So today I finally submitted my dissertation. I have an oral exam on Friday and the first of my finals next Wednesday. Both urgently need to be prepared for, but I’ve been absolutely buzzing since this mornings submission, so much so that I haven’t been able to concentrate at all. I figured instead of staring at a blank page for another hour, (whilst I’m waiting for the union bar’s happy hour to start), I’d jump on here and finally tell you all about my first ever ski trip back in March.

After a G O D A W F U L 20something hour journey on a bus, we finally arrived in Val Thorens, France. Forming part of the 3 valleys, Val Thorens is the highest ski resort in Europe close to the border with Italy. We arrived with the sun shining and temperatures, surprisingly, warm for a ski trip. We collected our boots and skis and eventually made it to our room whilst the sun set behind the mountains.

The rest of the days all really blur into one mass of skiing, eating, more skiing, napping and going out.

Each morning, I started at 9am with a 2 hour ski lesson. Before this trip, I’d never skied in my life: I didn’t even know how to put skis on, so I thought it best to get lessons. Everyone in my group was a total beginner and our instructor, Vincent, was an absolute babe. (And, low key, a bit of a silver fox). The first day was spent snow ploughing my way down the baby slopes, falling over again and again… and again, but also getting to know new people and hanging out with friends. I remember sitting in a t-shirt, in the sun, whilst being surrounded by snow and realising, ‘damn, I am really living my best ski life’.

The following days were much the same, except I learnt how to ski properly and I graduated from baby slopes, to green slopes to even the blues. (Which I fell on multiple times but I still count as a win). The weather decided to treat us to some freezing cold temperatures and there was even a worry that there would be a white-out. (Where it snows so much that it’s impossible to ski due to the visibility… I had no idea what everyone was talking about at first. RoOkiE).

On the second day I made it to my first après. Après is basically a massive piss up which everyone goes to after a day of skiing. With, literally, everyone there it is mad rammo so buying a drink, going to the loo or even just dancing in the crowd is fairly arduous: but fun! The first après I got to was 360. There was a live bad, singing covers of songs which was fun to sing along (horrendously) to and have a little wiggle. The second après I made it to, (once I was comfortable with a blue slope), was Folie. This was my highlight of the whole trip. In terms of going out/nightlife, if you’re not into techno/dutty drum and bass, you might want to skip the process of getting ready. One night, I got ready and preed only to walk straight back out of the club after having just walked in. Not my scene, not my music: VT where’s the hiphop & rnb at?!

Eventually, it was time to pack up and get back onto the bus for the dreaded journey. Another 20something hours later, we were finally back in Leeds and absolutely deadout from such an active but incredibly fun week. I can’t believe it’s taken this long for me to go skiing – I absolutely loved it! I was apprehensive at first as I’m SO accident prone and have heard some horror stories, but I loved every minute of skiing and really hope to do it again soon.

I can’t really make many recommendations about Val Thorens as a resort itself as I have nothing to compare it to. We were obviously staying in cheap uni accommodation and our room (in Temples du Soleil), was small but functional and clean. Another bonus was that it was right on the slopes – you could walk right out, directly onto the slope from where you store your skis. There’s a good few restaurants on the resort and a little supermarché if you need any bits. The bars and clubs are all fairly near to one another, so if you fancied bar hopping then it wouldn’t be a problem – just be careful on the walk back you don’t stack it on the snow.