most of the resort stayed closed for a day as the workers on the mountain dealt with a multitude of avalanche threats by blasting unstable snow off the mountain with controlled explosions.

Here in the chalet two helpers have gone and after a short gap, one new one arrived. Ildi took a weekend off, returning fleetingly to collect her belongings, not to be seen again and Graeme had to leave Europe before his visa ran out. So suddenly there were two of us where there used to be four, right in the busiest part of the season. Fortunately the new guy, Ian is a bright spark and is getting to grips with chalet life fairly quickly, he is only here for two weeks to learn a bit of french and also to ski. Cameron and I are filling in with a bit of extra work and have an arrangement with Clare to compensate. New postings have hit the helpX website and reinforcements should hopefully be arriving soon. Cameron is with us for another three weeks before heading back to Oz after a good stint of traveling and exploring the world.

I am amazed that ski fanatics are not queueing up to be here as it is in the most excellent location and there is an opportunity to ski almost every day. Come join us for the remains of the season, in another two weeks the school holidays will be over and the resort will return to its normal tranquil self. More snow is forecast, along with some seasonable cold to replace the warmth that has dominated the region for most of this winter.

change of plan

So much has happened, I got the ski bug big time and a few days after my first ski trip with Vanessa, I hit the slopes again, a different resort in the Pyrenees, Peyragudes, in fact, again with Vanessa along with one of her english village neighbours and a couple of friends.

The resort was quite different to Saint Lary, dropping off two sides of a mountain ridge rather than nestling mainly in a large bowl, faster more modern lifts, more challenging and longer runs, but further by car and no where local to stay. Luckily we were only there for a day and it was great fun to ski with more proficient skiers too. I was somewhat distracted throughout the day, wondering if I had made a wrong decision, or if I should have stuck to my original plans.

The following day Lisa dropped me in Lannemezan and I got the coach to Saint Lary again, this time it was for a longer term visit. I had been liasing with Clare during the week as an opening to helpX had arisen in the chalet, I needed no second asking and as some of you who know me well have already deducted, I am now installed at Chalet Lou Rider for the rest of the season, doing the same as I did last winter. It has been a hectic couple of weeks adapting to the new routine, getting as much skiing in as possible, fitting into a different team and catching up with all the little changes that have been implemented since I was last here, not many, but enough to tax me slightly at times. The boiler and oil supply were playing up so I spent much of my first week doing my best to stop water leaking into the oil supply and keeping the chalet warm. The weather was unseasonably warm and the mountains changed from white to a browny green in a matter of days, especially at lower altitudes, the heights continue to hold the snow well even with a week of daily daytime melt. Thankfully it has cooled dramatically since then and snow has fallen a couple of times, returning the mountains to their rightful colour for the start of the school holiday season. The chalet, busy with adults last week is now full of families and buzzing with afternoon games as soon as the slopes close in the afternoon. The atmosphere is great and we will be kept busy for quite a while as business is much brisker than last year. I will be making the most of my free time during the day on the slopes and enjoying my work in the chalet.

Late winter school holidays are different here in France to those back home in the UK, for a start, the mayor holiday is in February or March, allowing everyone two weeks off during the ski season, they only get a short week off over Easter, secondly, the country is split into three zones and the holidays are staggered on a rotational basis. The first zone starts, then the second zone starts a week after. The third zone starts two weeks later as the first zone finishes. Thus the two middle weeks are the only ones that overlap out of the month. This season the two more local regions come first and last, giving us a full month of business potential rather than the overlapped format of last year. The chalet bookings sheet is looking pretty full for the complete month already and more enquiries arrive every day. Me thinks that we will be in for a busy time.

Fingers crossed for some more decent snow interspersed with some good cold sunny weather to keep everyone happy. With any luck there will be plenty of snow left way into March when the schools go back and the mountain calms down again.

absolutely amazing

Skiing was amazing, absolutely amazing. There had been fresh snow over the weekend and the mountains looked beautiful as we drove up to the resort. The snow cover was extensive but not terribly thick, wooded areas stood out as large drifts of dark green against the new whiteness, the sky a bright blue and although it was very cold there was warmth in the morning sunshine. It was easy to see the road winding up the side of the mountain to Espiaube and the chalet, I knew exactly where to look but as ever the hillside hid the buildings from view. We weren’t particularly early but the car park was deserted, probably the fact that it was a Monday had something to do with it, Vanessa and I popped into Chalet Lou Rider to say Hi to Clare and have a quick drink before changing into out ski gear and hitting the slopes. I had left my skis at the chalet at the end of last season, unable to carry any more luggage back to England and happy that someone else adopt them should I not have returned. Thankfully they were still there, unused and ready for my boots once again.

I had a moment of apprehension on the way up the mountain on the lift. Will I still be able to ski? Have I forgotten everything, it has been ages since I stood on skis, I was going to be completely rubbish and fall over straight away, for most of the journey up we discussed where we wanted to ski and tried to guess which pistes were open.

Conditions were as good as the best day I can remember from last year, I didn’t fall over and my skis remembered exactly what to do. Almost immediately I started having thoughts of why I wasn’t in a ski resort for the winter? what was I doing elsewhere when it just felt so good to be out on the snow in the sunshine? As runs disappeared under our skis and lifts whisked us back to the heights again and again I tried to contain my thoughts to the moment and embrace the immediate wonder of the day, it worked most of the time and we had a great day. Unlike last winter when we could just pop back to the chalet and the slopes were available day after day, this was a treat, something we had to make the most of. We timed it right and ate a late lunch after everyone else had finished, the choice was limited and the chips were cool when they arrived but it didn’t matter, we were on the slopes for the day and making the most of it. Vanessa’s skiing had improved since last year, she has already had a couple of lessons and her increased confidence was definitely showing now. We were able to explore areas of the resort that she hadn’t ventured to before, gently increasing that confidence and realising how much fun it all was. People has asked me back in the summer if I had been bored by the end of a whole season in the same resort, I had told them no, and now that I was back, that still stood, it was as good to be back here on the snow as it would be to have had a day on the snow else where.

The late lunch fueled us for the rest of the day, we definitely got our moneys worth and were herded off the slopes as they closed at the end of play. I could have gone on for longer so made the most of the last descent by using the slope to its max. Huge sweeping turns, traversing from one side to the other, enjoying the sun and the view and the fresh air and hoping that there would be more opportunities in the not too distant future for us to enjoy. I stopped more frequently than I had been, in order for Vanessa to catch up, the day was taking its toll, her legs had had enough and she tumbled several times on that last descent, a sure sign that it was a good time to call it a day.

Clare welcomed us back at the chalet with a good cuppa and I spent a few minutes chatting with the new team of helpXers that were there this season. It felt a little strange to be there for such a short time, but great to meet yet more welcoming , friendly helpers and get a tiny glimpse back into the life I had enjoyed so much a year ago. We left in the car, returning to the safety of the valley floor before the icy darkness fell on the mountains once again. Home was only an hour away, where a welcoming log fire and dinner awaited.