Morzine Round-Up: Days 8 - 14
Posted by on Monday, March 15, 2010
I decided not to update the blog on a daily basis after the end of the first week, given there wasn't much happening in the way of snowboarding. This is quick round-up of how the rest of the trip went, and I want to mention a few things I'm gonna write about soon.
Saturday: my ankle was both sore and stiff after trying to ride the day before. I rested it, ice packed it, etc. Another day off. I think Ciara had mild concussion from a slam she took the day before also, she was ill on Friday night and generally feeling rubbish on Saturday...
I tried again on Sunday. Went up, took two runs and then came down again. My ankle simply wasn't up to riding. In fact, when I got down I went to the doctors just to get it checked out. 70 euros, ouch. But I can claim that back. In fact, I think a visit to the doctor's was necessary for the pending insurance claim.
Monday and Tuesday were used for resting the ankle. I finished a book, watched a bunch of films and met Ciara for either late lunch or a some drinks after she'd come down from the hill. The intention was to try riding for the last three days.
Wednesday was OK. I could ride around, but that was about it. Nothing fancy. I still didn't feel I could aggressively use my edges, and freestyle was out of the question. Still, I just about managed a full day on the slopes, and it was really nice to get out with Ciara, given she'd spent much of the second week shredding alone. It was around this time I realised how bad the straps on the new bindings are. More of that later.
Unfortunately a full day on the hill made my ankle swell up. It was pretty painful on Thursday morning; there was no way I was going to snowboard. A full day of rest, keep it up, ice pack it, and go out for the last day...
And, Friday, Day 14 was pretty damn good! Ciara and I rode around in the morning, just blasting down runs. Two runs in particular were awesome; just following in Ciara's tracks and then her doing the same. Much fun. In the afternoon I actually tried riding the park a little. Painful, but it was the last day, what are you going to do, right?
All in all, not the best snowboarding experience I've had :) As well as missing out on the actual snowboarding, I kinda feel a bit sad that there wasn't much to show and tell here. Writing about my snowboarding trips is the thing I enjoy most with this blog. I'd happily have simply followed Ciara around, taking photos and writing about what she was doing, but I needed to rest my ankle. I did at least do that for one day.
But these things happen, and we enjoyed just being there as well as relaxing, which isn't something I normally do in the mountains (the relaxing part that is). Eating, drinking, too much eating and just having a holiday together. I'm not going to say I wasn't feeling sorry for myself at times, because I was :) But like I said, these things happen and besides, there's no point in worrying about something you can't change...
Anyway, I'm back now, and there are a few things I want to touch on when I get a bit of time:
- Union Contacts: my new bindings with their lame straps
- Other gear: my uber fast board, an old jacket, new gloves and my goggles
- Thoughts on catered chalets: are they for you?
- Making a claim on your snowboard insurance - which I'll have to wait until it's been resolved...
- Thoughts on next season: where to go?
Labels: morzine trip 2010
Morzine Day 7: Tried Going Up
Posted by on Saturday, March 06, 2010
Yesterday, I tried going up on the mountain. There were two reasons: first off, I wanted to see how well the ankle would hold up; second, following a series of dull days it was blue skies all the way, and I thought that even if I don't move around too much I can still take some photos.
So in the morning I got a lift down to the chemists and picked up some athletic-tape. A long time ago, I used to tape up my ankle(s) when playing basketball. I decided I'd try to strap it up for support. I don't know whether that's a good idea for snowboarding? But I did it anyway. I took a quick look on YouTube for a guide, found one, and although it was hard taping my own ankle, I got it done.
I went up at lunch time with one of the chalet hosts, Steve, and we took a couple of runs to meet up with the others. Riding regular runs seemed ok, but I didn't put any aggressive toe turns on, none at all. The strapping within the boot also seemed ok. I didn't really notice it once I was going and my toes didn't go numb or anything like that. Bonus.
