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From Snow Plough to Snow Pro in Tignes

13/01/14 ᛫ Add a Comment

Nothing says ‘kicking off 2014 with a bang’ better than attempting to hurl yourself down a snowy mountain. Learning a new skill, bracing fresh air and travelling to a new place… I was ticking off new years resolutions left right and centre. Last week, this was my reality, as I jetted off to the French alps to embark on a January ski trip in Tignes. Here’s the story of my week…

the-travelista-travel-blog-skiing

After a ridiculously early start, I flew from Leeds to Geneva in search of ski, sun and Savoyard food. After a tedious 3 hour coach transfer we were across the French / Swiss border, the snowy mountain peaks were in sight and I got a pang of excitement and nerves in equal measure. Having been on just 2 ski holidays prior to this trip (the last one being 3 years ago), I decided to self assess myself into the highly rusty category of skier – not the sort you want to be crossed with on the piste. Our ski chalet was in Val Claret, the highest town in the resort of Tignes. It was gorgeous! With alpine wooden décor and an incredible view of the piste and surrounding mountains, it was a perfectly cosy retreat after a day of skiing.

To help get me back in the swing of things, I enrolled on a 5 day course of lessons with ski school Evolution 2. The 3 hour lessons went from 9am to 12pm daily and Day 1 started with an assessment ski to classify our levels of ability (turns out my self assessment wasn’t sufficient). Surprisingly at this point, I had very little nerves as I was told that skiing was just like riding a bike. Once you get it you never loose it. What could possibly go wrong?

So off I went up the chair lift with my fellow ski students to attempt a blue run. (ski runs are categorised green, blue, red and black. Green is the easiest and black is the hardest. Then there is also off-piste but they’re for mental people only). It wasn’t until I got to the top of the run that it occurred to me that I had totally forgotten how to get myself to the bottom and in short – I freaked out. I was way out of my comfort zone and the slope was getting steeper. After a couple of minutes glued to the spot in terror, I relapsed back into the beginners default of the ‘snow plough’ to get me down the run in one piece.

My knight in shining armour came in the form of Sylvain, my incredibly charming French ski instructor who spoke perfect English in an American accent. He reminded me of the basic technique and brought me down the piste slowly with total patience. I immediately trusted him and was very glad to have him as my instructor for the week.

As the week went by I began to develop more confidence on the skis. After my freak out on day 1 we took to the nursery slopes and Sylvain had us doing loads of techniques to get us turning smoothly. Each day the runs got harder and the distances got longer. We skied around the whole area of the alps and visited   Val D’Isere. Skiing really is exhausting work (it’s like doing a constant squat for 3 hours, no joke) but Sylvain had so much enthusiasm for what he was doing, I couldn’t help but love it too.

In amongst all the skiing, my sister and I still found time to do plenty of apres ski at the many bars on and off the piste. Val Claret is located on the other side of the mountain to the infamous Folie Douce – a day club in the middle of the mountains with live music, dancers and students necking Moet from the bottle. Think of it as Ibiza in the snow. We spent a couple of fun afternoons here which resulted in some rather unstable ski runs back to the chalet!

Every morning I would finish my lesson exhausted, but feeling very well accomplished and that little bit better than the day before. By the final day, my beginner snow plough position was a thing of the past, and I was transferring my weight and parallel skiing like a pro (well, almost). I was whizzing down runs that terrified me at the beginning of the week and I had even tackled a really steep red run by the end. I felt a massive sense of achievement after my 5 lessons were up as well as an overwhelming urge for a glass of wine!

I’m not sure if I’d go as far as saying I’ve been bitten by the ‘ski bug’, but I had a great week on my ski trip in Tignes. I ate like a king, posed like a pro and learnt to ski all over again. Thanks to Evolution 2 and Sylvain for restoring my ski legs and for an amazing week.

What did you think of my ski trip in Tignes? Have you been to Tignes or are planning a skiing trip this season? Comment in the box and let me know!

 

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Comments

  1. oceanbelcher says

    27th January 2014 at 7:20 pm

    I second the NZ comment. I’m from there and the skiing definitely has the potential to be world class. Especially in the south!

