Travel blog: This is the end

Saying farewell to a season at Les Arcs

Saturday, 24, Apr 2010 01:34

This winter we're following the adventures of Michael Standen, who at the age of 32 has decided to leave his public relations career and life in London behind for a winter in the mountains in France. He'll be sharing his experiences with the readers of Travelbite.co.uk and here is his 14th and final blog entry:

So that's it, the end of season has appeared, we have sent all the guests home and now we just sit here and wait for our transfer home. with nothing to do but drink.? The snow is disappearing and the conditions on the mountain haven't been that ideal for a while. Plus, having a cracked coccyx doesn't fill me with a huge amount of enthusiasm for riding.

The last transfer day was interesting, apparently there was some volcano exploding, which meant that no planes could fly. Ok everyone, your bus will be with you shortly.

Regardless of the terrible transfer days that we've had to endure, the whole management team leaving in the same week, the exceptional amount of drinking that goes on, and the occasional snowboarding, I started this season wanting it to change my life. And it has.

First of all, I know that I can never go back to the office life I lived before. It wasn't fun and I wasn't very good at it. Also, I was lucky enough to meet someone I will probably spend the rest of my life with, and she's is none to keen on coming back to the 'other life' that she had before the season either.

My snowboarding, another main reason for coming here, has improved massively. I have landed 360 jumps, am faster than my friends, and really enjoy it. However, it's funny how quickly the riding became incidental. Too much snow? Staying in. Too cold? I'll sleep this one out. Hungover? Yeah I'll just go to the pub. And apart from the dedicated park rats, most of the other seasonaires are exactly the same.

The group of people I've spent my season with have made my season. All of our Tour Op and Chalet team (Rob, Sam, Luke, Jack, Barry, Toni, Tony, Emily, Phil, Scott, Col, Bella, Mackem, Rob, Ben, Pete, Jenny White and hummn, who else, oh yeah, Lauren) and all the other guys, (Brixton, Direct, Ringhams, Pierre, Funi, Yeti boys) have been awesome and will be keeping in touch with them all.

Well, that's it. I doubt I shall work for this particular tour op again, it may be the biggest but it's certainly not the best. But I can never say never, as I will definitely be doing a season again next winter. Just have to find something to do for the summer. hummn, any ideas? So, it's bonjour for now.

Michael Standen