saturday 2nd february
final cuts.
we snaked downwards through the mountains, rae+christian doing another late night
as we braked from hairpin to hairpin. i dreamed out of the window seeing the snow
thin, making everything darker and just... wet. as we left behind our week in
the dazed early morning slumber there was nothing to do but fill the rest of the
leica's memory card as i track marked.
friday 1st february
catching worms at the roche de mio turned out to be a cross between ice station
zebra and something reminiscent of 'the thing', all swathed in the kind of morning
half light that only a 3,000 metre snow-blind white-out altitude can create. how
can something so dreamy make you so alert i wondered. we boarded through the mountain,
working our way down to the cable car which took us to le grand rochette which
took us up again. last day of the holiday, and boy did we board it.
roll up roll up, here come the movies:
thursday 28th february
getting lost on a 158cm board can make you late. an hour and a half late for the
now infamous vimto kicker rendevous but it was worth it. landing my first three
front-side switch 180s was definitely the highlight of my day as i shocked myself
and simultaneously impressed nobody.by extending the run i discovered two more
kickers, a tiny black run and a great route through the pine trees, buried in
4-foot deep powder. running your hand behind you as you turf up the icing sugar
is an experience you can't put into words. eat your heart out, garribaldi.
wednesday 27th february
a lie-in. after all; this is meant to be a holdiday.
tuesday 26th february
after too much talk of conquests and not enough time on my own i decided that
i was overdue a quiet beer. mat's bar always plays good music, as i sipped a pint
and a rum and coke (which always reminds me of barbados, now pretty much a year
ago) i thought about london, work, people, and how eurosport broadcasts too much
sumo as the thievery corporation blended into kruder and dorfmeister and then
the snatch soundtrack (which is surprisingly good). just as i was about to leave,
bored with arriving at the same questions and answers, seven boys turned up with
their father for the manchester united game and began chatting. so i stayed.
'right. that's my half time pizza whistle. i'm off.'
'you coming back?'
'you getting pizza?'
'can i have some?'
'are you having pineapple on it?'
'i had my appendix out three months ago.'
then the father said, 'please stay... you're doing really well... oh, go on.'
'nope. that's me done. if i bring pizza back these vultures will have it all,
anyway. i'm tag-teaming it, dad. they're all yours.'
monday 25th february
boarding to the snow park, steve trudging over, funky and steve, funky kicking
it. then lunch at la bergerie.the view from the top of col de force (2,270m)...
taking a breather, getting ready, agreeing the run. all the time in sun.
sunday 24th february
a view like i've never seen as we drew back the curtain. at last a photo that
makes me look as happy as i felt. even better, it was on my first ever ski pass!
saturday 23rd february
funky's 'getting there' minidisc was nudged out as lbc performed the 'board stories'
compilation i threw together, all the time reminded of john cusack's 'the art
of making a compilation tape' speech in high fidelity.
1. eels - mr e's beautiful blues (it is a road trip, after all)
2. the dandy warhols - bohemian (woo-hoo hooo!)
3. blink 182 - turn the lights off (as homage to 'getting there')
4. stereophonics - pick a part that's new (for the route)
5. oasis - slide away (for the words, believe it or not)
6. bon jovi - keep the faith (!)
7. the jesus and mary chain - blues from a gun
8. run dmc - tricky (for the obvious living-room reasons)
9. ultramagnetic mcs - poppa large (for the attitude)
10. de la soul - it ain't all good (for the wipeouts)
11. afroman - crazy rap (to make funky laugh)
12.nelly furtado - i'm like a bird (should have been the acoustic but wasn't)
then three countries in one day: england, switzerland and france. the snow appeared.
then got deeper.
backlog