Good afternoon,
I've composed a (probably incomplete) playlist of songs that have been particularly relevant, or overplayed, whilst in the the mountains. They reflect variously the conditions of work, particular tasks, snowboarding and other random occurences that everyone can enjoy. This is my Alpine soundtrack so far:
1. Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli - Time to Say Goodbye
Apparently this came on in the Metro store, and a large number of staff, who were shopping there at the time, decided to join in. Excellent work by all accounts.
2. Weezer - Surf Wax America
The refrain "you take your car to work, I'll take my board" is particularly relevant, especially when I'm reflecting on all those people stuck in 9-5 jobs whilst I'm sat on a chairlift in the middle of the afternoon. Awesome.
3. Dolly Parton - Jolene
This is the famous salmon "terrine" song. Sung every Sunday without fail.
4. Justin Timberlake - SexyBack
Another recipe-based song. This time "SexyBack" is replaced by "Hasselback;" a way of preparing potatoes that involves a huge amount of hassle (possible etymological origin, or not). Sung on a Monday, but not joyfully.
5. Clancy Eccles - Fatty Fatty
No real reason for this, other than Clancy's love for a particularly overweight person. He loves said Fatty quite a lot, especially when certain criteria are fulfilled. Also the artist's name is excellent.
6. The Wombles - Remember You're a Womble
I have it on good authority that when you have to remind yourself you're a snowboarder (when your legs aren't quite working properly), then this song gets stuck in your head and remains there on every bouncy, moguly run for the rest of the day. It helps with legs suspension.
7. Kelly, Connors, Reynolds - Good Morning
From the soundtrack to "Singin' In the Rain." Simply from repeatedly saying it every day at breakfast as clients appear in the dining area.
8. TTC - Travailler
It's French, it refers to work, and is pretty funky. Gets stuck in my head regularly.
9. NTM - Tout n'est pas si facile
Once again, some French rap. I am often left thinking that everything is not so easy (or at least as easy as I'd hoped).
10. Ray Charles - I've Got a Woman
Played far too often by our New Year's guests. Great song though. In fact, whichever individual overplayed this also had incredibly similar musical tastes to me. Eclectic.
11. Puccini - Ave Maria
In Shawshank Redemption (spoiler alert!) Andy plays Ave Maria and feels momentarily free. I do that sometimes. Granted I've got a picture-postcard view to enjoy at the same time, but this song resonates in the same way when I'm unspeakably tired.
12. Ike & Tina Turner - It's Gonna Work Out Fine
Regularly enters my head when the latest minor disaster occurs during breakfast/tea/dinner. Generally all food issues can be solved given a little thought, a microwave and/or th knowledge the clients don't know what they're supposed to be getting anyway.
13. will.i.am - T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)
"You can go hard or you can go home." Preferably sung whilst making a super camp airplane impression after the "or." Pretty much THE anthem of the season.
14. Generation Goldman - Famille
Constantly played on LFM (the radio station). Quite amusing if you mishear the oft-mentioned title. Also catchy in a terrible soul-destroying way.
15. Men in Hats - Safety Dance
Don't know where this one came from, but it has plagued my thoughts for weeks. I have to play it most days just to exorcise it from my mind. An absolutely stonking track. Replace some of the lines with "take a look at my/your pants."
16. ZZ Top - La Grange
Lots of places around here are called La Grange, or something similar. Therefore the song appears in my headbox.
I think that'll suffice at present. If I think of any more, I'll keep you informed.
Obligatory picture of valley, this time including clouds
:
I'd apologise for not blogging, writing postcards or generally communicating, but I've hardly stopped working. To use an acronym of will.i.am, this is T.H.E.
Anyhow, I've finally augured some brief moments to myself from the tablet-like list of chores that otherwise dictate my existence, so it's time to feedback some of my thoughts from the previous few weeks.
It's now Week 6 somehow. Time has absolutely flown. This is mostly due to working 80-90 hour weeks (conservative estimate) doing fairly mundane activities, during which time your mind becomes so tired that you lose any semblance of sharpness with which you may have previously credited it. Even the simple task of jotting down a few words on here, or alternative card-based media, have seemed impossible acts. In fact, the general normalities of life are a very long way away when you live at an altitude of approximately 1650m all the time.
