I'd tried phoning a couple of recommended resorts for beginners on Friday, and found there was no one at either who could speak English. Lessons were recommended to me but I couldn't book them if I couldn't be understood, so I thought, bugger it - go for a drive and see what happens. I went to the larger of two nearby resorts, thinking there would be more English 
speakers there. This was Superbagneres above the village of Luchon, and although I could have got a cable car or "egg" as they say over here, from Luchon, I elected to drive up from the village. There were times I thought I was going to regret this, as it is very high up, and the road gets quite twisty, but it was at least well cleared of snow, and to be honest was of no worse quality than some of the roads near Buxton/Matlock, but the scenery was off the scale. Each time I rounded a bend there was another rock the size of a planet in front of me, and the 
Pyrenees, although peaking at well over twice the height of Ben Nevis, are not even big compared to big mountains. I was very glad it was a sunny day and the weather forcast was good.
speakers there. This was Superbagneres above the village of Luchon, and although I could have got a cable car or "egg" as they say over here, from Luchon, I elected to drive up from the village. There were times I thought I was going to regret this, as it is very high up, and the road gets quite twisty, but it was at least well cleared of snow, and to be honest was of no worse quality than some of the roads near Buxton/Matlock, but the scenery was off the scale. Each time I rounded a bend there was another rock the size of a planet in front of me, and the 
Pyrenees, although peaking at well over twice the height of Ben Nevis, are not even big compared to big mountains. I was very glad it was a sunny day and the weather forcast was good.When I got to the top it was lunchtime, judging by the frenetic activity in the cafes. I wanted to get straight into action and so headed into the obvious ski hire shop for some boots and skiis (and sticks). They spoke no English at all, but needless to say I came out of the shop with all I needed, though without my passport. I even managed to coax directions to the skiiing school, but was disappointed to find that although there was an English speaking instructor on site, he would be unavailable for nearly 3 hours. The receptionist spoke enough English to tell me where there was a training area I could play on though, so off I went. At this stage, no-one had even shown me how to put skis on, let alone take them off, so although I may have looked the part, wearing and carrying all this fine clobber, I was basically an accident waiting to happen. I had however watched an awfull lot of skiing when I was younger (Franz Klammer was an early hero), both on Ski Sunday and through the Winter Olympics, and I was pretty sure that I knew enough to get started. The boots only go in one way anyhow, and the clicking of the heels into place is pretty much the last thing an alpine skier does just before he launches himself down a near vertical incline, so I'd seen it hundreds of times. I found a large flat area of snow and clicked myself in. With poles for balance, everything was easy, and I was suddenly standing on the top of a mountain, in skis. I pushed with the sticks, and now I was moving. An eery sensation, and there were some balancing issues, but given that the boots are so supportive, never a chance of falling over. I pushed a bit more, which takes surprisingly little effort, and I was moving quite sharpish. Stopping? No problem, just stop pushing and wait until the glide stops. I dossed around like this for about an hour, before taking a break for lunch and then carried on for
another hour. Not once did I fall over during this time, although not once did I turn a corner either or do anything remotely technical. Then I started my 1 hour lesson, and from this point on I was on the deck quite a few times. I was taught how to plough stop, and how to turn and the effect of weight transfer etc. I was also doing this without sticks which made it harder as I'd got quite attached to them and had found them a useful ally.
I also got to grips with a couple of different methods of getting back to the top of the slopes again, which is quite difficult to master initially. I found getting on these things at the bottom much easier than getting off again at the top! By the end of the lesson I was totally knackered and the question I was left with is how the hell am I going to get up when I fall over and I'm on my own? It was easy enough with Alain, my instructor to help, but I couldn't do it otherwise, and I couldn't get the bloody skiis off either. Maybe they were too tight .
another hour. Not once did I fall over during this time, although not once did I turn a corner either or do anything remotely technical. Then I started my 1 hour lesson, and from this point on I was on the deck quite a few times. I was taught how to plough stop, and how to turn and the effect of weight transfer etc. I was also doing this without sticks which made it harder as I'd got quite attached to them and had found them a useful ally.
I also got to grips with a couple of different methods of getting back to the top of the slopes again, which is quite difficult to master initially. I found getting on these things at the bottom much easier than getting off again at the top! By the end of the lesson I was totally knackered and the question I was left with is how the hell am I going to get up when I fall over and I'm on my own? It was easy enough with Alain, my instructor to help, but I couldn't do it otherwise, and I couldn't get the bloody skiis off either. Maybe they were too tight The journey back down from the mountain was in the car just as spectacular as the journey up, although once down on the main roads I found they have traffic queues here too, as people returned to the city, not that this was going to ruin a geat first day skiing.
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