In terms of pain, the lifts were the worst. Getting off actually. Lining up on a full chair means a certain twisting of your leg; that hurt. Once, I was kinda squashed, didn't like the pain and almost ended up "staying on". LOL. The ankle ached sometimes on the chairs too.
So I spent a bunch of time taking some photos. My quick investigation into setting the exposure definitely worked. Most of the photos I took kept the detail in the bright areas, rather than being over-exposed. I took raws too. I've gotta say that the current version of the Windows picture viewer does a good job, mostly, of rendering the raws. I need to look into this more, later, and get something where I can adjust the images myself...
Anyhow, here are some of the photos I took:
Ciara's started to get more air this week, nice:
A few indys and the occasional mute too, although this isn't the best example:
Some dude with smooth style:
This was almost a really cool photo, but it happened right after the one above and I didn't have time to adjust the zoom. Sweet method on the hip:
Some dude on the rainbow rail:
So after having something to eat, we took a few runs before coming down. I got a little more confident with the ankle, but still held off anything hard on the toes, and played it safe around the less-flat terrain.
It felt good to be out on the hill, but I was worried that I was either setting myself back, or slightly less bad, holding up the recovery. We got dropped off in town for a few happy hour beers. Yum.
It came to taking the tape off before getting in the hot tub. I couldn't get hold of any pre-wrap, or at least couldn't communicate what I was after, so the tape was straight on to the skin. Ouch. Like an insight into having your legs waxed. Ciara was loving this; told me I was a wuss (or similar adjective). She was probably right - haha. I'm sure she enjoyed stepping in to rip the last bit off in one go :)
Labels: injuries and fitness, morzine trip 2010, nikon d60
Morzine Day 6: Still Resting
Posted by on Thursday, March 04, 2010
I'm still resting up, in the Chalet. Bummer. That's 3 days now. I think I'd be happy if I can shred all of next week, from Saturday or Sunday onwards, that would be cool. If it's later than that I'll probably end up grumpy :)
It's snowing though, which is good. I wouldn't say the place desperately needed it, but the top-up is welcomed. It would be nice if I could get back out there to some fresh, that would be cool.
My ankle is getting better each day: the swelling goes down a little, the range of movement increases and I can walk more comfortably on it. Now for example, I can stand on one leg (the bad one), and bend a little. Not much though; that's painful. The things that's troubling me is I simply don't know when to go up and give it a go. I'd be mad if I went too soon and set the whole thing back. Especially when I've potentially got a full week to look forward to.
So today is rest, and tomorrow probably too. Unless it's clear skies. In that case I'd like to go and maybe try to get a nice photo of Ciara. That would be fun.
I spent a little time yesterday extending my limited knowledge of the camera controls. I remember last year some of the mountain-shots I took for the guide were over-exposed, so I needed to figure out how to prevent that. It turns out exposure-compensation is easy.
The D60 also makes it easy to spot over (or under) exposure, which is good because simply looking at the image on the small screen isn't always enough. So if I take a quick photo in a given situation, I can adjust if necessary.
I'm also going to start capturing raws; last year I didn't and that was a mistake. I probably could have adjusted the images afterwards quite easily, had I the full data. It makes me wonder though whether one is better not adjusting the exposure at all, and only manipulating the histogram afterwards?
Labels: morzine trip 2010, nikon d60
Morzine Day 5: Piste & Park Update
Posted by on Wednesday, March 03, 2010
I just wanted to touch on something that I mentioned previously, but wasn't sure about. The old Arare park in Avoriaz has been moved and the bigger park, now called Snowpark des Lindarets, sits alongside the Stash.
This means there's a whole lot of freestyle in one area, which personally I think is a great change. Off the Prolays lift you can now choose either to ride through the park or the Stash. I think you can even cut across after the park to make some of the bottom hits from the Stash.
Notice also that they've added the Lil'Stash, something I mentioned briefly in this review of The Stash. I haven't had a chance to check this out yet, not being able to snowboard and all, but I'm keen to see what they've done.
