Face-planting

After weeks of non-stop steaming rays, and a few recent worried days of peering up to the glaciers witnessing streams of melting avalanches before the team arrived I wondered if I hadn't over-sold the slopes surrounding our home- so we were all pretty elated when we woke up [whilst savagely devouring today's intake of buttered breakfast goods] to assess how much snow had tinkled down in the night.

It's quite miraculous, what the courage of good friends will allow your sensible head to get away with. Rose, Clemmie and myself found ourselves shuddering our way up on trembling lifts surrounded by a white oblivion, peering down onto treacherous paths below- most of which I haven't had the balls to attempt to conquer in my four months of exploring the mountains. Before we knew it, we were all in agreement; "Fuck it, we can do that. So.Um. Let's do it!" Looking out for one another along the slow and hilariously haphazard descents down these vertical runs with moguls the size of buildings, we pretty much took it in turns to face plant continuously into clouds of fresh powder, immersing our subsiding souls in comedy tumbles; down + down + down. Metres of thick snow would peel itself from its perching point and insist on sliding down the hill with us, wrapping itself impossibly around our buried skis N knees. But all the way along, a chorus of hysterical giggles and squeaks when hitting surprise obstacles, that the impossible visibility of the heavy snow clouds was obscuring from us so spectacularly.

Elated and late, I legged it over to the chalet to meet + greet some new arrivals, as well as yet another new boss for the week- who I couldn't help notice was peering at me up + down, wondering who on earth this bum was standing before her. I still had icicles in my hair + snow down my pants from the mornings jaunts and felt if there was ever a time I needed to lay on the thick charm, this was it. Exaggerating my Oxford accent, I broached a number of hospitable questions and instigated as highly informed and topical conversations as my frantic snow filled head would allow me about slopes and snow and anything else this scathing looking woman might fall for. Met a few bankers and escorted them to lunch, but cranked back home as fast as I could as I was well aware that blissfully so, there was a Curly curling around and up for an adventure. We had only snippets of snatched snowy time, so we took to the paths in the forest and gabbled our way along through the phthalo green trees eagerly catching up on four months of shared secrets, falling fully into inner most secrets as we wound our way deeper into the alpine expanse until?..ringring : and cut to the next shot, a wheezing-wasping Curls N Spanface legging it back to base to scoop up another banker.

Today's picture- just one of the famous face plants I speak of. In this case, it's a post tumbling Rose.