Merry Meribel

Greetings all. I'm in Meribel. I'm here with Phid, Wheeler, Castor, Epona, and two of Wheeler's pals. I shall call them Fiddler and Biker. We arrived on Saturday, after flying into Geneva and then transferring by minibus. All went smoothly. The chalet is basic, with small bedrooms, but with everything we could possibly need. There are chalet girls who cook and clean for us, which feels ridiculously decadent, and even if the snow isn't great it's not so bad there isn't a lot of fun to be had.

First morning, I skied mostly on my own. Fiddler and Biker went off together, Wheeler and Castor faffed about with Castor's new ski boots and then skied together, and Epona took Phid for some gentle runs and a lesson. I was very happy to be pootling about, finding my feet again, and by the time I met everyone for a little break at noon, I was starting to feel a bit more confident. I do love skiing: the mountains, all sharp and jagged; the snow so white; the sky so clear blue; the sun so warm and yet the air so cold. And then the speed, slipping smoothly over the ground as the wind bites your skin. Of course, that's only when it all goes right. When you fall on your arse like a tit, everything's a bit frustrating - but I managed to only fall over once yesterday. On a green run. Quite embarrassing.

In the afternoon, Phid, Fiddler and I did a few fun runs and then Phid had a lesson. Fiddler and I did lots of the runs I'd done in the morning, then a few more a bit lower down where the snow was slushy and totally knackering. We were all done in by 3pm, but we started at about 10, so it was a pretty good stint for our first day. Especially as I'd drunk too much whisky with Wheeler the night before, and he'd scolded me roundly for being such a fuck-up and made me cry, and I felt a bit drained the next morning. Luckily his hangover was much worse. Karma's a bitch, Wheeler. Heh heh.

This morning I went off with Phid and Epona. We did a couple of easy runs for an hour or so, and then Phid decided to head back to the chalet and rest before our afternoon lesson. I went off with Epona, and we went to the top of the mountain and skied some reds and blues. It was great. Snow's much better today, after a very light snowfall to soften the ice, but still quite hard. My legs are holding up - a bit tired, but not too bad. Epona's a very good skier - much, much better than me. But as I said, we're having a lesson this afternoon and I plan on being absolutely brilliant by the end of it. Brilliant, I tells ya.

I daresay I'll blog again. This is a lazy holiday, with lots of down time as well as skiing, so I've plenty of time on my hands. Catch you later, dudes.