sunday 23rd november
something
for the journey, sir?
i landed at lyon earlier than i am usually at work. and on a sunday. funk's
traditionally exhaustive and precise directions instructed me to take
the train from lyon perrache. except part dieu came first and i hadn't
had time to visit the loo between stanstead and now. people started shuffling,
ready to get off. 'anyone going to bourg?' i asked loud enough to include
most people in a ten row vicinity. 'nah,' the girls next to me said in
perfect english, 'we're going home.' well you're heading the wrong way,
i internalised. 'i am' said a tall guy so i followed him into the station.
'where are you going?' 'tignes.' 'not to the dragon lodge?' 'yep, and
from that i take it you are.' so i had a traveling companion; someone
to watch the bags while i got food, relieved myself. easy.
monday 24th november
the first day up the mountain was pretty grey,
so after the pister rolled past us traveling back up on the t-bar there
was only one thing to do - get our boards in the chorduroy first and break
out the mini-dv cam. funky disappeared first with me follow-camming him
from behind. sweet. then we did it again, pointing the camera downwards
so we actually caught each other sort of mid-frame. then there was the
rollers and powder field which looked way too flat for the speed i was
carrying, so i stood there watching
funky disappear slowly into the distance. and i was right.
tuesday 25th november
i spent the whole day lying in bed debating
whether it was better to be ill on holiday rather than at home. it went
something like: at home i'm on my own so i can grizzle as much as i want
without annoying anyone, but there's nobody to nurse me. mind you funky's
out riding so no difference. i'm not working so there's no deadlines to
miss or catch up with, but i'm in the alps and it's a blue day, the most
golden of gold. any way i looked at it it could have been worse. but sooo
much better.
wednesday 26th november
well enough to make it upstairs today. still,
a day late and a dollar short, as they say. dan's night off so we all
went to le caveaux. shez and chas (dragon lodge residents from last year)
joined the marines and james and me in the corner for caramelised chicken,
spiraling conversation and much water.
the tiniest thing was a misdemeanor.
funks was up and out early. i was in no rush, choosing to wait for the
midday weather change - it seems to clear up when the french go for lunch.
instead the camera came out for the ridiculous antics the uk junior snowboarding
team conjured up with a parking log, wooden table, a naked butt, lots
of snow the obligatory child's imagination. 'jib, jib, jib' was the call
as ben carried a shovelful of snow inside to dunk it over anus (real name
'angus') as someone tipped laura berry upside down to 'you fucker!! aargh!'
you had to be there i suppose, but we laughed for hours.
jim eventually woke from his hangover to confirm what i thought about
hitting the proper slopes. 'otherwise it's a day wasted, isn't it?'.
thursday 27th november
yes, those royal marine commandos (and, incidentally,
the royal fusiliers) do carry fancy dress ('rig') everywhere they go.
tonight the angel bar - our now local and full of 'we're not allowed to
call them kids' esprit reps on training missions - was in full school
disco mode. the closest the boys had were brownie outfits. close, enough?
after pirates of the caribbean (which felt like an old film - you know
the era of indiana jones or marty mcfly - when they used to have real
adventures rather than five minute baywatch-esque special effects set
pieces) which i thought was great, despite it being in black and white,
en route james, ian and laura sourced gigantic icicles. james wished,
ian doubled up the fangs and laura half asked, half stated 'mark, shall
i smash this against my head?' 'of course - what else would you do with
it?!' i encouraged. < smash > 'oww!' (immediately turning to me
and lifting her beanie for probably the first time since it was grafted
to her) 'have i got a bruise..?'
friday 28th november
blue day! get in! as we waited for the first
bus to take us to the funiculaire so we could make the first tracks in
the fresh powder funky looked at me with 'well done, mate,' said in a
soft voice, 'i know how hard it is for you to get up.' we were second
in the queue, standing right in front of the opening time board, watching
the digital clock blip over, minute by minute, getting colder all the
numbers got bigger. the advertised time, 8.45, came and went, and still
we stood. staff arrived, smoked fags ('it's france - even the dogs smoke,
mate'), pottered and looked out at us, freezing. 'i bet she takes that
sign out, changes the opening time and puts it back in again,' i joked.
and that's exactly what she did, making us stand there for another half
hour i could have had in bed.
the first run was me videoing my feet. flat grooves with spray everywhere
before we hit the park. kicker day. a few side-on cams as we hopped over
the two greens, the four rollers and down the steep money-booter side
and i wasn't really getting it. flat jumps just don't scare you enough.
so it was over onto the blue with it's little whippy tail that threw us
up and out. the first couple were small, teaching me how much speed i
should carry to make it safely to the transition and the third was hooningly
big (for me). an almost-stomp on the last jump of the day and the frustration
of having to come back again to nail something i know i should have ticked
off already.
saturday 29th november
it was back to the whiteout again so the decision
was to stay local - hiking through the playground with it's wigwams -
or are they teepees, i wondered -) to the beginner slope. the lift station
had all the available activities iconised and after last night's -10 degree
chill i felt these may be the last shots
this year of le lac unfrozen. the team had packed up their boots boards
and bindings so had it been clear they still couldn't do anything. feeling
paternal and bored of the beginners' slope with it's slush and hiking
i took them to jack's for a spot of bowling. before we started i mentioned
'anything over one hundred is good'. after spinning on our backs and james'
now infamous frontside 360 alley-clatterer the scores looked like:
1st. 124 ben kilner (shock) (2 strikes, 2 spares)
2nd. angus leith (1st, 3 sp)
3rd. 99 (oh, sweet irony!) me (1st, 2 sp)
4th. 95 martin robertson (1st, 2 sp)
5th. 81 laura 'i don't care what score i get as long as i beat anus)
6th. 60 james carr (2sp) 60
laura's face as angus sunk all the pins on his last three throws was a
real missed photo.
sunday 30th november
could have gone either way judging by the
chair up. at the top is was they call a 'white
out'. trust me, it was bump and windy.
monday 1st december
the team leave. the sound of silence and the
look of tidy falls over the dragon lodge, tignes.
'in 1952 the tignes dam was built to provide energy for the people of
the tarantaise region. the original village of tignes lay in the way of
progress so the residents moved out and the village was flooded. the people
of tignes had made a huge sacrifice to contribute to the economy of france,
but they certainly weren't happy. the only part of their village that
survived was the church, which was moved stone by stone and rebuilt at
the new village of tignes-les-boisses. in an act of defiance against the
god that had let them down,. the villagers rebuilt the cross of jesus
in front of the church, but turned it's arms to point to the ground instead
of upwards to heaven. occasionally, when the water levels are low enough,
the ruins of some of these original buildings can be seen shimmering beneath
the surface.' - document snowboard, nov 2003.
tuesday 2nd december
70s night. more rig.
wednesday 3rd december
last supper with the boys. i had less than 7
hours' sleep left before we got to the angel bar. which was empty. but
we still stayed 'till it closed. we'll, otherwise it's a day wasted, right?
umm...
thursday 4th december
crikey! (obviously) 12 hours of taxis, trains
and planes. in one sitting. tignes-bourg-chambery-lyon-stanstead-london.
easier than a day on the slopes!
