anthony galvin

TAGGED: BOARDING

Trip Archive
2024: ?
2023: Hardangervidda, Norway (March) and Morzine-Avoriaz, France (April)
2022: Hardangervidda, Norway
2021: (covid)
2020: (covid)
2019: n/a
2018: n/a
2017: Morzine-Avoriaz, France
2016: n/a
2015: Morzine-Avoriaz, France
2014: Morzine-Avoriaz, France
2013: n/a
2012: Mount Sunapee, NH, USA and Hardangervidda, Norway
2011: Morzine-Avoriaz, France
2010: n/a
2009: Morzine-Avoriaz, France and Norway
2008: Les Arcs, France and Hardangervidda, Norway
2007: Morzine-Avoriaz, France and Hardangervidda, Norway
2006: Hardangervidda, Norway
2005: Hardangervidda, Norway
2004: Les Deux Alpes, France

Life, COVID and everything else means that it's 6 years since we last went on a family ski trip. Having driven to the Dordogne and back in the summer, we decided on another EV road trip. An early start, a dash for the tunnel and before we know it we're at our overnight stop of Reims

The next day, with late season snow forecast we arrive full of excitement. Over the next few days the girls and their cousins maintain their enthusiasm - fuelled by mountain top crepes and bolognaise! We split our time between Morzine and Avoriaz, and despite the spring conditions there's plenty of runs (and cafes) open.

On our final day skiing there's a sprinkling of fresh snow and blue skies. The slopes are quiet and the kids do laps round a couple of runs - hopping on and off the chair lifts like veterans.

It's a joy to see them catch the skiing bug. I've pretty much failed to pass on any of my sporting passions, despite an almost constant stream of participation and spectating opportunities. Maybe winter sports will be the one that sticks. Six years was way too long, hopefully we'll all be back on the slopes next year.

#snow #france #boarding #family #morzine #skiing #roadtrip

13/03/2023 permalink

Mid-March and there's an unusual amount of un-seasonal snow in Northamptonshire. In the morning I'm battling through a few centimetres of snow on the local roads. But by early evening we are driving north from Oslo in -15°, through small towns that have metres of the stuff! A year on from the last trip we are older, but not wiser as my hangover on Sunday morning proves.

#snow #norway #boarding #friends

13/03/2023 permalink

15 years ago the four of us went boarding together in Norway. There's been other trips, but we never managed to get us all back together on the snow. Until last week.

More grey hair, a little heavier and slower. Four fabulous days away from pandemics, impending war and work. Let's not leave it so long next time!

#snow #norway #boarding #friends

09/03/2022 permalink

10 winters

Back to Morzine. I remember a springtime visit 10 winters ago, when Richard and Fiona had bought the old barn on the edge of Morzine. I slept on a concrete floor and then Richard and I went up to the top of the Avoriaz and talked about the future. Then we boarded down in the spring sunshine and it didn’t seem real.

Fast forward to 2017 and we are back in the Alps. The sun shone again and this time I’m on chair lifts with my Violet and Hazel. Sitting at the top of the resort looking out over the mountains, still thinking about the future. 

#boarding #morzine #holiday #snow #family #spring #alps

2017-04-11 22:15:44 GMT permalink

Back in the mountains. 

Earlier in the week someone asked me if I was enjoying my time in the mountains “in spite of the weather” - as if somehow the wind, rain, snow and (occasional) sunshine were somehow separate entities from the Alps themselves. 

The sun hasn’t shone everyday, and the reality of bringing two small children on a snowboarding trip has meant that there hasn’t been a huge amount of actual boarding.

In the pockets of time in between (ski school, getting children back to sleep, sneaking off to grab a late lift) - it’s easy to see that it’s a great time to be in the Alps. 

The season is turning, little streams opening back up, small birds flitting between the trees on the lower slopes. A feeling that another winter has been marked off and observed. And as a family the trips at this time of year are becoming our own way of marking the end of winter. The point where we start to move our horizon beyond the next few weeks and to start to think about the spring and summer that lie ahead.   

#boarding #family #holiday #morzine #spring #alps

2015-04-03 16:58:30 GMT permalink

Family Ski

Just over a decade ago I went on my first snowboarding trip with a group of friends - a lads week away. I didn’t really know what to expect - I’d never been to the alps (or any other major mountain range outside of the UK). In the back of my mind it was the start of some cool, extreme sports based adventure of jumping off enormous kickers, getting lost in powder fields followed by some serious partying.

Fast forward to the present and I’m sat in a chalet next to a baby monitor whilst the rest of family are off to catch a late lift to ski school. 

Over the years I’ve realised that the thing I love about going boarding isn’t booting it over enormous jumps or dancing on the bar (though those things are pretty good), but just being out in the mountains. Nothing beats a day when the snow is good and the sun is out, cruising along with a view of some far off peak and no agenda except making sure you enjoy yourself. 

Which is why we are here, dashing late to ski school, dragging a pushchair up to nearly 2000m and sledging in the afternoons. Not because skiing is an essential skill for the girls to learn, but because a love of the mountains and having fun is something that’s worth passing on. 

#boarding #family #morzine #skiing #children #holiday #france #alps

2014-03-27 09:30:00 GMT permalink

Springtime @ Hovden, Norway

Boarding at Hovden. It’s probably the mountain I’ve ridden more than any other, from freezing night boarding in -20° temperatures to picking my way along in flat flight and great fresh powder days. But this was the first time I’d here ridden in spring conditions. Too warm for a jacket, great views and a brilliant day out on the mountain. Thanks Luke. 

#photo #boarding #norway #hovden #snow

2012-03-29 20:53:33 GMT permalink

Mount Sunapee, New Hampshire.

2 days (one a bluebird the other with no lift queues) and no bags (thanks to BA). Great fun. If you’re ever in the area I’d more than recommend staying with Karen and Bill at the 1806 Inn

Thanks to @philhawksworth for the photo. 

#boarding #new england #new hampshire #usa

2012-01-23 23:19:04 GMT permalink

Frosty

#photo #boarding #morzine #roof #cold #triangles

2011-04-19 21:46:00 GMT permalink

Not much snow in the Alps. Col de Joux Plane, April 2011.

#photo #boarding #tourclimbs #lift #spring #blackandwhite

2011-04-19 21:45:00 GMT permalink

next >>