Morzine Madness....Part 2....Brain Freeze!

I call it Brain Freeze, but whatever you decide to call it, it is an integrity threatening phenomenon only found in the snow. Where all perspective and concept of the real world goes sliding down the mountain to altitudes which accommodate normal daily happenings. The bubble for us saisonaires which we all live in within a ski resort seems to create an environment where all concept of reality becomes distorted, where the only topics of conversation seem to be about the fresh powder lines found at the back of the mountain earlier that day, the snow fall predictions, and the next skiing destination along with the weekly gossip from our latest nights out.

And then February seems to hit us like a tonne of bricks and the mid-season blues seem to set in. I don’t know what it is about February during a ski season but it seems to dampen everyone’s personality for some reason. The increase in workload after the lull of January and the frustratingly annoying occurrence of having to share our once quite slopes with enormous amounts of half term guests and tourists seems to make all saisonaires reach breaking point. And with little perspective being able to be gained within the ski resort bubble the life of a saisonaire seems quite bleak at times. Maybe it’s the realisation that we have reached the halfway point of the season and the thought of returning to the real world jolts us into an unconscious little melt down! Bring on March I say!!

Morzine Madness...Part 1

Well I guess it’s definitely about time for a wee little update of the Kimba Chronicles. This week marks the half way point of my ski season in Morzine and I am going to have to admit that I am happy to be on the downward slope to the finish line.

The season thus far has definitely lived up to the changes I am used to dealing with within resort. Staff changes have continued to find me yet again. Come this Saturday, I will be saying goodbye to my second chalet host of the season and welcoming my third into the Chalet. Sophie, my original chalet host left us at the start of the New Year and after a rocky first half of the season I am hoping and praying the second half brings with it some much needed consistency along with some good spring skiing.

This season has had a completely different feel to my last season in Vaujany. Morzine is a vastly different experience to my beloved small French Village of Vaujany. Morzine has a real mix of individuals and an incredible amount of people in it!! It is impossible to compare my two seasons to each other, so I just won’t.

I am glad to report that I love my job and the company I am working for. I would not hesitate to recommend working for Darren and Sam at ‘The Great Escape’ to anyone who wants to do a ski season. I feel I have made lifelong friends through them and they have treated each and every one of their staff members with the upmost respect and consistently showed a high level of generosity and trust which can sometimes be hard to find in the Alps. So yet again I feel ever so grateful and lucky to have found amazing people to work for.

Life for me within the Chalet I have to say is going great guns! Managing such a large chalet within its first year of operation has proved to be tough at times but having reached the half way point now, I can genuinely say I am proud of the way I am managing the chalet and how our guests have been looked after. I have definitely developed some useful management skills which I know will be useful with future plans and proven to myself that I am capable of taking on almost anything!

And with my head in less of a party mode this season I have been able to keep the kitchen and chalet as my primary focus. My choice to do another ski came about due to wanting to allow myself to spend another 5 months of improving my cooking skills in an intensive environment which would enable me to take full responsibility of a kitchen, menus and budget. And half way through I can definitely say I have achieved what I came her e to do as I feel like I have progressed in the kitchen and felt the true skills of a Chef flowing through my veins.

The silver spoon won!!
And if any of you are wondering which piece of ski equipment I decided to pick up this season, I am happy and very proud to announce I am still on my beloved skis. It only took me a few weeks back on my skis to realise I am definitely a skier and that I should leave boarding to the cooler and more colourful people on the slopes. In my opinion skiing has become the new boarding and I AM a skier!

I have also been lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to explore other activities on skis and have been doing loads of trekking or randonee skiing (alpine touring) which has been an exciting change to the downhill skiing I am used to. Instead of speeding down pistes I am now finding myself turning my skis up the mountain and skiing/walking up the mountains and taking in the scenery rather than having it racing past me. It has been a lovely way to experience the Alps and the wonders of winter as well as keeping extremely fit.

Australia day within the Alps yet again proved to be another bumper day. I spent the day with the British Army trekking to the top of a summit and then spent the night dancing and partying in a very French bar to Irish music with English Army Lads!! Very random but great fun. For 20 days of January I had a Major of the British Army and 60 of his Royal Engineers Regiment staying within our 2 catered chalets. So I was literally “feeding an Army!!” in January and boy could they eat!!

For the second half of the season I am looking forward to catching up with some great Australian friends again who will be here in Morzine to visit me and learn how to ski! Yikes! And then in March I am very excited to have Verity, Simon and the 3 boys coming to visit me. I cannot wait to have my beautiful Tuscan family around me again. I have missed all their friendships and time spent with the boys. It will be a great week in which we all get to reconnect in the snow!!!

Lastly I want to apologise to all of my dear friends and loved ones whom I have been neglecting over the last few months. I haven’t forgotten you, as I think of you all constantly. Life here in resort is just so so busy and I am constantly on the go that it is a rare occurrence I get the chance to spend any time replying to emails or skyping, so please forgive me and when I finally get to burst this bubble that I am living in at the end of April I promise to try and reconnect with all of you again.