Tag: Skeason

I’m wrapping up the skeason (ski season) from my home base in Chamonix, France, and in between shipping out my boards back to the US / shedding many a tear, I decided to collate my notes from the past 2 months into a quick review. Goes without saying these are all my own thoughts and many people I’m sure have differing opinions. That’s completely ok. Like most things in life, there are 2 kinds of people: Those who agree with me, and those who are wrong.

The People

• French people have a terrible rep abroad, mainly due to the Parisians (people from Paris). But I think I’ve figured out why. It’s related to the 4 categories of attractiveness in people: Ugly, Ugly-Hot, Hot-Ugly, and Hot. Ugly is just ugly. Ugly-Hot is someone who is supposed to be conventionally ugly, but somehow hot. Hot-Ugly is someone who is supposed to be conventionally hot, but somehow ugly. And Hot is just hot. So relating this to the personalities of people, I think there are another 4 archetypes: Mean, Mean-Nice, Nice-Mean, and Nice. Mean is just Mean. Mean-Nice is someone who on the exterior is Mean, but in reality, is Nice. Nice-Mean is someone who on the exterior is Nice, but in reality, is Mean. And Nice is Nice. (Ok, fine, there are some slight nuances in my portrayal of the Ugly-Hot Spectrum, but you get the gist) Now, this is where the French come in, and how I might now generalize (which is never fair to individuals) an entire country. I think that France has a hugely disproportionate amount of Mean-Nice people compared to the rest of the countries. Yes, there are Mean French, and yes there are Nice French. But the amount of French that seem mean on the exterior, but are actually nice when you get to know them, is my reason for why the French have a “bad rep.”
• Just saying Bonjour, Salut, Merci, etc. goes a long way in France
• Damn these people really love their baguettes, cheese, and wine
• The French reaaally love their strikes. I feel like they have strikes every 2 weeks. Macron raising the retirement age? Workers not getting paid a fair wage? Any minor inconvenience in French lives? Let’s go on strike, remove train/bus routes, and close down ski mountains, except for one shitty lift.
• I want to start a competition board between France and US, to see how many days it’s possible to go without an incident. For France it can be Strikes, and for the US it can be Mass Shootings. No idea who would win.
• This may come across as harsh – but as you can see from the amount of F-bombs and lack of political correctness, I don’t really care – French kids are annoying. Most kids across the world are at times, but their cuteness usually outweighs it. In my, I’ll admit, “limited” experience, not so for the French. They are complete heathens on public transport, often completely unsupervised and yelling at each other for no particular reason. And I thought Americans were supposed to be the loud ones.

The Accommodation

• Getting a sublet or apartment during ski season is basically impossible unless you book like a year in advance, have accommodation through work, or are related to a prince/business mogul and money just flows from you. Because I wanted flexibility with my time, I ended up booking hostels in advance (with 1 week at a time increments), often with double bookings for multiple places, and always with the free cancellation option. This allowed me the flexibility to cancel one hostel if I liked the other better, cancel both if I wanted to go to Italy for the week, and guaranteed that I’d always have a place to sleep.
• There are 4 main Hostels in Chamonix: Chamonix Lodge, The Vert, Auberge de Jeunesse HI Hostel, and this other Chalet that no one goes to.
• Chamonix Lodge: This was my main home base and favorite. I liked it because it was close to Chamonix Sud bus station and had a nice kitchen. The workers were also super nice and always let me stay in the same bed (without having to check out) if I had overlapping reservations.
• The Vert: Probably the best vibe. They had a bar downstairs and pod-like dorm rooms for additional privacy. Also a minute’s walk from a bus station. Decided I would end up spending too much money if I stayed here (no real kitchen), but I would still often stop by in the evening for pre-drinks.
• Auberge de Jeunesse HI Hostel: The best spot if you are skiing without a pass. The owner has a ridiculously exclusive deal for the Chamonix Valley Mountains, where you can always get a day pass for 26 euros through the hostel. Take into account the price of the dorm room (26 euro/day) and renting of ski gear (15 euro/day), and you can go on a ski trip to one of Europe’s most renowned ski resorts for a very affordable rate. Didn’t help me as much though since I had my own gear and the season pass.