I've not been off the mountain since we got here (about 6 weeks ago) and so have little experience of the world outside the Paradiski resort. There are any number of other minor enjoyments that we've not been afforded in this time:
1. Sitting down. I am at the moment, but this is the exception that proves the rule. I sometimes sit on ski lifts, or snow when I fall on my arse, however these occasions are in the few snowboarding sessions we enjoy (to the max!) I've not sat on a sofa for 5 weeks, and don't really expect to for a while. Let alone watching TV; that's a far away dream.
2. Fried chicken. Quite specific I know, but I do enjoy fried chicken. One day we may get down to Bourg St Maurice, which requires some 'boarding and a funicular, where I hope they have the most generic of chicken serving establishments. I'm not currently sure if/when this will come to pass. Also, we make the same meals every week, so variety is somewhat lacking. Furthermore, Noddy's pizza is a prohibitive distance from Plan Peisey: they won't deliver.
3. Sleep. Other than immediately adjacent to our weekly day off, we never get the "full" 8 hours. This wouldn't be so bad, but with working constantly (no time off whatsoever) on a Friday and Saturday, often with as little as 6 hours sleep, we regularly need a nap in the tiny window of personal time we're afforded. The fatigue generally builds up, compounded by the impetus to go snowboarding whenever the opportunity arises, meaning that I can practically 'board in my sleep now. Often close my eyes on the Poma lifts for a wee respite.
4. Comfort. Although the bed is actually super comfortable (probably enhanced by its infrequent use) my body is broken in so many ways it's slightly hilarious. It'd be quicker to list the parts that don't hurt. Getting up in the morning is particularly hard. One of my fingers "pops" from bent to straight for the first couple of hours in the morning. Again, the need to justify this existence by snowboarding in any free time doesn't help. Today my (fairly rubbish and now too basic) board is being serviced in preparation for a most welcome day off tomorrow, so I'm relieved from needing to marginally cripple myself any further at this present time.
5. Time to ourselves. Easily explicable; one day off a week to catch up on much needed sleep, cleaning our own space, snowboarding and doing literally anything most people would do in the morning/evening/on the train/during lunch/on their days off.
6. Drinking. Ironically enough, considering how much wine passes through our hands (and down the sink). We've acquired plenty of contraband "booty" from parting guests, but no time to drink it. Even on a Tuesday night, we can't drink, lest we waste a tiny amount of our precious day off. On the Wednesday, we're so knackered after 'boarding as long as possible, that one (admittedly gigantic) challice of Leffe at Au Plante du Baton practically knocks me out. Our classic "apres" involves finishing down "ecureuils," a black run down to Plan Peisey, and continuing to 'board down to the bar for a quick beverage.
Especially as I like to take trips out, it's particularly strange that I'll be staying (literally) in one place for some 4 months: same bed, same attic room, same Peisey/Vallandry. I won't be boarding any planes, trains, or automobiles (other than our own bus) for that amount of time. If I had a bit more time to reflect or write, it'd probably be quite nice. But for me, it's definitely a bit odd. There will be some serious catching up to do.
I don't mean this to seem downbeat at all, it's just the work's pretty tough, almost constant (including most conversations and dreams), and physically and mentally draining. That said, there are still plenty of excellent reasons to do it:
1. Awesome 'boarding when you get it. The pistes around here are excellent, with plenty of reds and blacks to keep you going. The blue runs are practically unnecessary, so you very rarely find yourself on anything too flat. The snow has been pretty good too, some excellent powder days, and there's acheiveable off-piste everywhere. Also, it's quiet out there at the moment, so you don't get as many skiiers getting directly in your way (although you'll notice from the picture below that they do still manage it: this is me waiting for them to bugger off - with a view).
The standard of 'boarding has got so good, off-piste-y, and generally rapid that we've both invested in helmets. I've only had a couple of runs with it on so far, but I am already a fully paid-up convert; the helmet helps my head/ears stay warm, actaully looks alright, and gives me an excellent false sense of indestructability.
2. Scenery. The view from our chalet is almost unerringly spectacular. It's incredible how many times the sky goes pink (or, last week, the sky turns deep blue and the mountains go pink). Even when it all gets a bit tiring, boring, and like hard work, you can step out on the balcony and look at the mountains. When the sky's clear at night, the stars all come out and you can watch the piste-bashers moving around on the mountains like slow-moving, errant asteroids. Sometimes the cloud comes in and closes the world out, but it rarely stays about for long.
3. Weather. It's possibly rained one day since we got here. The most likely weather is clear skies and sunshine. There is the odd session of snow (of which there are many kinds) but that's also beautiful.
