15 Dec 07 - Les Deux Alpes

My days in France are really numbered. Yet another eventful weekend was gone in a blink of the eye. All my life I have always wanted to try an extreme sport, but it never occurred to me that the first extreme sport I would try was actually skiing. It was a real challenge for me to pick up the sport, especially since I don’t even know how to roller-blade or to ice-skate.

A total of 7 Singaporean students signed up with “Ecole de Glisse de Grenoble” who was organizing a “Starting Glisse” course for debutants in ski. For 21 euros, we were supposed to have a to-and-fro shuttle service to Les Deux Alpes, a ski pass as well as basic lessons for beginners. Alas, the French proved to be very efficient again. There were at least 8-10 buses this morning and it was a real mess for everyone to load up their skis, sticks as well as ski shoes. There was no indication of bus number in our ticket as well; so some buses ended up real full like the one I took and some were emptier.

On the bus, I found out that today was designated to be a “sortie” or outing of Ecole de Glisse. Hence, there was a mix of beginners as well as pro-skiers. We were told that the the lessons for beginners would take place at Caisse Centrale (or central cashier). When we reached Les 2 Alpes, everyone was frantically putting on their ski shoes and left one by one. Guess who were the last? Jackpot if you guess correctly that the 7 of us were the last to put on our shoes. The shoes were very tight to begin with, but I guess it was meant to be that way.

That was where the real problem began. We did not know where the Caisse Centrale was. So we walked to the nearest station we saw (called Viking). I asked a man in charge of the chair lift if he knew where the lessons took place and all I got was a shrug. I walked down deeper into the station hoping to find more info. Then I bumped into a group of students so I randomly asked if they knew where I should go. They pointed to another direction and referred to the station as “Diable”. So I walked all the way there (walking in ski shoes was a realy awful experience) before finding out from a man there that the Caisse Centrale was in fact all the way on the other end from where I was standing. Even then I was still not sure where it was, so I went to search for it first before telling the rest to come over. When I confirmed the location, I called the rest to come over. By the time all of us reached this place, 1.5 hours have already lapsed from the time we got off the bus. The best thing was that even when we were there, we did not know where the Ecole de Glisse group was! The lady at a ski lift counter told me that it was impossible for her to find out as there were at least 1000-2000 people that morning. Well done. Two things I did not understand: 1) Why didn’t they drop us at Caisse Centrale directly, and 2) How could they assume everyone knew where the Caisse Centrale was?

SIGH. In the end we decided to just whack and try on our own. So we went to the “piste bleue” (blue indicates easy slope for beginners). The access to this area was free of charge so technically I did not need the ski pass. I want a refund!! GRrr.

So how did it feel like to ski in the French Alps? Painful. =D I could not recall how many times I fell down along the way. Each time I fell, I just told myself: it is okay, it is normal, pick myself up and try again. It was quite demoralizing at first because I could not even go 100 metres without falling down.

L-R: Raring to go in full ski gear thanks to Johan (a Swedish friend of mine)

I tried again…fell again…sometimes in an awkward position that I felt my knees would be twisted at any moment…picked myself up…tried again and again. I did not give up till I finally got it right. I felt a sense of achievement when I could finally ski down from the first “piste verte” (green is one level up from blue) marking for about 300 metres without falling down. =D

successful attempt at a gentle slope

L-R: Me, Michelle, June, Qinghan and Yunzhi who came down from Lyon

It got dangerous when I was starting to enjoy it and wanted more challenge. I took the “tire-fesse” (something like a ski lift except that it pulled me up with my skis flat on the ground) which brought me to the 2nd piste verte marking. When I was up there, I knew that I was facing my doomsday. I was clearly not ready for it. I slided down and the first ramp was so steep that I lost control and fell quite badly into the path of the “tire-fesse”. I crawled quickly to the side to prevent other skiers from knocking into me. Phew, close shave and I knew that my balls shrank and I told myself not to go up there again today. I was simply not good enough to handle that slope yet.

So I settled back to my comfort zone. This time round, I tried to learn how to make a sharp turn, but unfortunately, till the end of the day I was still not able to do it. The fatigue was also setting in, as each time I skied down I had to carry my skis and batons up because it was a little dangerous to hop off halfway from the tire-fesse.

L-R: my playground

Skiing is a real big challenge and I believe that apart from mastering the techniques, you need to overcome your own fear and that is ultimately where the biggest problem lies.

At the end of the day, I felt quite accomplished even though I knew I was far from skiing well. I felt a sense of satisfaction because I believed my attitude was right. From now on, each time I encounter a difficult task, I should face it, try my best and if I could not do it the first time, I should never give up and I should simply try again till I got it right. Afterall my favourite T-shirt is my black Adidas “Impossible is Nothing”. =D

The thing I hate most about skiing? Lugging the skis, batons and shoes to and from the rental shops. Those were probably the heaviest things I have carried around in months. But, given the luxury of time, I would definitely love to give it a second try, at least to learn how to turn!!