The boy made of glass

In the last post Sune proclaims that we could have foreseen that I would get injured during our little trip. For those of you that are not familiar with my snowboarding history I’ll get you a little bit up to speed.
I poses a bad combination of stupid fearlessness and bones made of glass and since injuries in another country awards you with x-rays in hard copy I’m gathering quite a collection of them. This is the latest addition to my trophy cabinet of crushed hopes and time sitting on the bench.



My hopes of becoming a better rider breaks simultaneous with my bones and with all these setbacks I never seem to get up to my previous level. I used to be good and now I’m only chasing my past level of performance. And maybe that is what breaks me – again and again. I’m SO eager but also conscious of what I used to be able to do, that I push myself too hard too early. But I only just realised this... So this post is also a reminder to myself to take it easy.
My collection of internal body pictures includes:
Fractured cheekbone, punctured knee, left elbow busted apart, now right elbow fractured and a broken and dislocated wrist. This is from snowboarding and other winter activities at resorts around Europe and doesn’t include stupidity and bad luck that has occurred in Denmark.
But despite this setback I’m staying down here in Le France and cashing in on the charm and beauty of this place and potentially taking scenery trips to the mountaintops and catching some sunshine.
I also have great belief in my own healing capabilities and if everything goes right I’ll be back on the board – if only as camera man – before this month is over. Usually I heal pretty quickly and am left with minimum after effects. So cross your fingers and send me a healing thought. It might just be what I need.

Jump – slide – crash – break

Monday after lunch we decided to pay the park a visit to work on our rail skills. Or rather for Thorlak to work on his rail skills and for me to attain some, as I am basically all new to rails. There are some nice low and wide boxes up there for me to practice on, so I can honestly say that I have slided my first box rail now, though the stylistic impression still leaves room for improvement :-)

Thorlak who’s got a good deal of experience with rails, quickly moved on to the kink box rail, and after some practice runs actually nailed the rail in good style (See the video down below). So after taking a few more runs we decided to leave the park and hit the half-pipe for a few runs. And then it happens: Thorlak’s front edge catches the rail and he takes a nose-dive straight into the piste. Luckily he’d cleared a good part of the rail, so he didn’t hit that, and luckily he wore a helmet (we always do), so his head is still in one piece.



After this incident we decided to head down the mountain instead (it was 15.30 o’clock anyway), and when we got down Thorlak complained more about his right arm than about his head which had been his primary concern up there. Off to the doctor he goes and 2 hours later he’s back with his arm in a sling. Well we could have foreseen that Thorlak would get injured during our little trip, but the second day down here seems a bit too fast :-(


The positive side of the story (if there is one) though, is that it’s only a small fracture in one of his elbow bones, and that since it’s so uncomplicated, he doesn’t have to wear a cast, only a splint.
Whether he’ll stay down here or head home to Denmark is not yet decided, though evidently his insurance won’t pay to send him home, as there as such is no medical reason to do that.

This was of course not exactly planned, but I’ve decided to stay down here under all circumstances, if not anything else it’s a brilliant opportunity to get to know some new people. What I hope for of course though, is that Thorlak will heal up fast and be back on the mountain in about a week’s time :-)

Does the distinctive smell of puke pervade your appartment? Look behind the fridge!

Or rather beneath it. As soon as we opened the door to our appartment, we were met by a distinctive and pungent smell of puke. We rather quickly pinpointed the source to be somewhere in the kitchen, and after having our noses all the way down in the trash bin, we discovered the source of the niff to be somewhere beneath the kitchen table, where the fridge and the dishwasher (that’s right we have a dishwasher ) are located. So I pulled them out and tediously vacuumed and washed the floor. Problem solved we thought, and happily left our apartment to do some shopping and stuff.

Once again we returned to the pungent smell – this time mixed with the smell of old overheated coffee, as we had forgotten to turn the coffee maker off. Only one thing to do then, get down on all fours and do some tracker dog work. This time I centered my attention towards the fridge, and discovered that the tray intended to collect surplus coolant water was swimming with what is best described as a wommit-like substance - definitely the source of the stench. So after giving the tray an outing to the bathtub our apartment has become a whole lot more pleasant place to stay.