    Reply
    • thetravelistablog says

      27th January 2014 at 7:41 pm

      Hi Ocean, that’s awesome. I’d love to get over there to try the skiing. Would be great to do a proper adventure trip travelling round and including a few days skiing. Going to try and make the event on Weds, so see you then! 🙂 xx

      Reply
  2. Anna Roberts says

    14th January 2014 at 5:23 pm

    Sounds great fun – especially the party time! I’ve never been ski-ing but I feel like it’s something I should do. I once went to an in-door snow-boarding lesson and it was a bit of a disaster. I kept losing my snowboard at the top of the hill and having to run down to get it infront of the class. Embarrassing! x

    Reply
  3. Nicola says

    13th January 2014 at 8:00 pm

    I know the exact feeling of forgetting how to ski! But I swapped to snowboarding and have never looked back.
    You might enjoy coming down to a winter in New Zealand, just as beautiful as Europe with smaller crowds 🙂

    Reply
    • thetravelistablog says

      13th January 2014 at 11:09 pm

      Hi Nicola, thanks for your comment! Glad it wasn’t just me then! I suppose it does come back to you after a while but after 3 years of no skiing, a refresher course was vital. My sister is an amazing snowboarder and I have been tempted to give it a go, but fancy mastering the skis first. May take a couple more holidays before that. New Zealand sounds great, will keep trying 🙂

      Jess x

      Reply
  4. Andre T says

    13th January 2014 at 6:13 pm

    hey nice pics 😀

    Reply
    • thetravelistablog says

      13th January 2014 at 6:18 pm

      Thanks Andre! So many great photo opportunities out there, a bloggers dream! 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Travelista’s 2014 Travel Round Up – Where I went and why | The Travelista says:
    26th December 2014 at 6:21 pm

    […] My travels for 2014 kicked off in the first week of January with a Skiing trip to Tignes. I was in between jobs at the time and just about to move down to London, so my family kindly invited on the family as a last minute addition. Having been on 3 skiing holidays before, it all came back to me and I found myself growing in confidence on the slopes thanks to a fantastic instructor and great runs. Of course, being in Tignes, I made sure I visited the infamous alpine club La Folie Douce, which resulted in a few interesting skis home! Read more about my Tignes Skiing Holiday here […]

    Reply

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Jess is an an award-winning travel blogger based in Yorkshire, navigating the world as a new Mum to baby Theo. Blogging about adventures both local and global.

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Do you ever find yourself day dreaming about that Do you ever find yourself day dreaming about that first holiday post-Covid? Do you ever think about how profound it will feel? I wrote a poem about it to escape these long, dark days.

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Hey guys 👋🏼 This is my little self-developme Hey guys 👋🏼 This is my little self-development project. On 1st January I set some new intentions (not resolutions). The main one was to try and start waking up 1 hour earlier (I am not a morning person). But I wanted to make a change to start each day slowly and mindfully; to wake up and put my own needs first. Usually I would roll out of bed and be straight into Mum mode. Now I sit in silence with a hot cup of tea. Honestly, it has transformed my mornings and I can’t believe I’ve not done it sooner. Here are a few things I’ve been doing in my new daily hour of mental self care; 

⭐️1. The 5 Minute Journal - This book has been the greatest gift I have received in a long time. It has helped me to find gratitude in the smallest things, even when the world feels like its falling apart. I start my hour by filling out this journal. @fiveminutejournal 

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Whilst we all feel like we have very little control over our lives right now, the one thing we CAN still control is our mindset. If you’re feeling frazzled and overwhelmed by the world right now, I really can’t recommend trying things enough ✨ 

What are you doing to look after your mental well-being right now? It’s brutal at the moment. Take care guys 💓
When your knee surgery gets cancelled AGAIN. If I When your knee surgery gets cancelled AGAIN. If I don’t laugh I’ll cry 😅 Another month on crutches for me. At least I got to see my boy experience snow for the first time today instead. Will keep being grateful for the small things ✨
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This means despite already isolating for 14 days, we need to continue isolating over Christmas in the hope that I can get the surgery on 29th December instead. So like all of you in tier 4, we will also be having a merry ‘little’ Christmas as a family of 3. We’ve spent Christmas before in hospital with Theo in an incubator, so to have him home and healthy is still a big step up from that. 

Still being on crutches after 7 weeks, I am stuck in a very frustrating situation. I am feeling low but trying to pick myself up and focus on the one thing I can control right now: my mindset. I still want to make Christmas special for our little boy despite the unwanted plot twist (shout out to my dad who is currently scouring supermarkets trying to piece together a Christmas food shop for us). 🙌🏼🥴

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Merry Christmas and thank you for following us this year, love from me and Theo 🎄✨

(Inspired by Bd Blogs)
Hey guys! I’ve been quiet on here as I’m self Hey guys! I’ve been quiet on here as I’m self isolating for 2 weeks for my knee surgery which is just before Christmas. So right now I’m literally just focusing on getting through the days and reaching my op date. 

I’ve torn cartilage and the ACL ligament in my knee (caused by an old sport injury). My knee is ‘locked’ bent and I can’t weight bear on it. I have been on crutches since mid November so in true 2020 style, it’s all been a bit shit. Fortunately, the surgery will instantly unlock my knee, then I have a long physio programme to follow.

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Bring on January when I can run around like this with my boy again and plan new adventures. I’ll appreciate it all the more now. Do you have any coping strategies to get through a 14 day isolation? I’m all ears 👂🏼🌿 P.S Help 🥴

Photos by @korm87

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