The Town / Transportation

• Ski Towns all have the vibe I like to be around. It’s a universal feeling and does not matter whether you’re in US, Canada, or Europe. Chamonix is no exception: the constant bustle of people buying ski gear, the apres culture, and the mountains surrounding the town create an ambiance that is akin to Christmas and Winter itself.
• Transportation takes a while to get used to. I find being around Chamonix Sud/Centre makes it easier, as every bus line runs through them. The Line numbers can be confusing, as there are multiple Line 1 and Line 2s. When in doubt, look for the final destination name and ask the Bus Driver (But say Bonjour to him first!)
  • Line 14: Brevent
  • Line 1: Flegere
  • Line 2/2B: Le Tour – takes you to Flegere, Grand Montet, and Le Tour
  • Line 1: Les Houches (Need to stand on the other side of the street)

The Food

• Favorite Restaurant: Mumma, an Asian/French fusion that will leave your mouth watering at the thought of it and your wallet empty if you frequent too much
• Favorite Cheap Eat: Poco Loco. Labeled “fast food” that usually takes 45 min wait time. But it’s cheap and their spicy sauce is like cocaine. Plus their bread/buns are made fresh every day.
• Favorite Healthy Restaurant: Arctic Juice & Cafe. Lunches here are great. Fresh smoothies/juices and healthy bowls/sandwiches to cure your hangovers from the previous night’s debauchery.
• Favorite Coffee Shop: Shouka (best coffee, but no wifi) or Cafe du Genepy (cheap coffee and fast wifi)
• Other Good Spots: Cool Cats (signature hot dogs), L’Hydromel, Josephines (get the oysters), Le National, Munchies, and Big Horn Bistro

The Bars / Nightlife

• Best Early Apres Spot: Chambre Neuf. Be prepared for a live band (sometimes karaoke) and standing on tables. Can feel like a sauna inside.
• Best Spot for Pool: Beckett and Wilde. Irish Pub a little out of the way from downtown Chamonix.
• Best Spot for Dancing: La Folie Douce after midnight. The upstairs bar is a classier setting with chandeliers, while the downstairs turns into a club at night. Catch me downstairs towards the end of the night.
• Best Spot for a Date: L’Hydromel. Good, chill bar that also serves great food.
• Latest Spot Open: Amnesia nightclub. Hit or miss. Some people love it, while others would rather gauge their eyeballs out instead of visiting. Considering I was given a bottle of champagne by some random people when I visited, I had a blast.
• Best Social Bar: Bar’d Up. This place is great for meeting/talking to people and is part of the main bar strip. I like to go here first, make friends, and start a pub crawl down the strip. All the bars in this area (Les Caves, Barracuda, etc) are fun and a good time.

The Mountains

• Rankings of the Cham Valley Mountains: 5) Les Houches < 4) Le Tour < 3) Le Brevant < 2) Flegere < 1) Grand Montets
  • Note: Not including Les Planards, Le Savoy, and La Vormaine – bunny hills they are.
  • Les Houches: Perfect spot to work on switch riding. Easy enough mountain with some cute shops around that are actually pretty cheap for baguettes/deserts. A couple really good lips and kicks for working on 1s. Really mellow but long runs that will make your ears pop if you go from top to bottom.
  • Le Tour: fuck you and your T-bars. I want to have kids in the future, but not sure if my balls will still be intact after all your unnecessary tugs while pulling us up with your 1950s model. (I am undefeated and have not fallen once this year, however. Much better than my 50-50 ratio last season) As for the mountain itself, ok terrain, a lot of catwalks, and very windy at the top. The best stuff is on the back side of this lift which I believe is technically a part of Le Balme. If you go for a hike and ski off-piste to the right, you’re in Switzerland, which is cool. There is also a really nice tree/mogul run under the lift. And do not take the bus back, but instead, jump on the train with a coffee / chocolat. Views are even more breathtaking when you have a heated seat.
    • Edit: I have now fallen off the T bar this year, 3 times in a singular day. There goes my perfect record.
    • It’s February and they just created their terrain park. Now that it’s a dry season and hasn’t snowed in forever, I’m spending most of my days here.
  • Brevant / Flegere: I’ll put these on the same pedestal because I often hit them on the same day. Flegere is slightly steeper, but good runs off-piste on both.
  • Grand Montets: My favorite. Steepest terrain, least busy, and has the most untouched snow off-piste. Love this place.
  • Honorable Mention – Courmayeur: Picture this, you’ve gone an entire month without fresh powder (basically February), and then all of sudden, you hear a whisper about a storm coming to Italy, your next-door neighbor. You visit, and the tales from far and wide were true, the storm hit. Naturally, you go back there all week. Just as my opinions on the attractiveness level of females vary from reality under the influence of alcohol, so do my opinions of mountains on powder days. For this reason, I cannot fairly rank Courmayeur, but for the days I was there, it was a 10/10 supermodel.

