Alpe d'Huez

Well here we are in Alpe d'Huez. Uneventful journey arriving in Chambery exactly on time at 11am. Chalet hotel L'Escapade seems nice and while the others went to get their skis I managed a half hour on the free lifts & then found my way back via a chairlift and skied right to the boot room door. There is apparently free wifi here - they say I can have the code later, so will be able to get online with my phone without it costing a fortune. There is one pc in the bar - so far no queue for it - but who knows, it's only Saturday!

Hemel Snow Centre - Confidence Building Clinic

Arrived last Sunday evening (15th Nov), met up with "bobblehat" at the Travelodge and went to the Snow Centre bar for a drink. It has a cosy feel with plenty of comfy chairs by windows overlooking the action and an outdoor balcony to shiver on.

The Travelodge is only about a mile away, but not exactly easy to find as it's around the back of a multi-storey carpark serving a shopping centre. Monday morning we found Tesco's cafe convenient for breakfast, directly on the way to the Snow Centre, and open from 8am.

The 3 of us in the lesson met up with instructor Rob who said we'd be going straight to the top of the main slope where we'd start off with a warm up. I was a bit nervous of skiing from the top as on previous visits to UK snow centres I've always started from half way as a skiing warm-up and eventually psyched myself up for the top! Rob persuaded me I'd be fine and if necessary he'd ski down right beside me for the first run.

At the top he nicked all our poles which he arranged in a slalom across the flat area, made us take our skis off and then walk fast forwards, backwards and sideways around them. This started to get us warm and relaxed as there was lots of colliding and laughter! A few more exercises/stretches and it was time to ski. I have to say he was dead right in that I did feel far readier to ski it than when I'd arrived off the Poma.

The first run was actually ok - I was rather stiff in posture through nerves, but felt totally in control. The second was better and by the third I felt I was skiing nearly at the same level as when I left LDA, especially on the lower part of the slope where it's less steep. He said I had a "text-book plough-parallel" with a good stance. That was great to hear, as when I first arrived in LDA my stance was far too hunched over and I was fixed in a plough and a wide one at that!

During the morning Rob worked individually with each of us, giving us different exercises to suit our needs. On arrival in LDA I was tending to turn my body into the hill, away from the fall-line which instinctively feels "safe". Easiski taught me that far from being safe, it actually reduces pressure on the outside ski, which leads to less grip and to the lack of control I was experiencing. She got me skiing using a technique of deliberately leading into the turn with the arm which would be the inside one of the turn and maintaining the lead with it until changing for the next turn. The effect of this was to stop me turning into the hill, improve my stance and consequentially to increase the pressure on the outside ski leading to me feeling more in control and therefore less tense. Rob asked me what would happen now if I skied without this deliberate lead, which had become quite pronounced but clearly effective. I assumed I'd be back to sliding off in my old familiar, poorly controlled diagonal ploughed sideslip. He asked me to hold one pole horizontally in front with both hands and see what happened. To my amazement, it was fine! My new and much improved posture appeared to have become ingrained whether the focus was on the arm lead or not!

Next we focused on improving ankle flex. I had been following an old habit of anxiously seeking out turning ground that looked friendly and I was told it was ALL friendly! I still have difficultly in trusting that my skis will take me through bumpy looking snow without unceremoniousy dumping me in it. I practised skiing using only half the slope width, starting each turn sooner, to add some rhythm and stop me hunting good ground. Also, he said I'd done my boots up too tightly which was making ankle flex even harder, so with some trepidation I loosened them. Not a lot, just a bit. The first run felt odd, but I soon realised I could move better and never retightened them.

During coffee, each of us had a 1:1 feedback session, reviewing video. Rob pointed out the stability of my stance, freezing the frame to show me that my shoulders, hips and knees were all in line with the right point on the skis and I have to say I was really pleased, as I hadn't realised that I had achieved this. He also showed me in slow-motion that I had done some really good turns. This was a great confidence boost to take back out onto the slope.

It was now suggested I try pole-planting for the first time. This went amazingly well and it simply felt a natural thing to do. My arm-lead exercises proved perfect grounding as my arms were used to moving at the right time and in the right direction already. All I needed was to change the wrist angle and briefly/gently touch the pole to the snow as I turned. Rob was highly complimentary about my first attempt and immediately got me having a go holding the pole part way down, which is something that can encourage a greater range of flex.

By now I was shattered and it was clear to all that I was really flagging. We finished with lunch and a further video review tutorial. I was intending to go and ski some more afterwards to take advantage of the extra time permitted on my lift-pass, but we decided it was better to end on a high, especially as I had a 3-hour drive home. Staying on and skiing when that tired wouldn't have been sensible.

Hemel

Now indoor snow slopes seem rather steep to me and dry slopes seem like they'd be the most unpleasant surface to fall on. Next week I and another friend are off to sample a "confidence building clinic" at the new slope in Hemel Hempstead. Let's hope it works!

Alpe d'Huez

Ok, so I was planning on just the one ski trip this year, but as things turn out I am also going to Alpe d'Huez with friends on 3oth January. Hubby (non-skier) is very keen for me to go even though he will be at home working - that's love!

I will be sharing with M & J who went on the LDA09 trip, plus J's daughter/son-in-law. M & I are both novices and we are seeking lessons in ADH as we feel we would make little progress on our own. We've had a good phone chat with Stuart of "Masterclass" about this.

March 2010

Good news! We're definitely going again :).

The main trip will be one week - 20th - 27th March 2010 but the instructor (www.easiski.com) is organising groups for the week before this too. There will be lessons in groups of max 4 people and the groups will be organised to suit the ability of those who book.

We're in the early stages of organisation as yet. Travel needs to be arranged independently - I am going by train, leaving Paris at 1338 Sat 20th, Train iDTGV 2949. Tickets aren't normally available until 3 months before travel but some were released early - 19 Euros for Paris-Grenoble.

If you're interested in coming visit http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=54987&highlight=.

Nervous/Older skiers's trip to Les Deux Alpes.

Welcome to this blog. The posts are in reverse order, newest at the top so you need to start reading from the bottom. Click on LDA March 09 on the right hand side and you'll see the first batch of entries - go to the bottom of the page and click "older posts" to go to an earlier page!

This is my account of our trip to Les Deux Alpes in March 2009. Two groups of older, or more nervous skiers, including some "not-so-young" total beginners had a fabulous time as you will see.

The 2010 trip will be 13-20th or 20-27th March. There will be lessons in groups of max 4 people and the groups will be organised to suit the ability of those who book.

We're in the early stages of organisation as yet. Travel needs to be arranged independently - I am going by train, leaving Paris at 1338 Sat 20th, Train iDTGV 2949. Tickets aren't normally available until 3 months before travel but some were released early - 19 Euros for Paris-Grenoble.

If you're interested in coming visit

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=54987&highlight=

or

http://www.easiski.com/SpecialCourses.html

Back in the Uk

It was freezing cold waiting for the car park bus. Judith finally needed the fur hood on her new extra warm ski jacket!

We had a good trip back and I finally got home at 9.30-ish.