Packing the bag

There are many options of what gear to bring to the mountains - it all comes down to what you are going to do that particular day. Some are mandatory in specific situations and some are just extras that might come in handy. And then you have gear that you hope never to use.

Let me paint you a picture.
This is what I brought to the hill today besides clothes in multiple layers:
Helmet
Back protection
Hand protection
Gloves
Goggles
Walkie Talkie
Snowboard lock
Mobile
Compact camera
iPod
Wallet

This setup was just for scouting and loosing up.

Tomorrow I’ll properly bring the same with the addition of:
Video camera
Tripod x 2
Sunglases
Suncream
Chap stick


Then I can capture Sune doing some shredding - or trying anyway

Then when the snow falls and we are going offpiste I’ll bring the following which we never hope to use:
A showel
A beeper
A probe
Aluminium blancket
Gaze
Well that’s it really – nothing else to carry...

Some days you want to keep it to a minimum. Other days you want to maximise your options on the mountain without potentially having to go back for the gear you are missing. If you e.g. see a really good video oppertunity or just want to hang around the snow park.

Internet

We have solved our "lack of internet"-problem. We managed to find an Orange hotspot. But we can only access it from our balcony, so we will only be online for mail and updates.

The Journey

Though everything went as planned, it has been an enduring journey, dragging around with all our luggage, trying to fit it in the different trains etc. In kolding we ended up sharing our compartment with two swiss guys, a younger and an older one, who had been visiting some relatives in Sweden for the holydays. Luckily we had a 6 person compartment for the four of us, because or luggage ended up using most of the storing space and one of the beds as well. However, when we got organized in there it was quite comfy, and we were able to relax listening to music and reading, and even though Thorlak complained the bed was too short, I found it to support quite a good nights sleep, though of course I woke up lots of times from all the noises and jolts, but definitely better than would have been the case in a bus.
After almost getting off a stop too soon, we got off at Basel SBB, where we had about 35 minutes before the train for Geneva was to leave, so we took the opportunity to get us selves a welcome piece of bread, and a cup of coffee for my part as well. Brilliant!
On the train for Geneva we met a bunch of true danish rednecks, also on their way to the alps, so on behalf of the entire danish people (except the eight of them), we would like to apologize to the rest of the passengers, for their behaviour. After pulling, dragging and organizing our luggage once again were in Geneva, ready for the next leg of our journey, after a pizza and passing through French customs, which luckily wasn't manned, as I have managed to bring my old and outdated passport, instead of the current one. Bravo Sune!!!!
Anyway we got on the train to Grenoble, which was rather pleasureable, as we no longer were in company with the aforementioned jerks. In Grenoble we found a transferbus going all the way to the resort, so we along with about 90 other people all at the same time almost fought to stuff in our luggage in the luggage compartment. Thorlak in all his french experience had foreseen this, and rushed to throw his bag inside. I however only just made it after some girls more or less was thrown off the bus, and took their luggage out. Well what can I say.. HaaHaaaaaaa!
A one hour and 10 minutes drive later we were finaly standing at Les Deux Alpes, and I went out to get the keys for our appartment, which didn't give us any problems, except for the fact that it was located in the other end of the town and with a good climb uphill necessary to reach it. So a final effort had to be made before we finally checked in at 20.30. 26 hours after started our Journey in Århus.

First post!

About two and a half week ago, a sunday, when we were hung over from the night before, we decided that the best treatment would be to chill out on the couch, watching some ski and snowboardmovies. This however only served to make february the 23rd, where we originally were suppose to go, seem ages away. So jokingly we figured that we might just as well go for the whole of january. And as we all know all great decisions in history were made with hang overs, so tomorrow at 6.30 p.m. we'll start the first leg of our journey to the alps by taking the train to Kolding where the longer part of our journey starts.
From Kolding to Basel we have seats (or rather beds) in the sleeping car, meaning we'll be sleeping like babies all the way through Germany :-) Next stop is Geneva, and finally Grenoble, where we'll catch the bus to Mont des Lans which is just beneath the resort.

We hope to find some way to get internet access when we get there, so we can keep you posted.