Christmas 2007, less classical than your regular – but snowy all the same. Nested high in the mountains of the French Alps, the four of us wished for one thing this Christmas… please Santa fill your sac with our delayed luggage! Santa delivered, and on the eve of Christmas, we got our shiny new snow hardware – it really did feel like Christmas. We were children again with our new toys! I must admit, I never wanted to grow up. Wait… I still haven’t. Wow, my board’s so shiny and fast!
Previously
London airports ran manic leading up to the Christmas rush, delayed flights/baggage were a certainty and we were just helpless Eskimo pawns. Fortunate enough to get away on time, our luggage was stranded at London Gatwick for two full days of snow time.
Tignes, the resort
As a resort, Tignes (pronounced “Teen”) lacked character and colour. The runs were far from unique, rocky in parts and dispersed far and wide (meaning lots of walking and chair lifts). Many a day was spent on a chair lift. One or two runs were memorable, but overall, I doubt we’d return to Tignes ever again. And yes, the resort isn’t pretty, it consists of apartment blocks separated by dog shit covered snow and yellow ice. Foul.
Gear
Having our baggage delayed, we needed to purchase a few essential items to get us on the slopes for a decent ski holiday. New gloves (€69), pants (€89), socks (€20), helmet (€85) and later crash pants (€99) were necessary kit. Uncannily, I managed to break buttons and stitching on almost all items of new kit purchased. The butt protector on my crash pants was popping from the seams before I even hit the ice! Dang. Some special ability. I also broke a door handle in the apartment (that I managed to melt back together – shhh!).
Rudolf-DJ and Rammy-J came out to play, on Christmas day:
Food
We opted for the self-catering option this time round. It worked out slightly cheaper than fully-catered (£50 less), but for the effort and quality, fully-catered might be the way to go. As the dessert chef, I found myself without an oven, leaving me a little underdone. For my contribution, I cranked out some pancakes and a microwaved/grilled apple crumble. Brownies never got to see the light of day in Tignes. Accidentally I learnt how to make butter, by over-beating and hence splitting the cream.
We had a really fancy eat-out meal on the third night – Kangaroo Fillet and red wine for me! On receipt of our bill, we were given complementary shots – the spirit smelt and tasted like nail-polish remover, quite sick indeed (someone please tell me what it was – urhhh puke!).
Owning your own hardware, an eye opener
On the surface, it seemed that the only pitfall of having your own gear is lugging it from A to B. Boy, was I wrong wrong wrong! Some things to know:
- Baggage can get delayed – bring essential items as hand carry (toothbrush, hand cream)
- Snowboards are really sharp and will pierce the bag that suppose to protect it (if not packed neatly)
- Winter sports insurance is a must, shit does happen
- Fixing the scratches and dents will take time and money… fun to come!
Am I ranting?
Kinda feels like it huh? I did enjoy snowboarding once again, especially for Christmas, but obviously a few things were out of place and we had to make do with what we had. On a brighter note, we’ll be prepared for our next snow adventure…
Cost analysis:
- Flight, accommodation and ski pass: £469
- Food: £100
Total cost for 7 nights: £570 (excluding hire and hardware purchases)
NY’s is just around the corner… NITE!
