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Verbier – No rest for the wicked......or Peak Leaders Trainees
19/01/2010

Before you come on a Peak Leaders course you have to get over the idea that you're going on a glorified holiday........if you come with that attitude you'll feel like you're being worked to the bone. Unsurprisingly some of the trainees thought that they'd be given the chance to catch their breath after a busy festive period, but Roddy and his colleagues had a very different idea.

Move over Sammy Carlson because Sammy Antwiss is in da house!

Training has not only been stepped up in the past few weeks to a six day training week, but the trainees have also had their off-piste awareness/avalanche training and freestyle training. This means that not only are they rocking super stylish 360's in the park but they've all got a much stronger idea of how to read snow conditions, how to ski off-piste properly and what to do if an avalanche happens. Some of the groups were even lucky enough to be taken by their guide to some of Verbier's most exciting couloirs deep in the Verbier backcountry. On returning to the chalet I was very envious to hear numerous stories of fresh powder, epic climbs and heart-stopping traverses.. Needless to say; stories of Charlies cowardly yelps when climbing down the infamous 'Stairway to Heaven' definitely made me smile.

Don't look down!

Other than lots and lots of skiing the trainees have also begun completing their ILM assessments. Freestyle coaching sessions, sledge races and Swedish lessons are some of the various events to have taken-place........and we're all looking forward to Anna's Synchro competition on Friday. In other news the three trainees that narrowly missed-out on their BASI level 1 earlier in the season all passed their resit with flying colours, so congratulations to them.

George (aka Westbeach) looking pretty Gangsta

Finally, some of trainees with too much spare time on their hands have built a quarterpipe at the back of the chalet which must have taken some serious time to build and sculpt; both Ash and Andy have been sessioning it in the evenings in-between re-runs of Andy's ski movie 'Refresh' which I'm seriously considering hiding for the remainder of the season!

Only a few days until BASI level 2 begins........I'll keep you all posted on how it's going.......I promise!

Tom

Verbier – Snow, Shadowing and Secret Santa
04/01/2010

 Since the trainees completed their BASI level 1 a few weeks ago there’s been no hold-up in the training regime…..even Christmas day saw a number of trainees shadowing lessons on the mountain! So, what have the trainees been up to over the past few weeks?

The minute that the level 1 exams had finished, with 94% of the trainees passing, another aspect of their training began……First Aid. A 9am start on Sautrday morning didn’t win me any friends but once the team begun the training with Richie and Flora they seemed to enjoy and excel at what they were doing. I don’t think Richie and Flora had ever met two people quite like Ella and Alex, the self-proclaimed (Jedward) twins. I think at times Flora struggled to get a word in edgeways.

Anyway, with the First Aid training finished the guys and girls resumed training with their ES instructors. Training moved away from being focused heavily on the central theme, the key focus of BASI level 1, to involving more of the five strands and higher-end skiing and snowboarding. Week four was much the same but for some of the trainees there was an opportunity to fit-in some shadowing. Shadowing is a mandatory requirement from BASI and involves following an instructor and their clients around the mountain so that trainees can pick-up different teaching methods and gain more confidence. Special mention must go to Alice Banks (Banksy) who was highly commended by her instructor and 5 year old clients, the ES Penguins. In another group one half of the Jedward, Alex, saw the financial rewards of being an instructor with a 50chf tip from the father of a little terror that she’d made allies with.

Although the majority of trainees followed ES instructors some of the trainees shadowed and helped-out instructors from Les Elfes Activity camp. As the majority of children were in their teens this proved a quick learning experience for the guys, needless to say their experiences didn’t discourage them too much!

On Friday we celebrated Christmas!!!! Together with my lovely assistant Spike I cooked up a Christmas dinner for the 24 trainees that had stayed in resort. Despite having problems fitting 23kg of Turkey into the oven and having never cooked for so many people it all went surprisingly well and the food tasted like it was supposed to…….with the exception of the stuffing. I believe two of the girls even commented that it was the best Turkey they’d ever eaten…….but I won’t reveal their names incase Mum gets too offended and decides not to cook Christmas lunch for them next year.

Dara doing the honours.

Boxing day was a rather more chilled-out affair, for me at least. A few of the trainees shadowed and a few of the trainees took advantage of the good light and dusting of snow, but I think it’s fair to say that the majority spent the day nursing a hangover.

The week that followed Christmas was spent shadowing. A few lucky trainees, namely Callum and Andy M even had the chance to shadow some freestyle, freeski coaching. Well-known British Freestlyer Andy Bennett even made an appearance which was great for Andy M, a member of the GB development squad for Freestyle. Andy M, spurred on by Andy B, was seen spinning 720’s off the kickers and getting all sorts of technical rail tricks on the boxes. For the other trainees the shadowing might not have been quite as exhilarating but they all learnt some valuable lessons and picked-up a few ‘tricks of the trade’.

Oli getting inverted.......and staying inverted!

The end of the week climaxed with New Years Eve 2010. After a hearty meal of Chille Con Carne those that could walk out of the front door headed down to Place Central where thousands of people gathered with Champagne and Fireworks……possibly not the safest combination. If you’ve never been to Verbier on NYE you won’t understand how busy the place gets; picture thousands of inebriated Brits, Dutch and Swiss dancing to cheesy music, climbing lamp posts, dancing on balconies,  launching snowballs and fireworks at anything that moves. For this one night Verbier is more like London during the Blitz than a classy Swiss Ski resort. Anyway, after the countdown all the trainees went their separate ways; some of the ‘high-rollers’ made their way to the Farm Club where they rather regretted paying the extortionate entrance fee and drinks prices to hang with Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice. The rest of us slummed-it in the Casbar and Wonderbar….where we didn’t have to take-out a bank loan to have a good time or worry about spilling drinks over members of the Royal Family……. Did we Charlie! Surprisingly a fair few of the keener trainees turned-up to shadowing on New Years Day; I’d like to say they’d been to bed and were well-rested but the reality was that they’d probably worn their ski clothing out that night and made a quick detour via the ski lockers after leaving a nightclub at 8.45am.

Place Central at Midnight.

The rest of the weekend was far more laid-back; Saturday night involved finally getting the opportunity to open our Secret Santa presents! Presents ranged from Alcohol to cuddly toys to handcuffs and everything in-between. There were a few teary eyes in the crowd including George Magill who wasn’t overjoyed by the Barbie Doll he unwrapped and Andy Moss who couldn’t even crack a smile for the Swiss Flag come tea-towel he begrudgingly turned into a bandana. On Sunday full training resumed as the festive period was well and truly over……if only the Apres Ski Bar wasn’t so much fun!!