Vacances - Holidays - Vacations Part 1

Hi everyone and welcome to the latest article from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor. Crikey blimey........ the last couple of weeks have continued to be busy the 'vacances scolaires' (French for school holidays), a week of the main British half-term holidays, combined this week for me a bunch of American (Californians to be precise) on their annual European ski vacation! Confused? Me too. Basically there are loads of skiers on holiday at the moment. As ever, all photos have been taken by me the last couple of weeks.

Just over a week ago I skied with a variation of Team Harrington and Team Barber during the British Half-term week. For many years I've enjoyed skiing with Team Harrington, and any regular readers of this blog page may possibly recall their name. Team Barber are friends of the Harringtons, and it was really nice to meet them all and continue with the wonderful passion of skiing. The weather all week was almost spring like, certainly milder than normal for mid February. The snow conditions were fab, and lunching outdoors in the sun was an added treat.

A few months ago I received an email from a guy called Dennis from California! Every year for the last twenty years, he has organised a ski vacation (holiday!) to Europe with his friends and family. This winter, Méribel was his chosen destination and he was looking to employ a ski guide. He came across my website and made contact to see if dates could align. He explained the requirements of wanting a ski guide (not instructing) for six full days whilst they were in Méribel. All good, and in advance I made lunch reservations for each day dotted around the huge 3 Valleys ski area for them.

The first day went well, and I did my best to adjust my language to be more user friendly for the Americans. Let me explain: pistes became trails, a piste map was now a trail map, bubble lifts became gondolas, and cable cars were now known as trams. Toilets are restrooms, and a bill at mountain restaurant is a cheque. Sounds easy doesn't it to adjust, but it took quite an effort.

One thing I found frustrating, and couldn't figure out what was going on, I was always trying to describe where we were going and what the plan was. I felt as though I was constantly repeating myself, and still heard a loud "What are we doing, where are we going Martin?" in an American accent. What the hell was I doing wrong? And on chairlifts, I'd turn to them and talk, and not get any response especially if they were looking the other way.

Half way through day two, I noticed that some of them were constantly pressing against their ear pads on their helmets before and after speaking to each other. I thought this was odd, then plucked up the courage to ask what all of this ear helmet poking business was about? Apparently some of them were listening to music and podcasts whilst skiing, using blue tooth technology and their phones. This was controlled by poking their ears! Who would've thought? Once I understood that, I was less paranoid, and did a better job of communicating with them.

We had regular drink stops and of course lunch each day. And this was where a lot of fun was had, including a huge amount of joke telling and banter. Boys on tour and all that. One of my highlights was Steve (who was born in Britain and moved to the United States in his early twenties), doing several impressions of different American accents. I posted a video clip of him doing a deep south accent on Facebook, the sound quality isn't the best, but it's worth a listen if you fancy - click here for the link.

The weather for the first part of this week has been tough with the visibility, however the snow conditions underfoot have felt lovely.

However during lunch at 'Le Bouche á Oreille' mountain restaurant above Les Menuires, we could see the clouds slowly clearing whilst we were eating inside. And sure enough, that afternoon was epic in the clearing weather, a real treat after three days of tricky weather conditions.

Moving away from ski guiding with the Americans for the moment..... Every other year us ski instructors change our uniforms at the ESF ski school. A vote was made by the instructors at the huge early season general meeting, as to which clothing manufacturer (brand) would supply us next. Our current uniform is from a brand called Ashok. I'll be honest with you to say that I'm not that keen on it. And when the vote result came through that Ashok had been selected again, I was like a grumpy child for a while. However, democratic votes are there for a reason, and to be respected.

Anyway, at the beginning of the week after work, we were invited to have a fitting session (at the Olympic Centre) for the new kit. This is often stressful because you don't want to select the incorrect sizes, and there's quite a selection of choices to be made. Having said that, I was refreshingly pleased to see that the quality and (tailored) cut of the uniform has improved from our current version. Fingers crossed I'll be much less grumpy after picking up this new kit at the start of next winter? Here's in iPhone photo of the new design. What do you think?

Right, that'll do for now. I just wanted to publish this post quickly for you. And I'll return with a Part 2 version of this post in a few days time. Do come back soon, and please tell all your skiing chums about this blog page. As ever, don't forget to Live With Passion. Martin.