On Thursday the 12th of January, 53 excited FAECTORians dragged their luggage to campus through the rain. The lack of winter in the Netherlands didn’t stop us from gathering our ski and snowboard gear to bring with us to Avoriaz, France.
Although the bus was a little late, it didn’t spoil the mood; we had tons of snow to look forward to! In the bus, everyone prepared for a long night of driving. Some already started on the pre-drinks to get through the twelve hours that were to come, while others watched the movies our bus driver played for us. After making a late dinner stop and playing some music, people slowly quieted down and everyone tried to catch some sleep.
On Friday morning, around 8 am, we arrived in the car-free Avoriaz. Sadly, we didn’t get to ride one of the many sleighs with horses in front, but we did get to walk through the town, while our bags were being brought to the apartments. We had to take a few elevators to get to our building, but once there, we could see the slopes through the windows and it didn’t take very long until everyone had changed into their ski clothes.
Naturally, our first day revolved around exploring the slopes. It snowed all day and the pistes were great. The cold didn’t bother us anyway; as tough cookies, we kept on going until our legs were sore and then sought out a bar to sit down and relax with a beer in our hands.
On the first evening, it was time for the much anticipated “Sjonnie en Anita”-themed party. After some explaining by the Dutchies, everyone got the idea and when we all gathered at the reception, we probably freaked out some people with the amount of panther-print present. All eyes were on us as we walked into a restaurant called “La Chapka” where we had a nice dinner. Although the staff seemed a little less overjoyed with our noisy presence, we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit, before moving to “The Place”, the place to be in Avoriaz. After a fun night – where some of us embraced their Tokkie-side more than others – we all searched for our beds to get some rest for another day of skiing.
Our ski adventures weren’t limited to France only; with just a few chairlifts, we reached the border between France and Switzerland, where some of us dared to try and take on “La Chavanette” aka “The Swiss Wall” – the most difficult run in Portes du Soleil. The extremely steep slope leads towards Les Crosets, Switzerland, but thankfully, for the lesser daredevils who preferred to get home with all limbs intact, a ski lift was also present to bring you down. I dare to say many of the ones who took on the challenge might have tasted some of the snow on the slope. However, at the end of the day, we could all laugh about it and once again, reunite in “The Place”, where a live band provided us with some tunes.
On Sunday, we finally saw the sun in the morning and sadly, it was also our last day in the ski resort. With bags packed, we all headed out on the slopes for a last day of snow and of course, après-skiing. At the end of the day, snowboards and skis were packed away again and with heavy hearts, we all climbed in the bus and said goodbye to Avoriaz.
All in all, I’m absolutely positive we can all agree on the ski trip being a great success! We have the SpoCo to thank for making this amazing weekend happen and giving us the opportunity to create some lasting memories (or not, if you après-skied a little too hard). With another fantastic experience added to the list, I can only say I’m looking forward to next year!