So, Avoriaz has 3 parks: small, medium and large, an awesome pipe, The Stash and now a Stash for the kids... That's pretty impressive!
Labels: avoriaz, morzine trip 2010, snowboard parks
Morzine Day 4: Binding Update
Posted by on Tuesday, March 02, 2010
I've taken the day off today. It's painful walking so I don't think it's worth trying to snowboard...
Anyhow, I just wanted to mention something that I encountered yesterday, but forgot to say in the previous post.
On Sunday, which was the first day I'd used the new Union bindings, I didn't really have time to adjust the straps once I'd realised the default settings were too big. So yesterday morning I shortened both the toe and heel straps. For each, there was only one level of adjustment available in the direction I needed to go (shorter), which didn't leave much margin.
And it turns out that the straps are still kinda too long. I can ride with them, for sure. But as I'm cranking up the heel strap I'm always stopping on the last tooth; same with the two strap. I'd definitely like to be able to make them tighter still.
I did try using the toe straps as a cap-strap, but that doesn't work out too well. It's a shame because the bindings feel really nice. I was a little worried that they might be too soft, but the seem ok in that department. As for their lightness and freestyle-suitability: great.
Does anyone have the Contact bindings? My boot size is right in the middle of the range for the Medium/Large size so it seems strange that the straps should be this long!
Labels: bindings, morzine trip 2010
Morzine Day 3: Ups And Downs
Posted by on Monday, March 01, 2010
Today was great. It started so good. A pure blue bird day, really warm. We spent the morning lapping the area under the Prolays lift in Avoriaz. They've moved the park (I think) from the Arare spot to run in parallel next to the Stash. It's still big, like the Arare park was (is? not sure if it's gone... I haven't been up there), but there are some nice features in there. Makes for a really good run.
Ciara got her first proper grab; indy. She's kinda grabbed before, but this was nice. I was so pleased. She just stomped it. A nice hit from the side of the piste. Awesome. I was getting some decent air and starting to get back in the swing.
We went for a bit of a cruise after lunch; I wanted to check out one of the runs in the Linga area, for possible rock features/drops. On the way over there I think I dropped the best frontside 180 I've even done.
Then it all turned a little sour. In the space of 30 mins, I managed to tweak my back and bust my ankle. Is tweaking your back something that happens to older people? :) Actually, the base of my back is a little weak, so this is kind of a re-occurring thing. I was so annoyed; all I did was ride into a dip and then over a bump. Didn't even leave the snow, it was the compression and then extension that caused a twinge.
Not the end of the world, but on the way back to Avoriaz I managed to stretch my left ankle. Just riding down the piste, albeit pretty fast, actually I was horsing it, a guy veered to the right and I needed to slow down quickly. It was my fault, I made a judgement and got it wrong. It was fairly choppy and I ended up with that bounce you sometimes get when you try to hammer an edge on and it gives way as you encounter a bump. On the toes, it really shocked my ankle.
Immediately sore, but I was still able to snowboard all the way back. Since then it's really stiffened up and I'm limping. Cack. Can't believe that I've done two lame things and managed to injure both my back and ankle. But I guess that's snowboarding. It happens.
So it was up and down today. It started so well, a blue bird, the first time we've snowboarded with Ciara's brother. Good jibbing. Good air. And then an injury.
Not sure what I'm going to be like tomorrow. Right now I'm not too optimistic. It hurts. But I am in the mountains. Ciara is riding well. It's all fun. I'll sort it out. I'm tired, good night.
Labels: morzine trip 2010
Morzine Day 2: Better
Posted by on Sunday, February 28, 2010
A couple of beers and a few glasses of wine... don't expect too much :)
Today was much better. Easyjet worked, for a start. We arrived at Geneva, on time, hopeful for some afternoon shredding. Slight delay as people were gathered for the transfer. Then we were off.
