Skiing vs. Football: Which Sport Really Breaks the Bank?

Good morning Val d’Isère

What wonderful weather yesterday

For the Giant Slalom

A great advert for Val….

I love Saturday skiing…

We skied on good snow

All the way to the other side of Tignes

And back.

We were feeling particularly special

As on our way UP

We sat in the only

super comfortable

Four-person bubble from La Daille

And on the way down

The only Pink bubble on the

Olympique….

Was waiting for us….

We came that way so we could

Get an aerial view of the races….

Today….

More racing on the Face

and another eight hours of

glorious sunshine

maximum temperature plus three

minimum minus six

and barely any breeze.

There was a very

Swiss slant to the Giant Slalom

Yesterday with

Loic Meillard 1^st

Luca Aerni 2^nd

And Marco Odermatt third…

Shame that

Our Brit

Freddy Carrick-Smith

Didn’t finish the first run

And the fastest French man came

Nineteenth

Alexis Pinturault

had a destabilising event

Halfway down

It was impressive he recovered

And could finish

Let alone managed to slip into 22^nd place.

Tignes

Flavio Vitale

Will have been disappointed

Not to qualify for the 2^nd run.

Today’s Slalom

Is a must watch…..

Out of the 69 competitors

Four are British….

Including 38-year-old Dave Ryding

And

20-year-old Luca Carrick-Smith

Out of the 7 French men

2 are from Val d’Isère

we are particularly looking forward

 To seeing ….

28-year-old Reigning Olympic slalom Champion

Clément Noël.

You will remember

He crashed badly in the giant slalom

Here In Val last year

then missed the next day’s slalom.

Meanwhile in St Mortiz

Veteran Vonn

Came 2^nd in yesterday’s downhill.

Less than ½ a second slower than

Germany’s Emma Aicher.

I bet whoever

fitted Lindsey’s

Partial knee replacement

Is a very proud surgeon !
 

France’s Romane Miradoli

Was again the fastest in their team

Finishing 15^th

While Tignes’ Laura Gauché

Finished 26^th, though still less than 2 seconds

Slower than the winner.

In today’s Super G in St Mortiz

Tignes’ Laura Gauché

Is one of the 5 French ladies

But I suspect

The focus

Expectations

And pressure

Will be on

Two American

Indeed Global

 Super Champions

Lindsey Vonn

And

Mikaela Shiffrin…..

It will be a good race !

Do keep an eye on the Calendar page.

I add anything that may interest you,

not only in Val.

For instance

Today there is a toy sale in Tignes….

Mullit are doing an après ski gig in St Foy

Or you could have an intro to Fat Biking

For free

Here in Val.

Another fun evening at the Folie last night.

I particularly enjoyed

 Val’s young ski champions

All dressed up

Strutting their stuff

With the professional dancers.

I never consider

Ski holidays as

Cheap

But

When people talk about how

Expensive skiing is…….

A pass that covers Val and Tignes

From the end of November until

Early May

So more than 5 months of 8 hours a day

Costs

Less than a West Ham season ticket

Which is for about

30 hours of football.

Yesterday the price of the

Tickets for the World Cup Football Final

Were published.

The cheapest is equivalent to

More than 3 times our ski season passe

And the most expensive

6 and a half season passes…………

For just one match

That you have to travel to the USA

To see

Which will be televised ?

An England home shirt costs 150 euros

As does the Away version

And it changes every year….

Sounds as though

Following football

Is more expensive than skiing….

I laughed about how

Weird it is at the beginning of the season

Such a lot of kit….

So much hassle !

It is not as if sliding on planks

Down a snowy mountain

Is a NATURAL thing to do…..

Can I recommend

Reacquainting yourself with your kit

Reminding yourself

Of its pros and cons

Strengths and weaknesses

I was skiing with friends last week.

Good friends

Who are good skiers….

One was

ALL OVER THE PLACE

Weird stance

Fumbling falls

Strange inability to parallel

Odd objection to stopping……

She had pin bindings….

Not something I have ever fallen for

As have seen so many people

Fall

Or fly

Out of them…

Not always clear when they

Are completely engaged….

So… they took some concentration….

What was the REAL problem…..

She was skiing

While her boots were

In

Walk mode…….

I object to walking uphill

When I have a very lovely lift pass….

my boots

Are ONLY for skiing…..

So I didn’t think to ask her

To check…

I will next time !

Luckily no harm was done

And next time

She was skiing

With boots in ski mode…

Beautifully !

Once you have sorted out your kit….

Revise

Your piste etiquette……..

Already I have seen people

Standing chatting at the side of the piste

Then starting without looking up 

And around……

Would you just pull out from the kerb

In your car ?

Other people have been waiting

Over a roll…………..

Someone skiing down

Won’t see you until

They go over that roll………

Let’s hope they can stop….

On the second Sunday in December

We are all encouraged to

Stop at seven pm

Whatever your time

And light a candle

In memory

Of those we loved

Who left us too soon.

Never forget them.

Remember the good times…

After skiing

I will be heading to Bourg

To collect a Friends’ brother

Who is coming from Australia

To spend

2 days in Val…

ONLY TWO DAYS !!!!!

Sure he will regret that once he is here….

I am always puzzled by the

2 week trips

That mean moving every 2 days

JUST to say

You have seen most of Europe………..

Each to his own !

Current weather forecast

Suggests Tomorrow

Will be a bit

Snowy….

Anything could change from now until then…

Catch up in the morning.