an article by Sue Southam

Everyone thought we were mad when we began chivvying everyone up last spring to make a decision about this years ski trip. "But the season hasn’t ended yet¼ " came the replies to our poster. Despite this the usual suspects (us, Tony Moore, Andy Welch and Martin Murphy) enlisted along with Taras & Irene and some interlopers from the R19 and Dayboat fleet (Roger & Sharon Hunt, Anita Habgood, her boyfriend Neil and son Oscar. I have to say that they were put through a rigorous vetting procedure and we thought it prudent to allow the rear commodore (sailing) to accompany us ; after all you never know when that compromising holiday snap may come in handy!
We all flew from Bournemouth which was convenient but the subsequent delay reminded Baz and myself why we had chosen to drive for the last 10 years. Luckily ‘Uncle Martin’ came to our rescue, manfully keeping two small boys (and several adults) amused by completely baffling us with his house rules for Monopoly. The delay meant that we arrived at our chalet quite late in the evening but the meal was substantial and on the face of it the chalet staff seemed pleasant.

 The Russian Father Christmases and their elves were there to advertise the Russia Cup, a slalom race being held on the Friday and it became a game for Guy to try and spot the Father Christmases on the slopes. Friday dawned snowy and windy and those of us who elected to help Guy perfect his technique in powder snow decided that discretion was the better part of valour and we retired to the nearest bar along with most of the slalom racers doing the Russia Cup. When the weather cleared a bit off we went with Guy leading the way and us falling over in his wake.
Life in the chalet was interesting to say the least. To begin with Andy Welch, our esteemed leader, had brought his obligatory cough with him (well, it would have been lonely if he’d left it behind; after all it came with him last year).

 This ensured that the upper floor of the chalet got no sleep at night. Not to be outdone, and to ensure the lower floor of the chalet got no sleep Baz brought his cough that he’d been nurturing since Christmas so breakfast was spent comparing notes on the amount and quality of sleep. For those of you not acquainted with chalet holidays the idea is that when you get back from a busy day on the slopes you have a hearty afternoon tea of bread, jam and cake; obviously our idea of hearty and that of our chalet girl differed considerably and those arriving late found the cake gone. Being practical Gpers we took the decision to supplement the tea with tarts from the local shop. Unfortunately we bumped into the staff on our way back whilst we were heavily laden with cake and were met with a look of disdain. Worse was to follow. On the night that it snowed we decided that it would be cosy and romantic to light the log fire to warm us after playing snowballs ( think James Bond, champagne, soft lights¼ ..O.K. perhaps not). We lit the fire, Irene, Sharon, Martin myself and two children went outside and behaved like..children whilst the grown ups (Taras, Baz, Andy etc) saw to the fire. We had a lovely time and of course the grown ups made sure that the fire was put out before we went to bed. Our chalet staff were less than impressed and we were told that the fire was not to be alight after they left the premises. Then came the final insult - we were told that we had drunk too much wine! Needless to say the feedback forms were not complimentary.
Despite this everyone agreed that the superb range of skiing, the lazy lunches, the frequent bar stops for a chocolate or vin chaud and the convivial company made this years trip very enjoyable indeed. We’re already thinking about next year, but I do have a request - leave the coughs at home chaps!