Skiing - snow time
After not skiing for 2 years, the Cullen family were ready for a getaway. At the end of the week beginning of the 10th February, we packed our helmets and gloves, got on the plane and headed off for what we already knew would be one of the most fun, best week of our lives. We absolutely love the mountains!
When we first arrived in France we stayed with Sylvie for one night at the bottom of the mountains. Sylvie is a family friend that we made on Airbnb who we stay with every year that we go skiing. She was extremely welcoming and even got us pizzas and cheese when we got there, which was really nice of her as we had a long drive to get there. After a lovely 1st French meal, we went to sleep as we had arrived quite late.
The next day, we left Sylvie’s house early in the morning to try and beat the traffic and get to the mountain so we could get our skis and supplies. Every time we go skiing we do a traditional “big shop”. This usually lasts over an hour, and we get everything that we will need for the next week. Shout out to the planning from my Mum!!
We were a little daunted after 2 years to be back with our old freestyle instructor but we had the chance in the morning to get our ski legs back. Our freestyle instructor is called Killian, and he is very good at skiing. The first lesson was a relatively relaxed session, and by the end we felt as confident as we were 2 years ago.
On the next 2 days, Killian took us off-piste whilst the snow was still good. This was quite scary and really tested our skill, as it was very steep, very challenging physically, and felt very fast – it was a huge adrenaline rush. Each day we were off piste for about an hour and a half, meaning our legs were hurting afterwards, however gliding across the powder snow was one of the best feelings ever.
The day after, we all went to the snow park, where my brother was practicing his 360’s, and I was starting to get some grabs, and we were both getting massive air (for us!). We were also hitting the boxes and other obstacles, and were feeling very confident. We did 2 runs of this and then went home.
The next day was a bit of a downer for the Cullens. Whist we had a great ski over to the park our mum unfortunately fractured her leg on a chairlift, so me and Dylan had to get ourselves back to Champagny on our own to get back for our lesson. We made it unscathed but I did accidentally ski into a tree. This was not the best morning, but we knew at least it could only go up from here. With Killian, we went up to the glacier at the top of the mountain and only got down by red and black slopes. This felt within our comfort zone so was a really nice ski. that day.
The last day was a good day, when we went over to the snowpark, and then did cross country races before finishing the day off with the fun run. Once we had finished this day, we got our buffs to confirm we passed it and got off the mountain for the last time.
I really hope we get to go again next year as it is always an incredible experience and hope my mum gets well soon as well.
