Sorry for the delay there in this follow up post....very busy these days! Yikes!
Anyway, I wanted to tell...
Dan's Top 5 Silly Val Thorens Stories
5) Broken Binding
I'm not quite sure when it started (years ago?), but I had a tendency to have one ski pop off during small falls. I also had one ski wobble when I was going quickly down a slope. Strange. So Tom and I thought it was because my binding wasn't tight enough and decided to tighten it. Seemed a bit better, but I took my skis in to get them waxed and asked the guy about it. After thinking for a bit, he looked down and said, "your binding is missing a piece."
It seems a small piece of my binding that slides under the toe to allow for my boot to come off more cleanly had broken during one of my many falls over the years. Luckily they had a spare of the exact piece I was missing and I was back in business. I have spent way too much time putting my ski back on because of that little piece! Bugger!
4) Broken Binding Again
Later that afternoon...I was quite happy with my new piece and sharp skis and feeling pretty good about the guide Tom and I had hired for the next day. Unfortunately, as we were getting to the top of the small hill above our chalet, I took a turn, leaned back a bit, and POP!!! Off comes the binding that was just fixed that morning. Arg! So I ended up walking down the 150 yards back to our chalet with my skis strapped to my pack. Walking in powder after a day of skiing is quite tiring if you haven't tried it. Poor Dan. Here's me with my piece of binding in my hand.
3) Off-Piste Try
Luckily, the guys at the ski shop were quite surprised about my missing binding and promised to get it fixed for me by the time the shop opened the next morning. I think they just used really strong glue. Great stuff.
Anyway, Tom and I had hired this cool French guide to take us off the back of the mountain. Everyone else went left towards the ski run, we went right towards the open snow. Wicked! Before that though, we had a mini-lesson to make sure we knew how to ski in powder. I don't. And still don't. And the instructor basically said I needed to relearn how to ski. Super. But I stuck with it and Tom and I tried this new ski style. Lots more edging, no more turning of the body. Yeah, easy.
But we get up there and we are going down and all's good for a bit, until my ski hits some heavier powder and just stays. I do a Superman dive and eat about 4 feet of powder which goes right down my coat. But it didn't hurt because of the lovely powder and I got back up, put my skis back on and caught up. As they say, rinse and repeat...about 30 times. That's a lot of snow to carry around.
But when I wasn't trying to find my skis, it was quite an experience. Being off the map in a ski area which has 600 kms of pistes, 200 ski lifts, and 25 mountain peaks makes you feel like you are a skier like none other. And because of my dramatic falling technique, I think I am a skier like none other.
Here's our guide coming back up the hill to help me get my ski which is sticking out in the back. He was super nice and never lost his patience with me, even if I lost my patience with myself. Now I just need to learn how to ski.
2) Toboggan Renting
On our last day, we decided to rent toboggans. This is no ordinary toboggan run, it's "Le Toboggan" -- the longest toboggan run in France.
To get a toboggan, you have to stand in "Le Toboggan Queue of Pain." Basically everyone just crowds to this little window and there's no order at all. The guy picks people at random and works very very slowly. It took me 45 minutes to get to the window. With 10 people in front of me. In 0 degree Fahrenheit weather and strong winds. But that's fine, let him take his time.
When I finally get to the front, I say to the guy that I want 5 toboggans. He puts up his hand and tells me to hold on. Then looks down for a bit. Then randomly over to his left for a little while. Then down at the phone. Picks it up. Calls his buddy and says in French, "Hi. Yeah just screwing around with another American who wants a toboggan. Yeah it's really really cold out there. I know I might be the meanest person in the world, but I'm French so that's what people expect!" Hahahahaha. Then he decides to serve me. 15 minutes later I'm finally on the toboggan.
1) Toboggan Chasing
But what the French toboggan salesman didn't tell me, was that the ragged piece of rope on the front was a leash. Particularly useful for when you fall off your toboggan and it tries to slide down the side of the mountain. Not that anything like that ever happens to me. And before I finish this story, please note that none of the other 4 people put on their leashes either. I think our brains were frozen.
So right near the top, my steering falters (a plastic stick on ice, very scientific) and I decide to roll off to make sure I don't go flying off the mountain. Unable to grab my toboggan in time, it slides about 200 yards down a lovely little slope. The trouble was that it was waist deep snow, so getting back up the slope took a long time. My very nice companions waited patiently for me and Tristan even came along for part of it to help. And laugh a bit too.
And here's a link to a few other pics I thought you'd enjoy. All the pics above were taken by Tom. Thanks Tom!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZMnLlm1atGTz¬ag=1
Don't worry though, I came out uninjured and still smiling...probably just from the beer though!
Cheers!
Dan
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