4. Exercise. I don't know what the exact benefits of living at this altitude are, but I imagine there will be some. Also, with all the physical work and snowboarding, I've slimmed down quite nicely, and gained some useful snow-muscles. When it does snow a decent amount, I get to shovel it in a manly way, whilst enjoying the fresh mountain air and spectacular views. I similarly get to carry wood, but wish we had an axe to chop it up (now that's what I'd call mountain-man living).
5. The general sense of self-achievement/that I may never have to work this hard again. There's a perverse pleasure in knowing that the work is, at times, unreasonably difficult. The fixed-term of the employment makes it feel a bit like a prison sentence, but with the commensurate prospect of freedom and liberty providing hope and optimism. I cannot wait to do whatever it is we do next: anything will be a welcome break, even so called "work."
6. Things learnt from clients. We've had a 72 year old woman crawling under the table in an impromptu (and possibly unique) game of "Ou est la fromage?" There's been an otherwise unassuming individual dancing "the worm" in various locations. We've learnt how to play the "Roxanne" drinking game, and make Smarsnoff Nice, two invaluable skills which had somehow escaped my cognition until this point. Probably lots of other little things, especially as regards the ways people act (similarly and differently) when on a chalet holiday. Fortunately most of them have been lovely, so can't complain at all.
7. Recompense. I'm not sure this should be in the "Pros" column, because in real terms we're wildly underpaid for the number of hours we work. However, people can be most generous (probably rightly so), and this has allowed us to put a decent amount of cash into the charity fund each week (we actually update that every week, with a few words, view it here http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/snow). This is another little thing that helps us keep going over those long, hard changeover weekends.
8. The chalet. It's pretty, in an excellent location for 'boarding in Les Arcs, but also only a short trip across the Vanoise Express to La Plagne (not as good). The lifts are practically on our doorstep, and the runs immediate to our abode are good fun. It's also nice to know we're at the top end of the chalet hierachy, being the best that we can be, and having a property to be proud of in an excellent (and independant) location. To all intents and purposes this is our resort, and that provides a little more satisfaction. I still hate the jacuzzi though: it's an operational disappointment but people love it.
9. Making up songs for the jobs that we do. I can't remember them all now, but we make a salmon terrine on a Monday. We essentially take the tune from Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and change the words, with the key one being "terrine."
10. Each other. Possibly corny sounding, but running a chalet for up to 16 people at this level of service is incredibly hard work, and at times really stressful. Combine that with a genuine desire that people have an enjoyable holiday, and the various other ancillary requirements that roll down when you're running a whole resort, and I honestly could/would not do it on my own. Through the (few) fun parts (mostly snowboarding), and the (genuinely) horrible bits, I'm glad we're doing it together. It's an experience.
There are possibly other good reasons to do this job, and they are slightly easier to recognise on a clear, sunny Tuesday afternoon with nothing on the horizon but a whole day off (I say whole, we still have to do some things on the day, prepare the chalet the day before, clean up the day after, and generally gird our - metaphorical and actual - loins for the approaching weekend).
I think I've now wasted enough of my precious time writing, although any time away from work is a pleasure. As usual, I'll finish with a picture. This one is from the balcony (again), this morning, when the cloud was blocking out the sun for all the idiots living in the valley. Enjoy.
Evening all.
Today we went over to La Plagne to see what that's like. The answer is quite busy and full of skiers being directly in my way. We did get to ride the Vanoise express, which was surprisingly quick and underwhelming, and help a crying child who had fallen (and could not get up, despite all his crying).
There should be new rules for the piste, which include:
1. Do not stand in a line across the piste, especially where it is quite thin
2. Do not stand still on flat parts of the piste, as snowboarders cannot gain momentum in these areas
3. If you do need to teach people how to ski, use half the piste when "snaking" about, not the whole thing. Children will be maimed under our boards of steel.
4. If you want to stop lots, or ski in a group, don't do it on a thin, mogul-y black run!
There're probably more rules.
Felt a bit better this week. We're "owning" it more, and not stressing out too much. The benefits of experience. It'd be cool if people could come out to see us in this new year. Speaking of which, the New Year's "event" was a bit sporadic, rushed, unplanned, interspersed with the odd firework and rubbish. Had a few drinks though, which was nice.
Also, getting more bounce in my legs for moguls, and liking snowboarding generally. Fall down a lot less, and even when I do it seems to be pretty amusing.
I've taken fewer photos this week, and not uploaded any. So here's a photo of the one thing that gets me through most days, and makes me feel like Hawai'i even when surrounded by washing up and drudgery.
