2004 - Review by Crash Bandi Coll
Following the success of the Chamonix 2003 trip, expectations were high for the trip to the same venue in 2004. Memories of bright sunshine, terrific views, good company and great skiing had wet the appetite for more of the same.
I was determined to make a success of the trip with the new team of Shooty, Clone and SnowRage. It would be fair to say that Clone started the novice of the team. Full respect though, he remained enthusiastic and undeterred despite his frequent collisions with terra firma. The team weren't too concerned however as clone could be easily replaced by his twin brother, just a short flight away! SnowRage settled in well, the team waited with baited breath for him to cause trouble in some way, shape or form, but this proved not to be the case. Come on SR .... surely 10 years of mellowing hasn't left you completely chilled? Myself and Shooty battled for mid table supremacy. Shooty may of edged it, but his spectacular wipe out while confronting a speedy red at La Tour, gave us the impression he was focusing more on the Crash Bani title.
Anyway, day one and a trip up Le Brevent via a short drag just a two minute shoos from the hotel door. Snow conditions looked good, but the dark sky above served notice off challenging times ahead. A full day of ripping around the white stuff was enjoyed by all. Firstly, the blues of Planpraz followed by a lift up to Col Cornu and a red down to Les Vioz. Oh sorry Clone, is this a red!! A very brief lunch ended with a trip over to La Flegere. All blues and greens were exhausted, but Clone spotted the pending red and took evasive action. A pleasant return across the mountain was enjoyed by all, cumulating with my party piece: look no skis!
Day 2 started with a short bus ride to La Tour. The plan was to take a couple of lifts up to .......... and bat our way via 3 blues down to the village of ......... were we could board a train to ............ and then be bused back to La Tour. We had been warned of bad weather, but it would take hell & high water to keep us off the slopes. Hell & high water arrived around 13:00 hrs. We had arrived at the final blue only to find it closed.In a change of plan we took the lift to ...... The plan was to return direct to La Tour via a couple of different blues, but the conditions had worsened resulting in driving snow, strong winds and visibility down to about 5 metres. We precariously negotiated the terrain down to La Tour and time out was taken for prayers!
The conditions on the village slopes allowed us a few blasts up and down the local blue and a couple of greens, but this was to be our last half decent ski miles of the trip.
Dawn the following day, greeted us with low cloud, heavy rain and all lifts closed with the exception of the local nursery slopes. Shooty and Snowrage hit the gym in our hotel, the ever popular Les Balcons Du Savoy. Clone and I braved the driving rain and joined all the other idiots in France on the nursery slopes. Defeat was excepted after a few short runs and the towels were well and truly thrown in.
Copious amounts of Corona were consumed in an attempt to dampen the disappointment, but it was little comfort. Day 4 consisted of packing up the luggage and dare I say ....... shopping! In an attempt to emulate my mentor, Dangling Dave ( the infamous UK trick skier ) I attempted some extreme shopping, but this only invoked a sense of semi comatose resulting in the need for more Corona.
So, 2 days of action packed skiing and 2 days of roll on death ....... was it all worth it? In short, yes. The new team were great company. Snowrage eventually displayed his ability to wind up individuals without effort as in one bar, the Australian quarter lost it totally as we repeatedly defeated them at the pool table. You think they would be used to defeat by now! Shooty's exploits in the 'love suit' kept the team laughing and Clone's attempts to drink Chamonix dry kept everyone else laughing. If you are going to get stranded in any town in the French alps, it may as well be Chamonix. When the skiing is good it's great. When it's not, the town supports a certain ambiance that allows some retention of sanity until the lifts once again offer a gateway to some great runs, great views and most of all ...... great skiing.