Tignes Apres Ski Report: 20th March 2013

On Thursday the cloud surrounded us and gave us 36 hours of heavy snow, very cold temps and in result, a lot of "The Wire" watching on the laptop. When it cleared on Friday, the Kiwis thought we would get first lift and go pow chasing. For the effort of leaving the house before 9am we were disappointed. The high, arctic winds that came with the bluebird day meant most the snow didn't settle on our favourite runs and resulted in another day of thrashing the park.

After our day on the slopes, we got amongst some après wets back at the flat before strolling the 30 or so metres to the front of SoBar And TC's. Here they were holding a spring comp in the snow out the front of their premisses. There were a few handy riders showing off their new tricks learnt throughout the season, as well as a few just wanting to give it a go. They were competing for a bar tab, but most were there to soak up the sun and have a laugh. My personal highlight being Dave doing a front flip on the skis to landing in an unfrozen dog poo. It was a great afternoon filled with some talented tricks and a lot of banter and drinking.

On Sunday night we celebrated one of the most enjoyable days of the year. St Patrick's Day. The day of the Irish started off with a baked potato and a Guinness at midday and grew and grew from there. We had our Naki mutts arrive from London including my gorgeous girlfriend which added a lot to the day. After a massive day of games, dancing and clubbing seals we decided to head along to the Alpaka Lodge to get amongst their party and watch a well known local band, The Cheerleaders. The bar was absolutely packed and filled with a lot of seasonaires and green. The band blew the house down with amazing covers of singalongs. They were doing great drink deals with my go-to being two house wines for €6. By the end of the night we were all well gone and thought why not head along to Jacks Bar to finish the night of with some bumping and grinding. St Pattys day did not disappoint again and the Irish are still up there with the top nationalities around. Long live the Leprechaun.

The tents are now up, the lights are on and the pro riders are out in force for what is going to be an amazing week of snow sports. The X-Games start today and we are lucky enough to have some of the worlds top skiers and snowboarders here to strut their stuff. Unfortunately we don't have any big music acts this year in Tignes, but bars all over the resort are throwing events to cash in on the expected 100,000 spectators. The 40cm dump that happened on Monday night has come at the right time with the amount of traffic on the slopes. This next week is shaping up to be something special, and I will be out there full froth to capture it for you.

Enjoy...