The Three Valleys Incident

So the other day (the 5th to be precise) Tamsin had a significant birthday. To celebrate (commiserate?) she organised for a bunch of us to head to France skiing! So last saturday Tamsin and I flew out from Southampton, while Jules, Peter and Lesley flew from Birmingham and we all met up in Chambery, jumped in a car and drove to Brides Les Bains, where we skiing for the next two days.

Sunday (Tamsin's birthday) we jumped on the gondola for the very long ride up to Meribel. Normally February is the perfect time to ski as there is usually a lot of snow and it is not too cold. Unfortunately for us there had been no snow for about three weeks and what was on the ground was slowly melting away, so we were expecting much. Luckily we found a run under the snow makers which was not too bad (it also had red, green and blue options, so everyone was happy).

Tamsin stayed with Lesley for a while and Jules, Peter and I had a few goes down the run - it was great to be skiing again, especially after the debacle in Switzerland. Anyway, we spent the morning on this run, met up with Tamsin and Lesley for a few more goes. About 2pm we decided to do one more run down and grab some lunch. I went down the red route and soon realised that I was skiing way to fast. I tried to slow down but ended up sliding out on some ice and falling over in a spectacular (I hope) crash.

Tamsin and Peter stopped to help me, but I was pretty out of it, so they carried by skis to the restaurant (which was only 30 metres away) while I stumbled and slid down on my boots (not before almost passing out a couple of times). Once we sat down Tamsin made it her mission to get some food into me, while Jules felt my right shoulder (I landed on it) and found it was dislocated (no wonder I was in a lot of pain). So she called the ski rescue guys over who said I needed to go to the medical centre in Meribel village. They took me down the hill in a body bag (a surreal experience to say the least) to a waiting ambulance (they also handed me a bill for €150.

At the medical centre the nurse x-rayed my shoulder (from the looks of it the x-ray machine was the first one ever made) before her and the doctor reset it. Before anyone asks, yes it did hurt, but I also felt relief when it was back in. They took another x-ray to make sure it was all okay before giving me a lovely bright blue sling, a bill for €260 and booting me out the door! If anyone is interested you can see the before x-ray here and the after one here.

I went back to the hotel and met up with the others who started fussing over me, but this time the pain was gone, but I was beginning to realise the next three weeks would be difficult with just one usable arm!

The next day the others went skiing while I went up to a restaurant on the mountain and sat outside reading a book. While it was nice, I am glad we only had two days skiing, otherwise I think I would have gone crazy. I sent a text to Mum and Dad letting them know what happened, but there was no response. Where is the love I ask you? After having lunch with them I headed back down the hill and went to sleep!

Today on the return flight home there was myself in a sling and another poor bloke in a wheelchair, whilst on the Birmingham flight there was another bloke in a sling and a girl in a wheelchair, so I was not alone!

Oh and in case you are wondering yes I will ski again, in fact I was a bit annoyed that I could not ski yesterday!

So now I am in this sling for the next three weeks so I cannot drive and work will be problematic. Oh and it seems it may take up to six months for it to heal properly - what joy!




Brides Les Bains


On the slopes in Meribel


On the slopes in Meribel


On the slopes in Meribel


Jules and I skiing


The body bag!


The lovely sling!


A one-armed Justin!