Random Thoughts

• It’s definitely worth checking out the Aiguille Du Midi (which is a great viewpoint of Mont Blanc and the surrounding valley) and Mer De Glace (which has Ice Caves). You can also glacier ski from Aiguille Du Midi into Mer De Glace by the Vallee Blanche route. Or just take gondolas up to visit both separately.
• Got to demo some boards over the last couple of days – rankings: KORUA OTTO < AMPLID Ticket Twin < CAPITA DOA. Move over Burton, I’m a Capita guy now (although I’m still using your bindings Burton, and bag…and socks)
  • After buying a new board, I’ve decided I’m going to stop making dumb purchases, like spending big money on alcohol and dates. Pow is not forever, but fun at least
• Fuck. It’s killing me not being in the States as they have THE GREATEST YEAR EVER with snow, and Europe is struggling. I need to unsubscribe from all my email accounts like Open Snow, ICON, etc
• Snowboarding is one of those things, like surfing, where you can’t help but enter the state of flow. It’s impossible to think about anything else, you are so focused on catching that next jump, timing the wave, preparing for a drop, looking to connect a turn. It’s fully immersive, and when the moment is right, true bliss. Humans and nature working together as one in perfect symmetry
• There’s times when I feel like I’m making a lot of progress on the mountain, and other times when I feel like I’m walking in a circle
• Lost my hat in some strangers’ hot tub this past Saturday. I guess that’s what I deserve for drunkenly walking into their backyard at 4am because I heard them playing Coldplay. Nice guys, those Brits though. If only I could remember where their chalet was. Must have all been a dream. No, my arm still hurts from the cuts I got slipping on the ice on the way out of the hot tub. It was real.
• Moved Hostels from Chamonix Lodge to Auberge de Jeunesse HI Hostel, and it’s kind of been a culture shock. Everyone in this hostel and bar are all French. I’m used to English just being the default language everyone uses in hostels, but not here.
• A lot of Aussies / Kiwis working as seasonaires in Chamonix. Good lot, and boy do I love their slang
• Do not trust the buses in Chamonix. I’ve traveled all over Europe and Asia, and can confidently say that they are up there in the top charts for being the most unpredictable. Early? Late? Next bus scheduled showing up before the previous bus? All of the above. Once, I showed up at the bus stop and hashed down the bus driver. He stops, but slightly ahead of where the bus normally stops. No worries, I think, I’ll just get into the middle doors. But this driver had a different plan and only opens the front doors. I then walk to the front of the bus, and he closes the doors in my face. I frantically knock on the doors, while he slowly starts driving away, all to the disgust of the people inside the bus, who were like “let him in.” Out of nowhere, this little French man/boy comes into view and says: “English?” “Yes” I say. He says “come follow me” and darts off into the distance. I follow and ask him why the busman did not let me in, to which his response was: “This is France.” We run downhill, through an underground tunnel, and across a small field to just catch the bus rounding the corner for the next stop – this time the driver slowing but never stopping to all our waving and yells. The French man, yells, “damn,” and takes off again into the dark. I decide to try and take a different bus line, which was either incredibly late or on strike. Regardless, I never went to the gym that day.
• Cigarette breaks are treated as sacred and a human right in France. Its also one of the 3 breakfast criteria, what I like to call the 3 Cs – Coffee, Croissant, and Cigarette
• Highlight of the trip: Having a huge US group of 16 peeps fly out to ski for a week. Y’all know who you are. Y’all are dope. And the best skiers on the mountain.

Welp, that’s a wrap for the skeason. Can’t wait for next year. Maybe Japan?