Les 3 Vallées

After Christmas and over New Years this year I went skiing for the first time. We had a chalet in Les 3 Vallées in France which is also the largest ski area in the world. I was super excited because I've never gone skiing before, my family had gone skiing without me in South Korea a couple years earlier and I always felt that I really missed out on that trip. The journey there took a whole day because we had to get from Leeds to London and then get the Eurostar to Paris central station and then an internal Paris metro to get to another station to catch the connecting train to the Alps. It was such a journey and James and I wanted to try French McD's whilst waiting for the connecting train which took so long that we almost missed the train and didn't even manage to find the McD's. Paris was having strikes at the time so the Metro wasn't running properly and there was so much traffic because they had closed roads for the strike. It was pure chaos getting to the Alps. Once we got off the last train we got in a mini-van which took us up the mountain and this took almost 2 hours. Then we didn't know how to get the keys to get into the chalet and we were struggling with the passcode until this Russian group opened the (safe?) which had the keys. Got to the chalet and the air was so thin that I struggled to breathe a little bit. 

Day One 

The chalet is midway up a hill so to get down to the base of the mountain you need to ski down a blue. The difficulty of the slopes started off with easy greens, blues, reds, and blacks which were the hardest. That first day I could barely manage to stand on the slopes long with skis. Skiing down was a nightmare. Looking back I must have been awful to teach, I cried so many times and had multiple breakdowns. Skiing is honestly so difficult when you're first starting out. And I felt like I was slowing everyone down since everyone else in the group had been skiing for years. James was so patient throughout my many fits but when we got back he said I definitely needed private ski lessons tomorrow.  Skiied back up to the chalet and went down this monstrous slope called Purdue which is a green but for some reason incredibly hard. I just kept falling and basically rolled down the mountain. I fell down so many times and when we got back I couldn't get my ski boots off and cried about that on the stairs before going in the chalet. Got in the shower and realised I had massive bruises all over my hips and red welts on my back where the snow had rubbed up against when I fell. Took pictures to send to the family group and they said it was normal. If I'm struggling this much I have no idea how they managed South Korea. 

Day Two 

Had my first ski lesson today which was so much better than day one because we practiced on an easier slope. My ski teacher was this really chilled out guy who brought me down some easy greens that were Frozen themed. Learned how to snow plough, how to stop, how to balance on one leg, how to turn. Honestly ski lessons made learning so much easier. Came back and had lunch at this burger restaurant that took about 2.5 hours (not exaggerating!) to get our orders out because it was peak ski season and many of their staff had ski injuries and were off work. Skiied back up to the chalet and went down yesterday's Purdue. Fell down alot still but not as bad as the first day. 

Day Three 

Last day of 2019! Didn't have any ski lessons today but did some greens with James. Had such a bad fall here that my knee was throbbing the whole day. Only did half a day today and came back to the chalet for lunch and then drinks at this bar with the girls. The boys needed pro ski time and the break was needed for me. Prosecco evening girls time was probably the highlight of this day. Got back to the chalet, had dinner and then played board games and cards all night. Everyone was asleep before the midnight on New Years which isn't new for us because James can't stay up past 11pm. 

Day Four

New Year's Day and more lessons for me with my french ski instructor. Met with the same ski instructor again and we practiced on some greens and blues. Told him how difficult Purdue was for me and he brought me up and down a slightly different path which was so much easier. After the lesson I tried to navigate back the same path but I'm so bad with directions we ended up right back at the start of Purdue. It was not bad at all today! Managed to get all the way down without falling down even once. Purdue was the hardest thing on day one and two but manageable now. I think its harder for me to ski when I'm with James but when I'm with other people I just get on with it because pride and also they might just leave me on the mountain. 

Day Five 

Skiing in a group again today. I wish I remembered the names of the slopes that I went down a bit better but I'm horrible at navigating and just followed the group. Went down mostly blues today which were super icy and diffiuclt to turn. Didn't fall down once even thought whilst I was skiing all I could think about is I'm going way too fast and I can't stop and shit if I break something how will I get anywhere. Super pleased that I managed to keep up today. My knee was still throbbing and turns were getting harder but skill wise I was improving which made skiing fun at last. Craziest thing that happened was right before we broke for lunch Beth had a fall which didn't look too bad because she got up and skiied down not long after but after lunch she couldn't walk anymore. Had to call the emergency ambulance and be taken down the mountain in what looked like a mobile coffin. It was so horrible and painful and her knee was so swollen it was twice the size of the other leg.

Day Six 

Went skiing behind the mountain today so it was so much colder. Went down a slope called Jerusalem which had the most amazing views and barely any people on it. People were dressed so stylishly on the slopes in cute overalls or matching rainbow stiped top and bottoms. Had dinner out for the first time in a really good Italian restaurant. The desserts at this restaurant were really good and I had so much wine that walking back was such a struggle. We decided to walk back up the mountain on the snow instead of taking the steps and the air was so thin because it was late at night that I had an asthma attack and had to stop. Everyone else went up the mountain like they were walking up a flight of stairs even though the incline was ridiculously steep. Including James mum who was in her 60s. Had to make a detour and find the steps up and an hour later we were back at the chalet. 

Day Seven 

The end of the ski trip! Travel back to Leeds was again a whole day affair because the trains were cancelled so we had to take a 2 hour drive to get us to a different train station so we could get a connecting train to Paris Gare du Nord. Metro was running again so got on that in good time. Got back to London at around 7pm and then stayed over at Nottingham to have Annie's breakfast and then back to Leeds the next day.

This was such a nice trip skiing was amazing and definitely something you can pick up as an adult. Before I go the next time though I need to train alot more because you can't ski very well without strong leg muscles... and I am not as fit as I could be. 

Pictures from the Trip