I become a snowboarder!

Saturday 9th February

Our flight had a 6.35am departure time, which meant getting to Stansted for 4.30am, which in turn meant getting a taxi for 3.30am - and that meant getting up at 3am - ergh!  We managed it though, and the taxi turned up on time which was a bonus!  We got halfway down the road when Martin said he couldn't remember locking his car after he had got a few things out, so we turned round at the roundabout then headed back.  Martin had of course locked it, so off we went again, just for me to realise that I had forgotten my driving license photo card - needed as a deposit for the snowboard and boots I was hiring out.  Back round we turned around again and then finally we were off again.

We made good time to the airport and for once didn't even have a long wait to check-in.  Martin's parents, John and Jevina turned up just after we did and we checked in, went through passport control and then brought some breakfast before heading over to the gate.

Our flight took off more or less on time and in no time at all we were landing in Bratislava.  Luck was definitely on our side as our bags came out pretty quickly  but then just to even things up it took ages to get our hire car.  We had reserved a 7 seater with a roof rack but they didn't have any left so we were upgraded to a 9 seater!  As you can imagine, Martin loved driving the van to his house!

It felt strange, only being on the road for a few hours and already being close to Martin's house!  We're used to being on the road for a few days before getting to the house!

Tbor was already at the house, stoking up the fire when we got there so it was lovely and warm, it was great!  Last year when we came it took a day or so for the house to really warm up so it was lovely to have the house warm already.

Once we were all unpacked we all headed over to Jasanska Dolina so I could hire my board and boots for the week.  Martin had already ordered it all online so it was there waiting for me to collect.

We then headed off to do the compulsory Tesco shop, stopped off in Baumax to get some electric heaters and then had dinner at Dedinka, where Martin and I went for dinner last Valentine's Day.  The service was very slow though and bearing in mind we had been up since 3am we just wanted to get home, unpack the shopping then go to bed, in preparation for our early start tomorrow.

Sunday 10th February

We had decided to get a 6 day ski pass from Jasna, where we went last year, as we would have a choice of 3 areas there, plus with it being so high there would be more chance of the conditions being better.  However we all struggled to get up and with a one and a quarter hour drive there, plus having to catch the bus from the car park to Zahradky at Jasna, and then having to buy our ski passes and book my lesson for tomorrow, we weren't queuing up for the chair lift until 11.30am!  The queue was huge and we definitely joined in from the wrong side!  By about midday we were at the top of the blue route - and 2 hours later we made it to the bottom!

Last year on my skis for the first time it took over an hour but that was with tears as well!  This time on my board it was so much more enjoyable, although very frustrating!  I found it hard to master the turns but could brake quite well, on my back edge anyway.  We went back up again and made it down quicker this time, although I think I had just as many falls!  My manager Sonia lent me her wrist protectors as I have weak wrists and they were a godsend.

When we got back Pat was cooking dinner, lovely!  And the house was so warm and cosy too.  Just had time for a quick bath before dinner, then I was in bed by 9.30pm, I was shattered!

Monday 11th February

Our 3 year anniversary!  After opening up each others cards we bustled along - I had a 4 hour group lesson booked for 10am so we couldn't be late!  The traffic was against us though, and so we didn't get to the car park until about 20 past nine.  I jumped out of the car and ran for the first bus, agreeing to meet up with the others later.  Unfortunately though I didn't make it to the booking office until 10.15am, too late!  Luckily I hadn't paid for it so I booked up a 2 hour group lesson instead at 1pm.  The others had just made it to where I was, at Biela Put - another area within Jasna, what good timing!  I joined them for a couple of runs and a bite to eat before my lesson started.  By this time I had really mastered my braking and my turns were coming along really nicely so we told the instructor that I wasn't a beginner.  This worked out really well as all but one were complete beginners so I only had one other person with me being taught by the instructor!  The lesson went really well and afterwards I did another quick run on my own before catching the bus all the way back down to the car park where I was meeting the others as they had gone back to Zahradky whilst I was having my lesson.  After what seemed like ages they piled off the bus and back we went for another lovely dinner cooked by Pat.