Transfer was smooth, drop our stuff off at the chalet, not taking too much notice of the introductions, rushing to get up on the hill. By the time we'd unpacked the essentials, got dressed, we were at the ticket office for around 2:45pm. At the top by 3:00pm.
So, a twelve day pass and a half-day just for this afternoon? It turned out that a 13 day pass was cheaper, so that's what we ended up with. (I'm skipping over the queue-rage that Ciara experienced with some guy who pushed in. LOL).
We hooked up with Ronan (Ciara's brother), and he was pretty much done for the day. Being eager, Ciara and I left them sipping on hot chocolate to get that 1st run in.
Wow, 13 months without strapping in leaves you a little rusty. 5 minutes later, things were starting to settle in.
New bindings. Nice. Toe strap was too long to the point that they weren't worth doing up. I'll adjust them before tomorrow. Time was precious today. New gloves. Nice. Not much to say there, hands were dry and comfortable.
We got 4 runs in. Not bad for the late start and it almost made it feel like a regular 1st-day. Warm up run and then twice through The Stash. Rusty. Can't ride rails straight. Near misses.
Last lift at 4:30, back to the top. Home run down all the way to Prodains. We've been here before. La Kinkerne. Ciara and I supping beer. Sweet. Pre-arranged collection from the chalet people at 6:00pm. That's novel. I like that.
Hot-tub looking over Morzine and the Plenney. 3 course meal. Not bad, I think we can get used to this...
Weather? It's a good base. It rained this morning, although we weren't here, you could tell. The snow was a soft and wet in places. Board digging in when you're looking for an edge. You know the score. It snowed late afternoon. Is it raining in the town? New snow on top is always good. Off-piste? I hear the snow-pack is a bit unstable with the changing temperatures. We can worry about that later.
First day, some nice hits bobbing up in the stash. Great stuff. Put down a pretty nice fs3. Make that a five? So it wasn't a normal 1st day on the hill, but we were stoked all the same, and it's ended well.
Snowboarding's great...
Labels: morzine trip 2010
Morzine Day 1: False Start
Posted by on Saturday, February 27, 2010
4:15pm, Ciara and I arrived at the airport, full of beans, stoked.
Flight Cancelled.
Lame.
Seriously gutted. Technical fault or something, no other flights leaving for Geneva today. Get on the web, any connections to get there? None. The best chance was a BA flight to Heathrow and then on to Geneva. 25 minutes between the scheduled landing time and following take-off. The lady at the desk advised against it, and she was right, there's no way that would have worked. Plus, chancing your bags with a connection at Heathrow is ill-advised.
Starbucks, latte, cake. Cancel the transfer to resort. Slight depression. Back in a taxi home. Damn it.
We're on a flight tomorrow morning at 7:45. We should get into resort at around 13:00. Enough time for shred in the afternoon? Probably. We'll try, even if it's just a couple of hours. Even if it's just for those first-day apres beers :)
We're at home now, kinda don't want to do anything, just get to bed, wake up and get back to the airport. Chin up. Day 2 will be better. Snowboarding soon!
Labels: morzine trip 2010
Finally Got Something Sorted
Posted by on Monday, February 01, 2010
Well, we've finally booked something for this season: two weeks in Morzine, starting on Saturday 27th February. That's just under 4 weeks away, exciting!
This trip has a few 1st's:
- It's the first time we've left it this late to book...
- It's the first time we've opted for a catered chalet...
- It's the first time we've organised something with Ciara's brother...
- It's the first time we've booked something overlapping with the French school holidays (I think)...
All in all, it should be really interesting. I'm keen to find out what it's like staying in catered accommodation. I'm also keen to see if it's much busier at the end of February; we normally aim for January or March.
The last couple of weeks have been a little bit of a black hole, with much to organise, and not all of it snowboard-related. I still haven't streamed my footage from last season; I normally make it a rule to do so before any snowboarding the following season. In which case, that gives me less than 4 weeks to stream and edit. Hopefully I'll get it done...
Labels: morzine trip 2010
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