April Cancelled Due To Injury

Edit: There are more - and more interesting - photos from the trip here.



Normally at the start of April I'd be posting hundreds of images of happy, sunburned skiers sweating in their winter clothes under a brutal Alpine sun. And that's exactly what we were doing last week in Meribel. We had a massive dump of fresh powder - in April! - and we were loving it, whooping down the un-skied areas down the sides of the pistes and generally getting it. Then I took a nasty tumble just off the edge of the Jean Pachot red run, pulling my right calf muscle and twisting my left knee. I bravely skied to the nearest mountain restaurant, where a demi of the local muscle relaxant seemed to work its magic, but it was clear I'd have to head home. By the time I got back to the chalet I could hardly walk, so the next (and last) day was going to be a write-off. First whole day I've missed my whole ski career I think.

Friday, of course, is the day we all have lunch together, I bring the cameras out, and we all goof about a bit and I get some nice pictures. That's wasn't going to happen, so Tim and I took up position in a nice bar overlooking the ronde-point - more muscle relaxant - and waited for everyone to come back for lunch. A nice boozy lunch, as it turns out, and nice enough to persuade a few others not to head back out into the deepening afternoon slush. So we ended the day - and the trip - on a bit of a pub crawl, toasting each other, injuries, the sunshine and the snow. Not so much of a write-off after all.

Poolside Malarkey

More video from Val Thorens, this time in the apres-ski pool.

Val Thorens

A wee bit of footage from our ski trip earlier this year.

Easter Skiing

Back to Val Thorens with the Dawsons, the Humphreys and John Lodge.





The full set (including non-Millars) is here.

Tignes Spirit Redux

The Millars, the Dawsons, the Humphreys and the Blackburns were reunited - with a guest appearance by a solitary Lodge - in Tignes for Easter skiing. Weather was a bit more mixed, but all the kids are growing in confidence and increasingly mobile on the mountain. More please!

Last Day Black Run

A wee video - shot by Louis with my NoPro on his helmet - of him, Holly, Marianne and Ciara following me and Pete down Trolles - a black run heading back into the village of Tignes - on the last day of our ski trip.

Val Deezer

Welcome back! Here's a bunch of snaps from Val d'Isere, where we were skiing in the first week of April. A different crowd this time, the core Millars, Dawsons and Humphreys were all present and correct and we missed Pat, John, Dave and Paula, but welcomed the Blackburns for the first time. Eighteen of us in all, with the kids outnumbering the adults!

After a wee drop of snow on arrival, we had blue skies and sunshine the rest of the week, the kids all did great in ski school, we skied them to exhaustion in the afternoons, and no-one got hurt. A big success, all in all.

When's it time for the next one?

Avant Ski

With only a few short week to go until the 3rd annual Millar ski trip, Holly and Louis had a wee private lesson at Hillend, courtesy of Grandma Pat. It was a revelation, they probably got as much attention and feedback in one hour as they did in the whole of last year's French trip.

Louis announced that he'd enjoyed it more than skiing in the alps, when quizzed further he revealed that this was because there were "no French people here." Which seems a little harsh.

Smells Like Tignes Spirit

"Fromage!"

It seems ages ago now, but last week we were with the Lodges, the Dawsons, the McKees and - fresh meat! - the Humphreys in Tignes for a spot of skiing.

The sun shone most of the time, the kids bonded with the others and skied much more in the afternoons than last year, we had a lovely team looking after us in Hotel Le Dôme, and we were all well and truly knackered by the end.

Pete Dawson has also uploaded some excellent videos on Vimeo.

Up An Alp

DSC_9159, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

After an absence of 10 - yes, 10 - years, Helen and I went skiing last week. And we were even kind enough to take the kiddies along! Val Thorens was our destination, the highest resort in the Alps and part of "le plus grand domaine skiable du monde". Despite the photo, the weather was not always kind, but we had plenty of lovely fresh white squeaky snow. It was fabulous. Most importantly of all, Holly and Louis - subject to a couple of minor hiccups - took to it like ducks to water and were scooting up chairlifts and down blues and greens by the end the week. Our travelling companions were the Dawsons, family skiers of one year's previous experience, and Pat and John. There can't be that many children who ski with their grandparents! The kids had ski school every morning (a useful opportunity for us grownups to get in a few fast reds and a visit to La Folie Douce) and we skied en famille in the afternoons, depending on energy levels. We were all well and truly worn out by the end of the week, but unanimous in our desire to do it all again next year. Woo hoo!

Dual Slalom

DSC_8924, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

After the success of Holly's lesson at Hillend, Helen had set up some private lessons for both of the kiddies at Polmont Hill Ski Centre, an odd little slope in West Lothian with delightful views over the refinery at Grangemouth. Skiing doesn't get any more exotic than this, I tell you! Anyhoo Louis had his first ever go and - inspired no doubt by his older sister - seemed to pick it up with no trouble at all. Holly, meantime, is progressing with her snowplough and even jumping. A little. Next lesson, they're going to have a go at the tow, which will free them from all that sidestepping.

White Stuff

DSC_8733, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

The transport shenanigans that follow a bit of snow falling "across the country" have been dominating the news of late, and yesterday we got a wee dusting in Edinburgh. As always, it didn't amount to much, and didn't last for long, but we did manage a short visit to the almost-bare sledging pistes of Val D'rylaw. More importantly, this morning Holly had her first ski lesson at Hillend, where the snow had lain a litle longer and added a spot of alpine ambience to the proceedings. Louis, alas, was unable to ski. The classes for 4-5 year olds are booked up, and they won't let us ski with him as he's a beginner. It's Council health and safety gone mad, I tell you! Still, he was quite happy running and rolling downhill on the golf course next door. Holly, meanwhile, took to skiing quite nicely, and in a couple of hours was sidestepping, schussing (including touching heads, shoulders, knees and toes) and snowploughing down the nursery slopes. Best of all, she enjoyed it! This bodes well for Val Thorens in March, just need to find a way to get Louis on the planks now...