Les Deux Alpes - days 3-7

Day 3 (the second day on the slopes) and we set off straight for the top of the mountain. Today was was cloudy & windy with a little snow fall and as a result it was cold - on the top of the mountain it was VERY cold. As we came out of the funicular railway at the top slope we just got sorted and down the first part of the slope as soon as possible. This ended up being the only cold day we had so really the weather had been fantastic the whole time.

Today though was a breakthrough for my boarding, it somehow all just fell into place, I was linking turns smoothly from the off and varying from picking up speed to having slow winding descents - it was great!

The rest of the week followed suit, my riding improved, I hardly fell over apart from the occasional spectacular fall when crossing a black run where I managed to end up on my back sliding down the slope head first unable to stop myself!
On one of the slopes there was a little area sectioned off with a kicker (jump) and a guy sat with his camera, he would take your picture as you jumped and you could presumably download it later on. I was really temped later in the week to have a go but never quite plucked up the courage.

On the subject of ski lifts, I have to say that after the first day of falling off them, I soon got used to riding with 1 foot out and keeping my balance. The rest of the week was fairly uneventful in that respect apart from one day when we got on a chair lift, it swung backwards as we sat on it, then as it came forwards again the front of my board dug into the snow and it flipped me right off the chair! The crowd of people waiting for the life were highly amused! :)
There was also a rope lift / pull thing that was a little awkward but again once I got the hang of riding with 1 foot out it wasn't so bad.

The days were spent boarding in the sun, then having breaks at the cafe's and restaurants on the slopes - hot chocolate with baileys & cream or hot mulled wine and decent food to keep us going.
The resort had runs leading right past our lodge and right past a local bar so we often boarded right up to the bar, had a couple of pints then nipped over to our lodge for the evening.

On the last day we decided to attempt a black run as there was one off a green run and it headed right back into town. It was pretty steep, but to be honest, as a snowboarder it wasn't really a major concern - if in doubt you could just go down it in "falling leaf" and take it easy so there was nothing to worry about - the skiers found it slightly more difficult but again they managed just fine.

There was a board park at Deux Alpes which we never attended - in hindsight I think it was the right decision (for me at least) as I wasn't anywhere near up to the required level, however next time I will be tempted to go to a park for a bit.

By the end of the week we were all well and truly aching, I don't think my body could have coped with 10 days, much less a fortnight - but it was a fantastic holiday and we capped it all with a big blow out on the Friday night which started in a quiet bar and ended up with the whole bar around us watching us playing drinking games. They were all very friendly!

For next time, I wouldn't do much differently, I largely had all the equipment and stuff that I needed (thanks to the advice of my friends) and had a great time - looking forward to the next one now!