Val d'Isere

Third time skiing and we decided to return to the French Alps and went with UCPA for possibly the last time. It was another brilliant trip and I still love skiing as much as ever. I was a bit worried about my stamina this year as I've had minimum exercise in the last year but I managed to last the week ok.

Some Panorama shoots taken with my phone

We choose to go a day early again this year so we could head out ourselves on the Sunday before the classes started on Monday. As always it takes a few hours to get back into the full swing of things.

The resort itself was excellent and my favourite along with Val Thorens so far. The UCPA centre wasn't great and the 8 bed dorm was not much fun when trying to sleep at night. The UCPA centre also had no entertainment in the evenings for the first time which was a shame. The night life in the town was good though. The place was full of Swedish and English. Was a bit sick of English toffs by the end of the week.

The classes we had were very good this year and a step up from last year. All of the students were a similar level too which helped our progress and the amount of skiing we got done. I think I probably had my favourite day of skiing yet on the Thursday. We were out early and the first up to the top of one of the mountains so it felt great skiing on completely fresh snow. We also went off piste for the first time which felt a bit weird as you can't see your skis but it also felt so smooth and crashing was much more comfortable than usual.

My ski class

Instructor Julien taking shelter in an igloo

Eye of the needle made famous in Bond

For the afternoon myself and Louise skipped the class and met up with Graeme, Adam and Paddy. The snowfall had gotten pretty heavy and the temperatures and visibility dropped massively which all added to the excitement. Some lifts showed temperatures of -20 but with the windchill it was more like -30. Super cold but my new ski gear held up well.

Lots of firsts this year:
First time in an igloo
First time skiing off piste
First time doing a downhill slalom
First time doing a snow angel

Approximately 100 instructors skiing down a black slope in the dark with torches. Crazy