One of Those Days

It's really interesting how when you talk to other skiers, they will all have a skiing day or two that really stands out in their mind. This topic of conversation often pops up while riding on a chairlift, or perhaps having a drink in the bar. Their memorable moment might be conquering a certain green piste that had haunted them for a while. Or another example may be when someone has first skied down the feisty Grand Couloir in Courchevel. Another achievement might be a parent skiing proudly behind their child the first time down the Altiport green piste. The list of memorable moments are potentially endless. So do Meribel Ski Instructors still have these special moments? You bet your life they do.

One of those days happened to me on Wednesday. This week has seen an improvement in snow conditions courtesy of recent snowfalls. Not only does this improve the skiing, it also helps give the scenery a special lift in its appearance. Being a rather keen photographer, I tend to notice these things and try to figure out how I can make the most of these opportunities. When all the stars align, or rather when the weather gods play ball, you can get to see some wonderful sights. Cut a long story short, I decided on a sunrise shoot with my mate 'Canon Senior'. And boy oh boy, was it fab shooting properly again, and also experiencing the best of Mother Nature.

Anyhow, I then had to rush back home, drop Canon Senior off and put my ski kit on to head down to the ski school. Just as I was doing so, my friend and fellow Meribel Ski Instructor phoned me on my mobile. "Martin, are you teaching today, I'm not?". I explained I didn't have anything foward booked, unless the school was to give me anything very last minute I was free. "Great" he said, "Let's book ourselves out from work, it's just snowed and I have clients next week that are off-piste skiers and I need to have a scout around. Bring your safety gear it will be great skiing today". Who was I to argue? I dumped heavy Canon Senior and his friends, picked up my safety kit, and also grabbed the lightweight Canon Junior (my compact camera).

Within a few short moments, we met up, had a chat about route options and were soon on our way. Ian mentioned a few things he said he'd like to look at. One of these was a route that I had never skied, and how shall I put this.... isn't one you would try by yourself! So guess where we went? Another route in my log book, the South West face of the Col du Fruit. I could bang on about all sorts of things, including where this is and numerous other fact and figures and technicalities, but I won't. Needless to say it was just one of those epic days; skiing with a chum, in fab snow, great weather and sharing one of life's greatest wonders. Here are a few photos I took with Canon Junior, don't forget you can enlarge each image by clicking on them.

Ian kindly took Canon Junior from me halfway down the long shimmy wiggle squiggle pitch and captured me.

The ski out from this route is permitted within the 'Reserve Naturelle du Plan de Tueda', even so it still bemused some walkers we bumped into along the cross country skiing area. Ian did all the explaining !?!

So from nowhere and without any planning whatsoever, 'One of Those Days' just happened, for me it was the combination of photography and skiing that did it. Both Michael and I would love to hear about your's, whatever it is, and whenever it took place. You can leave a comment below, it's dead simple to do.

Please feel free to share away on Facebook, Twitter and Goggle+ by using the social media icons. If you enjoyed this blog post, you might like to see a similar article that includes Ian from the summer months, click here for the link. More snow is due next week by the way. Have a great week, oh, and Live With Passion everybody. Martin.