Courchevel, Day Five: The Bug Bites, Badly

My new "sod technique" attitude is allowing me to enjoy skiing a whole lot more. The feedback from instructor, that I didn't have a correct posture, was now taken as something to constantly improve on while I skied rather than before I did.

This new confidence, knowing I could control my movement even though it was done in an incorrect way, allowed me to work on my technique, since I could easily fall back to my previous style when I needed to. I decided to apply The Ten Percent Rule and focus on what I had rather than perfection.

The afternoon was the best yet. Grabbing a friend who had a similar level of skill but a more inspiring "just do it" attitude we managed to cover four Verdons and two Bellecotes, almost all without falling. The bug had bitten us as we both kept racing to the cable cars for one more go.

The sense of freedom, control and liberation was immense. Being able to ski instinctively and naturally, plotting your own course and being able to look around and check in the surroundings while having a conversation with a co-skier at 20mph is an amazing feeling to have, almost romantic but totally exhilarating.

Things didn't just fall in place on the slopes. Chalet life was also coming into its own with simple things like staying in for two hour long games of Charades providing tear-inducing laughter (it's amazing how smutty the quiet ones are!). Perhaps it was the intensity and excitement of the slopes which had caused it but everything seemed so magnified, so much more.

This really was turning out to be a most wonderful and awesome holiday.