Tuesday 12th February

Amazingly we got ready in super quick time again and were ready to leave by 7.30am!  We got to the car park by about 8.45am, caught the bus to Zahradky and were on the slopes by about 9.30am/10am.  We had also worked out how best to work the queue now and made it to the chair lift much quicker!  John was having a bit of trouble with his bindings today so Jevina went on ahead, and Martin and I boarded down together.  We had just come down the second time when we saw Jevina above us on the chair lift.  After waving to her we headed back down to the chair lift where we bumped into John.  He had been waiting for Jevina to go and get some food so we waited with him.

Martin had a bit of scare though!  He had bought two walkie talkie's in Tesco so we could all keep in contact with each other whilst on the runs and he had them both in his top pocket zipped up.  He then took one out to give to his brother and didn't zip the pocket back up...  It wasn't until he got to the bottom of the run about half an hour later that he realised he no longer had the other walkie talkie - it had fallen out of his pocket and he hadn't noticed.  He was so annoyed with himself.  John was also at the bottom of the run waiting for Jevina so we all waited together whilst trying to figure out what to do.  We didn't have many options though, apart from go back up and hope to find it somewhere on the run.  When Jevina joined us we started queuing up and John decided to call the other walkie talkie - and would you believe we heard the other walkie talkie from just behind us!!  Not only had someone picked up our missing walkie talkie, they were now standing behind us in the queue, and were wanting to find the owner of the walkie talkie!!  Our faith in human nature had been restored!

In the afternoon we all decided to go down the red run for a change.  I went down it last year on my skis and found it okay but this year it was a lot icier and I had to just brake on my back edge for most of it, as did Jevina.  We left the boys to it on the red run and went back on the blue run for the last few runs of the day.  Martin was pleased with himself - he timed himself coming down the red run and from top to bottom he did it in 7 minutes!

Tonight we had decided to find the local thermal spa so off we set after Pat rustled up a quick dinner.  Martin had researched it on the internet so he knew more or less where it was but even he was impressed at how easily he found it, and how close it was to the house!  It was lovely inside, very clean, with one thermal pool and one cooler pool, plus a jacuzzi!  We got there for 7pm, stayed until 8.30pm, and left feeling very relaxed!

Wednesday 13th February

Back to Zahradky today, and we're all starting to feel a bit tired now with the early starts.  Unfortunately no snow has fallen all week and the blue run hasn't been groomed so it has started to get really icy and quite dangerous.  So, after our first run we decided to get the bus up to Otupne, the third of three areas within Jasna.  It was here that Jevina and I practised our skiing and boarding last year so I was quite pleased to be going there.  The only thing is we had forgotten about the long walk from Biela Put to Otupne.  Why the bus couldn't go all the way up there we have no idea!

The conditions were really good and so whilst Martin and John went off and did some cross country boarding, Jevina and I went up and down on the gondola's.  I tried to use the pulleys - the first time I didn't get the seat inbetween my legs in time and so hung onto it for a while then got spat off, the second time I got about halfway up before catching an edge and being spat off, and the third time I barely moved at all before falling over.  The embarrassing thing is there were always lots of cool boarders hanging around waiting for someone to fall off so they could jump on in their place!

I was able to practise my turns really well here and had a great afternoon.  Martin and John however, not so great.  Martin's boots were feeling too loose so he didn't feel that confident, and they got a bit lost!

This evening we were all going out for dinner, mine and Jevina's treat.  No one could really get motivated when we got home though, and then Tbor and Anelka came round with cakes and a 40% pear liquor!  They left at about 8pm and still we couldn't get motivated!  We eventually made it out and the first restaurant we went to had already taken last orders so we drove to Basta instead.  They were still serving and we had a lovely meal in there instead.

Thursday 14th February

Valentine's Day!  Despite still having a valid ski pass for Jasna we decided to give Snowland a try instead, as Jasna was getting so icy.  And the best thing was it's only a 10 minute drive away so we could have a lie-in, lovely!  We all woke naturally before the alarm at 7.30am which was even better.  We got to Snowland just after 9am and oh my word, why haven't we been coming here all week??  Because the temperatures have been cold all week they have been creating their own snow and grooming the slopes.  They were so powdery, it was amazing.  And because the chair lift is more expensive not many people were using it so we were able to just walk straight onto it, no queuing!  At midday when Martin and I headed back to the house to pick up his parents so they could go for a walk near Snowland, we had already managed to do about 5 runs!

