4th Annual Australia Day & The Varettos!
So. Blogging. Yeah.
It’s been another top week. We were anticipating the arrival of Tim & Nat to Chalet BOTT here in Tignes and we knew it was going to be a great week with oodles of snow and Aussie Day around the corner!
The night before Tim & Nat arrived was the night the best band in the whole of the Savoie region, Bring Yours Sisters, played in Loop Bar. We started off with the Liverpool v Everton match and Credit Crunch Half Price Drinks in Brasero and made our way to Loop where we’re always welcomed with shots of toffee vodka and generous measures! This resulted in a VERY rough Thursday. After the radio I plundered back into my bed and received a text off Tim saying they had landed and hoped to get the earlier bus from Geneva. We, collectively, hoped to God that they wouldn’t make it as it would have meant them getting here at 7pm instead of midnight – they would have undoubtedly wanted to get on it, something we weren’t so keen on!
Thankfully, they had to get the later bus and we spent the time preparing the apartment for their arrival. The following morning they were naturally keen to get on the slopes but we were hindered by what has comfortably been the worst day weather-wise of the season. We spent the morning on the nursery slope and laughed as some over-confident boarders went steaming into mounds of snow courtesy of the white-out conditions. Stuoobs & I ventured onto a blue we like as it’s great for dropping off into powder but even that was horrendous and we spent 20 minutes walking the last hundred yards in fresh waist-deep snow! We called it a day after that and went to the pub. We got smashed.
The following day was a no-go on the mountain as the snow was still falling and conditions were far from ideal, especially for the beginner Nat!
When we did eventually get on the mountain it was a genuine powder day so we took Tim for his first proper trek in the deep stuff. He loved it bud did, on occasions, stop a little short….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqTtEmv4kSs&hl=en&fs=1]
Now, we’re no spring chickens… Pezza’s in her late twenties (ish), Stu is nearly 70 and Cazzie & I are in our twenties (five more weeks I can say that!!). Aside from that, we’re not really very cool, not down with the kids. With that in mind we’re piloting some young-person vernacular (which, itself, is not young-person vernacular).
For example, whereas you and I would say, “I spent a pleasant afternoon in deep snow, we went quickly and it was very enjoyable.”
The kids here in resort come out with sayings such as, “Dude, we were dropping pillows some awesome powder and got up to some sick shit.”
What I’m trying to say is that the saying of the week has been, “Dude, that was some sick shit, man.”
So, if you hear us mention the phrase sick shit into normal conversation then do forgive us; we’re not referring to what Cazzie does in the bog every morning.
SO then to Australia day – not a huge thing here so we have spent the last couple of months searching for Aussie accents and asking them what the 26 January holds for them. The day started with the Radio Tignes breakfast show playing Australian music – no Kylie I’m afraid – and then a day dropping pillows, catching jibs and generally some sick shit.
We had planned to go to Val d’Isere as a bar there, Le Petit Danois, had an Aussie Day party and it didn’t disappoint. All of our pictures from Aussie Day 2009 can be found through this link.
But generally it’s full of drunks in green and gold…
We all got turbo smashed thanks to the bar having 2-for-1 drinks for the first fifteen minutes when we got there. Our drinks order in that time was (per person): 2 vodka cranberriss, 1 double vodka cranberry & 2 shots of toffee vodka. Not bad for fifteen minutes work!
The rest of the week was spent doing the usual holiday mix of boarding & nights out. We had a day on the mountain with a chap who works in the local, a lad called Guy who is a freeride skier. The day was brilliant as we covered loads of the mountain but I think it taught me & Stu that the days of us keeping up wih 19 year olds is long gone! He has however inspired me to buy a set of skis and after a couple of days demoing some skis I am really in the mood for it! I have borrowed two pairs off a local shop here (thanks to some mentions on the radio) and I have noticed how spending two months on a board has given me loads of confidence on skis.
So, the sad news of Tim & Nat leaving was countered with the joy of hearing that Liability Kev has booked to come and see us for ten whole days!
As for the week ahead – it’s now Sunday evening and we’ve just seen the murderers beat the rent boys to go two points behind us (having played a game more). The rest of the evening is to be spent watching our mate Jack play live at Brasero and then everyone is back here for Superbowl XVCXIILXVLI. We have the tequila in for tradional Superbowl desperados (we’ve done desperados every superbowl for the last 12 months).
After that Stu & Caz are off to Courcheval to see one of Cazzie’s mates. It should be quiet couple of weeks (famous last words) and hopefully we’ll get some great conditions (lots more snow in the next couple of day!).
