3 minute read

RETURNT INFLAINE

Next Article
Waybackwhen

Waybackwhen

Whetheryou are an experiencedpowder hound or lookingto take your first turns off the piste,experience fabulousFlainethis winter, stayingin the SkiClub·schalet and skiingwith our incredible instructors-who we·ve been working with for over a quarter of a century!

Formore informationabout our holidaysvisit Skiclub.co.uk/freshtracks

When we received a letter from Ski Club Rep Martin Jordan asking us to consider some of his 0 musings 0 for S+b,he had us giggling from his first line: 0 1'm on the SCGB Council, but please don't hold that against me ... 0

You'll find a sample of Martin's thoughts on a perfect day's Repping below and we would like to invite you to vote on whether or not we should give him a regular column in the 2023/24 issues of Ski+board. So have a read, and a giggle, and let us know via snowmail@skiclub.co.uk whether we all need more of Martin's musings in our lives!

Perfect day

You know the day when everything goes right, and you can do no wrong? I had one such day Repping last week -I was a Rep God! No need for an amp that goes to 11, tight trousers with a few socks stuffed down them -I was the real deal.

0 Wow, Martin what did you do?" I'm glad you asked. I was planning to take the Espressos(Anthony, Philip and Roger) over to Italy, now the link was finally open. I hope they're reading this and can verify our amazing day. As we arrived at Trockener Steg, the Fruggsattel Chair had just opened, so we decided to have a warm-up run down the pristine motorway piste. So far so excellent. Then back to plan A and over to Italy. Approaching Testa Grigia to head down Run 7 to Cervinia, I noticed a crowd waiting -there was a barrier closing the run. As I approached the pisteurs to investigate the situation, to my delight they started to furl the barrier. I quickly shepherded the Espressosthrough the small gap before you could say "no friends in powder".

Now readers, just reflect on this for a moment. We had a slope that had been closed to Switzerland for a few days due to snow and bad weather. It had just been groomed. It now stretched out before us in good light, km after glorious km (1,400m vertical) of virgin corduroy. There was no one in front of us -we were ahead of the pack.

I was first out the gate -I've never been down that run so fast! The hero snow and smooth surface gave me the confidence to let it all hang out on wide sweeping carving turns. Not wanting to lose our front spot, we just kept going until Cervinia. At the bottom, huge grins all round and high fives. Piste skiing doesn't get any better! Of course, I took all the credit for it, cementing my new Rep God status.

As Cervinia started to get misty and the light flat, we made our way to Valtournenche, where the skies were

Wewouldloveto hearyourviewsonallthings snowy.PenourStarLetterandyou'llwina SkiClub HalfZipSweaterfromtheSkiClubShop.Writeto snowmail@skiclub.co.uk clear. I really AM good. (The fact that lunch had been booked in Valtournenche the day before, mere detail.) We flew down the quiet pistes, all the way down to 1,650m. Joy. We arrived at Foyer des Guides at 12.30pm and, being early, got the best table and attentive service.

After a delicious Italian meal, we pushed on back to the land of the Toblerone. We arrived at Cimi Bianchi cable car, which had been a bottle neck, to walk straight in. It was all going so smoothly, I was starting to believe my own hype. Then doubts started to creep in; it's all going too well, surely something bad will happen?

Back on home ground, we skied over to Hurli and tried some off-piste by the side of the black run. Roger had never really been off-piste and he loved it. It was deeply satisfying to see how thrilled he was, when we finally got back on the groomers. I think I've made a convert there.

Apres was at Blatten, where of course we got a great table and Gili Gili's all around, especially as Mr Gili Gili Man was with us in person.

Roger said he would mark my Repping at 150%, which is lovely if a bit worrying that a chemical engineer doesn't understand percentages ...

So, a memorable day, where we were incredibly lucky. I know I'm not really a Rep God. Now, where are those socks?

~10%EXTRA 1 ~DISCOUNT on our ski hire!

This article is from: