For New Year 2009/2010 we decided that we would be better off going somewhere and embracing the cold as opposed to trying to be a tourist in -5 degree weather like last year. So we booked to go snowboarding for a week in the French Alps.
We didn't have large enough numbers to book our own chalet so we booked to stay in a larger chalet/hotel that slept 50 people.
We arrived in Switzerland, slightly under the weather after our Christmas celebrations to be picked up by our host and driven over the border into France to Morzine where we were based for a week.
Morzine was perfect for the mix of snowboarders that we had, it allowed the girls who had only snowboarded once or never to make us of the beginner slopes and easier runs on the French side, while the boys were able to participate in this with us as well as heading over to the French/Switzerland side and snowboarding a lot of black runs.
Our first day we were kitted out with snowboards and boots and then were taken to the chalet, after a quick look around the village it was back to the chalet for some TV watching (all in French) and dinner that evening.
La Chaumiere - the chalet
Day One - it snowed our first night - this was looking out of our balcony over Morzine
The chalet was great, breakfast and dinner were provided for us which allowed the girls a much deserved break from cooking and our host would come and pick us up each morning and drive us to the ski store to pick up our gear which we had hired for a week and stored there and then the girls would walk to the 'bubble lift' and the boys would be driven to the lift on the other side.
Me getting the feel for snowboarding (I had spent one day 3 years earlier on a snowboard in NZ)
The boys came with us on the first day up the bubble lift to the Morzine/Les Gets side, Si and Bryce the most experienced boarders took off, and Nay and Ken soon followed, leaving Lol, Keryn and I on the baby slopes. We were all due to meet again at 1pm. Easier said than done. Bryce and Simon ended up in Switzerland and taking quite some time to get back, Nay and Ken were even further behind them. It was while we waited for the boys to turn up for lunch that we found out Paige Marie Vazey had entered the world.
A cup of tea and a de-brief on the days events
Dinner at the end of our first day snowboarding
After the first day the boys had found their snowboarding groove and decided to tackle the other side of town as they had bought Portes du Soleil passes which allowed them to ski Avoriaz side too - our hosted guided them for the morning with a word of warning - don't miss the last chairlift - it's cheaper to stay in Switzerland than to try and get back. The girls stuck to the Morzine/Les Gets side and by day two tackled their first blue run!
This continued until New Years Day. Lol and I did have one day off the slopes, we were tired and sore and wanted to take a look around the village - that day it rained ALL day so we were quite pleased. The boys and Keryn arrived back early soaked. The rain also meant that the snow was washing away. The village was no longer covered in snow and the lower runs were loosing some of their snow too.
Ken and Lol booting up at the ski store
Simon and Bryce at Avoriaz
New Years Eve our normal 3 course meal (prepared by owner and former chef) turned into a 4 course meal which was amazing. We were paying for all of our own drinks at dinner so Bryce snuck down a bottle of vodka in his jeans. This was not missed by the family that were sitting next to us, however, luckily we had been talking with them over a series of nights. One of the women in particular was very interested in who we were, where we were from, what we did and without saying it, how we could all afford to be there. They were very interested to find out we were all from a small town in New Zealand.
After dinner and a few stiff drinks we headed into a village pub to see in the New Year - even though there were only 7 of us, lots of fun was had. Bryce had to go home early after a few too many strong drinks. Si, Keryn, Lol and I left Ken and Nay in their own little world to arrive home to find Bryce still drinking at the chalet bar. I was woken an hour or so later to find two identical twins with snowballs in their hands, ready to attack Bryce who was happily unaware and singing in his shower at 2am!
Pre dinner drinks on New Years Eve at the chalet
New Year's Day the weather was amazing and the slopes were pretty much empty as everyone recovered from their hangovers. The boys took this opportunity to come and see how the girls snowboarding skills were going. They obviously weren't expecting much as Ken made the comment 'you girls aren't shit like I thought you'd be'. This was also our first experience on the chairlifts, it was great to do with someone who was confident and allowed us to feel confident for the rest of our time there.
Slightly apprehensive about the chairlift
Ken as it began to snow New Year's Day
It began to snow late New Years Day which meant that our last day in Morzine there was lots of snow, the boys enjoyed a big day snowboarding and the girls did lots of runs and got on and off the chairlifts a lot, finally mastering the art.
Morzine after snow
Ken, Nay and Si on the last day
Avoriaz - last day
The last day ended with the only injury of the trip - Bryce broke his arm. The next day we flew back to London before going back to work on the Monday. We had a great week away and really enjoyed our break and hopefully will be able to hit the slopes again soon.
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