Skiing in the French Alps

My sister and brother in-law were on their honeymoon around the same time I had moved to England. So, naturally I crashed their plans so we could spend Christmas together. Being in Europe, we decided to go for a real white Christmas experience and booked into Chalet Carclion in a place called Morzine.

The plan was to go skiing on the incredible French Alps. Here, you should note our skill levels:

• Laura (sister) - Skied before and picked it up quite easily

• Scott (brother in-law) - Snowboarded before but due to it being more likely to get a serious injury snowboarding, my sister insisted he skied this trip

• Me - No prior skiing or snowboarding

'Let's go skiing, it'll be fun' they said...

Day 1 - Geneva

To get to Morzine, we had to fly into Geneva, Switzerland. However, due to flight times, we couldn't get in early enough for the complimentary shuttle pick up, so we arrived the day before and spent the night at the City Hostel Geneva. With the afternoon to explore Geneva, we walked around the city. Checking out the buildings and wondering through Moynier Park.

Day 2 - Chalet Life

This morning, we made our way back to the Geneva airport to meet our driver (this was one of our hosts at the chalet and would be driving us to and from the ski slopes for the whole week). He was there on time, however we did have to wait a little bit for some other guests as their plane was slightly delayed. Anyway, we finally got in the van and after an hour and a half of lovely Swiss then French snow-capped countryside, we made it to our chalet.

As we walked in, we were greeted by the delicious smell of baked goodies. Our hosts introduced themselves and said we were just in time for afternoon tea. The driver took our bags upstairs and we were taken into the lounge room where a delicious spread of freshly baked cake, hot chocolates and mulled wine was waiting for us.

Satisfied with our afternoon treat, our hosts then showed us up to our room. We had booked a triple room, I know, super romantic for my sister and brother in-law on their honeymoon, but it was super expensive for a single room and, hey, we are family. However, when we got upstairs they told us that they had had a cancellation and said I could have my own room....BONUS!

To get us prepared for our first day out on the slopes, we had pre-ordered our ski and boot hire through Doorstep skis. Run by the local ski shop, they provided a doorstep (hence the name) service. They arrived not long after we had settled in and fitted us for our gear.

As this was a catered chalet, we had breakfasts, afternoon teas and dinners prepared for us every day. It was super cosy as we sat around the large dining table with the other guests in the chalet and ate our scrumptious three course meal!

Day 3 - Melt Down on the Slopes

The air was, again, full of the smell of cooking as we wandered down to the dining area. Fresh breads, pastries, porridge, cereals, toast, fruit and eggs cooked the way we wanted were all waiting for us. It was a fantastic breakfast spread and we delved right in.

Excited to start our first day on the slopes, we grabbed our ski gear and hopped in the van. Our driver then took us to the base of Morzine where we got a 5 hour ski pass (5 hours would be plenty for our first day). We then took the cable car up the mountain. Scott and I decided we weren't going to have lessons and just use today as a practice day on the snow at the top of the mountain.

We did this for a few hours, Laura showing us some tips while we did so. Scott had perfected the break position but was still a bit uneasy. I on the other hand was still struggling to get the break position at all and kept crashing down on my bum whenever I felt I was going too fast. Laura got some good giggles out of the show we were putting on and Scott and I were enjoying the challenge.

Ready for a break, we headed to the restaurant nearby and had some well deserved French onion soup. It was so nice and warm, especially considering it had been snowing on us the majority of the day. We then went back to the area we had been practicing on and skied for a bit longer.

We got back to the cable car and our passes weren't working. Turns out we were 10 minutes past our 5 hours! We chatted to the staff at the top of the cable car, but they said that it wasn't possible, we had gone over our time and we would have to ski all the way down. We pleaded with them and told them it was our first day skiing and we would pay them for another pass. But, no, they didn't take any money at the top of the mountain and they would not let us back down.

Faced with the daunting task of having to ski all the way down the mountain, we followed the signs to the start of the blue run. However, when we got there, the entrance was taped off and there was a man standing there. We tried to explain to him that we couldn't go down on the cable cars and needed to go down the blue run. He then said, 'No, is closed. Too much snow today'. Then pointed to the red run. Eyes wide, we explained it was our first day skiing but with the language barrier he did not quite understand and again pointed to the red run and said, 'Only way down'.

We had a re-group and then realising this had to happen, we began our descent. Scott managed to go down the whole time in the break position and steadily made his was down. I on the other had went flying and then scared of how fast I was going, crashing down on my bum. This happened so many times, I lost count. Luckily Laura was there keeping an eye on us both, she also helped me up each time I fell.

Bend after bend, crash after crash, it didn't seem like the town was getting any closer and it had begun to get dark! On one collision, I ploughed into a snowbank, both skis flying off into opposite directions. One on the other side of the run and the other into the bush. As I sat there, defeated, I swear I heard a wolf howling (I don't even know if there are wolves there). Then, when Laura brought my skis back to me, that's when the melt down began!

