Well this weekend was the annual corporate ski trip to Les Deux Alpes in France. As I don’t down-hill ski and they don’t do cross-country skiing at this resort (it’s too mountainous) I spent my time walking in the mountains wearing raquettes (snow shoes). Apart from the fact I no longer have any skin on my heels it was great fun and fantastic to be in the crisp mountain air and enjoying the wonderful scenery.
The picture of me with the mammoth is taken in the ice cave at the top of the glacier above the village. The altitude was 2 miles above sea level and the temperature outside was -20 with a wind chill factor of -50, at one stage I thought my ears would fall off so I quickly made my way down to a lower altitude where it warmed up to a comfortable -15!
The not drinking seems to be catching on in the company and most of the people I was with were either copying my example or limiting their drinking simply because we were having lots of fun and drink didn’t need to be part of that. One of my UK colleagues said on the Sunday how fantastic it had been to be up early and skiing without feeling dehydrated, without a constant hammering in his head, and devoid of the usual overall feeling of death he had experienced in previous years.
Most evenings we didn’t get to bed until way past two in the morning despite the early morning starts. Those that did decide to get drunk tended to stay in bed until lunchtime and so missed the morning’s entertainment and many of them felt too poorly and drained to dare venture onto the slopes. The highlight for me was finding an outdoor heated swimming pool with the water at a very pleasant 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Laying back in the warm water being snowed on and looking up at the mountains and the daytime Moon was simply magical.
I am so so glad I don’t drink, and what a shame I wasted so many years of my life missing out on all this enjoyment. I think next year I will actually have some ski lessons.
The picture of me with the mammoth is taken in the ice cave at the top of the glacier above the village. The altitude was 2 miles above sea level and the temperature outside was -20 with a wind chill factor of -50, at one stage I thought my ears would fall off so I quickly made my way down to a lower altitude where it warmed up to a comfortable -15!
The not drinking seems to be catching on in the company and most of the people I was with were either copying my example or limiting their drinking simply because we were having lots of fun and drink didn’t need to be part of that. One of my UK colleagues said on the Sunday how fantastic it had been to be up early and skiing without feeling dehydrated, without a constant hammering in his head, and devoid of the usual overall feeling of death he had experienced in previous years.
Most evenings we didn’t get to bed until way past two in the morning despite the early morning starts. Those that did decide to get drunk tended to stay in bed until lunchtime and so missed the morning’s entertainment and many of them felt too poorly and drained to dare venture onto the slopes. The highlight for me was finding an outdoor heated swimming pool with the water at a very pleasant 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Laying back in the warm water being snowed on and looking up at the mountains and the daytime Moon was simply magical.
I am so so glad I don’t drink, and what a shame I wasted so many years of my life missing out on all this enjoyment. I think next year I will actually have some ski lessons.
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