When we got back to Snowland we all had some lunch and then managed another few runs in the afternoon!  I could definitely see an improvement in my boarding, the first time I had to brake down a steep bit but after that I was even managing to do turns on it!

The bonus of staying local meant we were back home by about 4.30pm.  Plenty of time to get ready before going out for our fat boy steak!  With it being Valentine's Day it was really busy when we got to the restaurant so we booked a table for 2 hours time and went to Tesco to do some more shopping, leaving John and Jevina propping up the bar!  We were early getting back to the restaurant but the table was ready - hooray!  We all had absolutely divine steaks and were back home tucked up in bed by 11pm.

Friday 15th February

We were really in two minds about what to do today.  It was our last day on our ski pass at Jasna but it was so icy there, did we really want to go back?  Snow had fallen overnight so we decided to give it a go.  We were practically driving into a blizzard on the way there but unfortunately once we got there, battled to get on the bus and then the chairlift we realised that the blue run was still just as bad as before.

Back to Snowland then!  We hurried back down and into the van, then drove to Snowland for an afternoon of boarding.  It was quite expensive for just the afternoon but definitely worth it - we managed to get 7 runs in!  (Martin got a sneeky 8th run in just before they closed the barriers.)

When we got back Pat was cooking goulash so whilst Martin popped over to see Tbor, I relaxed in the bath.  Looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow as we're off to Snowland again!

Saturday 16th February

John woke us up at 7am this morning - it was snowing really heavily and he was worried we wouldn't be able to get the van out of the drive, or that it would at least take a while!  Because it was a weekend we didn't want to get to Snowland too late as it would be busy and difficult to get a parking space - as well as busy on the slopes!

We all wrapped up warm - Martin's super duper watch was saying it was -6 outside!  I wore an extra pair of socks, an extra pair of trousers, another base layer and an extra pair of gloves!  Martin's dad very kindly dug out the van while we were having breakfast and we managed to leave just before 9am.

It was like a blizzard outside and the roads were pretty bad but Martin drove very carefully - unlike the owner of the car we drove past which was on it's roof down a ditch on the side of the road.  The drivers out here are so bad and we have all seen some shocking driving this week.

We got to Snowland at about 10 past 9 and thankfully the chair lift was open, and the car park wasn't too busy!  With all the snow that had fallen, and which was still falling, we were boarding on really deep powder at times, it was great!  It also opened up another run just off the main run which previously didn't have enough snow on it.  When Martin and I looked at it from the chair lift there were only two sets of ski tracks on it so we couldn't wait to try it out!  By the time we made it to the start of the run there were a few more tracks but not many!  It was beautiful boarding down it, so soft and so silent!  Unfortunately though there wasn't quite enough snow on the last section of it before it rejoined the main run and our boards got quite scratched up going over the rocks just under the thin layer of snow.  Mine was a hire board so it didn't matter too much but I did feel sorry for Martin's board.

We must have managed about 8 runs before stopping for some lunch, and by the end of the day we reckon we did about 15 in total!  My turns were coming along really well but I was still struggling to go in a straight line (no I hadn't been drinking) - I can't help kicking out my back leg to brake!  Martin's boarding on the other hand was looking really good, I hope I'm as good as him one day!  We're both buying boots for next year (Martin was wearing a spare pair of John's), and I will also be buying my own board and bindings - all of which should help my boarding.  My feet felt quite loose in my boots - and wet!  I'm sure they were leaking...

At about 3.30pm I did my last run for the day, it was starting to get a bit icy and seeing someone get stretchered off in front of me helped me to make that decision.  Martin nipped up for one last run and then we all headed back to the house, stopping off at Jasanska Dolina to return my boots and board.

Sunday 17th February

Time to go home...  We had a lovely long lie-in and then started to close down the house.  Draining the water, having a tidy up etc.  John and Jevina went for a walk and then when they got back Martin and I went out for a walk too, taking some lovely photos whilst we were out.  Pat rustled together a lunch from the food which was left over and then we made our way to the airport.  For me it was quite sad as because we are following the Tour de France this year I won't be going back to Slovakia until next winter...  The flight home was fine, although delayed due to a bird flying into one of the engines as the airplane landed at Bratislava!!  Then once we got to Stansted there was another delay getting the snowboards so it felt like forever until we were finally tucked up in bed...