I looked up at her and began to cry, saying I was going to die on that mountain and asked her to call a helicopter to come and get me. I was even saying that I heard a wolf and that they were going to come and eat us. I was slightly hysterical and when Laura told me we didn't have any phone reception, I thought for sure we would never make it down. Luckily, Laura was able to calm me and, finally, getting my skis back on, we progressed at a snail's pace down the mountain.

Then, coming out of a clearing, we saw the lights of the town! We were so relieved, and our phone started going crazy. Obviously, we had phone reception again and the chalet had been trying to call us. We rang them and the driver came right away. He said he had been so worried about us when we weren't there in the afternoon and he couldn't get through to our phone. He had also come back several times looking for us.

As it was now quite late, we had missed afternoon tea, but as we walked in, we were taken straight to the dining room for dinner. The rest of the guests were very happy to see us, and we had another 3 course feast together while we told them all about our crazy day.

Day 4 - Break Day

Completely ruined from our first attempt at skiing (well for Scott and I, I am sure Laura was ruined from the emotional support she had to provide), we opted to have a break day today.

So, after a slow start to the morning, enjoying our big breakfast and reading a little, we got our driver to take us down to the village. Here, we walked around the local markets, looked in the shops, discovered a great chocolateria and checked out the Christmas decorations around town. We then stopped at a super cute cafe for lunch. It had enticed us in with its free wifi sign and the advertising for their hot gingerbread drink...who wouldn't want to try that!

After a couple of hours spent relaxing in the cafe, we walked back up to our chalet for a lazy afternoon.

Day 5 - Take Two

Determined to give this skiing thing another chance, we got suited up again, but this time our driver took us to Les Gets. He said that they had some green runs up there and we would definitely find it a lot more enjoyable.

Lining up to get our cable car pass, we all agreed that we would get a full day pass...there was no way we would be repeating what happened the first day. Once off the cable cars, we made our way to the green runs and we stayed there going back and forth on the near flat runs for a good few hours. Laura got a bit bored and went off for a bit to do some harder runs.

We then met for lunch and Laura told us the runs she had been doing where quite easy, but Scott and I really decided we were still not ready and kept going on the baby runs for the rest of the afternoon.

By recommendation when we booked and as it was our host's day off, we had pre-booked a table for dinner at a restaurant in town called L'etale. It was a little bit pricey, but as it was our only dinner out for the whole week, we thought, why not. Plus, it came highly recommended, and after we had eaten we could see why. The food was delicious.

Walking back through the town to get to our chalet, we walked past the centre which was festively decorated, and all of the lights looked fantastic.

Day 6 - I Think I've Got it!

Today we went back to Les Gets and Scott and I went straight for the green runs again. Laura, convinced we could do the blue run, managed to get us to go up there with her. It was a bit daunting, but we did quite well.

My first time down, I fell on my butt at the bottom to stop. However, the next few times I managed to actually get into the break position and stop myself. I was actually starting to enjoy it!

Tonight, we went back into town to watch the Christmas eve show, it was quite entertaining and they even put on a small fireworks display. When we got back to our chalet, there was a 4 course meal waiting for us, complete with bon bons and table decorations. It was a fun night with our fellow chalet guests and after dinner, our hosts even came and sat with us for a little bit.

Day 7 - Christmas on the Mountain

Before we headed down to breakfast this morning, we gave each other some small gifts and skyped home to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

As we entered the dining area we were greeted by our hosts with a glass of buck fizz as well as all of our usual breakfast treats. We then took off for a day of skiing on Les Gets. I wore a Christmas dress while on the slopes today and I wasn't the only one dressed up. There were some funny costumes skiing around and it was a stunningly beautiful day, so at some points we didn't even need to have our ski jackets on.

We got back to our chalet in time for our freshly baked cake and hot chocolate and then relaxed until dinner time. Today we were treated to another 4 course meal, this time with a Christmas twist and all the trimmings. It was fantastic, our hosts really out did themselves and made our Christmas away from home a special one.

Day 8 - Our Final Day on the Slopes

Scott and I were daring today and took the second chair lift up with Laura to get a few more different blue runs. It was fun but I definitely preferred the one we did the following few days. After a few tries on the higher part of the mountain, I returned to the one we had done before for a few more runs.

We then spent some time wandering around town and visiting our favourite cafe for one last hot gingerbread milk. Walking back to our chalet, we enjoyed another relaxing afternoon before our final 3 course dinner with the other chalet guests.

Day 9 - Farewell Mozine

We sadly packed our luggage and after a goodbye breakfast we got in the van and were taken to Geneva airport.

Published 19 Dec 2011