Straight after Avant Premiere we loaded up the van and drove the two hours to Chatel. Here we hooked up with Paul from the Rider Social aka Alpine Retreat at their amazing chalet. They run as a Never Summer test centre so we were there to take the 12/13 test boards but also to catch up and check the place out. It is a 10 out of 10 in my book. Everything you could need is there! The food was amazing too.
We decided to head to bed early after a few tiring days in La Clusaz and wanting to ride hard the next day. Wednesday was a classic bluebird day. We headed up to Avoriaz then over to the swiss side. The park in the swiss side was spot on. The stash was as always great fun. Travelling with good friends who ride well, plus benefiting from Paul’s local knowledge was a winning combo. Was one of the best days riding I’ve ever had!
That night we had fondue which was great. We followed the advice given – to drink lots of booze to stop the cheese from solidifying in our stomachs. Then as the night drew in Joe busted out the DJx. For the uninitiated, this is a mid nineties djing machine / toy. He played a good set before letting Renny step up and drop some heavier beats. We then went out to see an actual DJ play and drink even more booze.
As it turns out we are total lightweights and the nights antics were too much to handle. We slept in. By the time we made it up the hill it was midday. I felt ropey at best. The first bubble up was hard work. Before I could make my second turn a skier took me out from behind and the pair of us then took out a whole group of skiers. To make matters even more challenging in our fragile state,visibility sucked.
After an hour or so I got with the program and started to have more fun. It is always sad knowing its your last day on the hill for a bit! Just had to do the epic drive home after that!
I really should have taken more / better photos!
