Global Sport Stories

Ah New Year’s resolutions, made with the best intentions, to be undertaken in a perfect world.

When setting resolutions, they look easy to fulfil! I think I set about 20, maybe accepting one or two would be a little too aspirational – however, here I am in March and I think I’ve failed at least five already.

Some of you will be aware that this page figured a couple of times in my resolutions, and by looking at the date of my last blog post, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out I haven’t been posting weekly…hence not fulfilling one of many resolutions.

I believe I have good reason and justification for this however. In my three week absence, I’ve made a return to 5 a side, cold dipped in the Irish Sea, skied the Swiss alps and bashed out another long day in the Lake District. I think that’s all…

I don’t want to ramble on forever, so I propose a quick breakdown into 3 parts of what I’ve been up to, followed by a little reflection of it all. Then you can get on with your lives and be safe in the knowledge that I am back with the aim of recommencing my weekly blog posts.

Alas, the bulk of February consisted of working away in the Swiss ski resort of Arosa; making the most of my zero hour employment in Newcastle to change my scenery, meet new people, spend time in Switzerland and of course ski a little. However before flying from London, I had a family wedding in Northern Ireland to attend to first. 

Pre Arosa

Honestly, in and around this particular week was a lot of travelling and not much activity, however, my cousin (the husband to be) was adamant on a cold dip on the morning of his wedding. Of course I was only too happy to oblige. We weren’t in for ages but just the desire to start one of the most memorable days of his life in the Irish Sea resonated with me greatly, and a fun time was had by all.

Of course as the cliche goes, the rest of the day flew by – and I wasn’t even the one getting married. The hours drifted long into the early hours of morning, by which point I had comfortably amassed over 20,000 steps most of which on the dance floor. This offered a relatively new form of activity for myself, one that seems to occur very rarely.

Oh and if we’re talking about different, indirect forms of exercise, how could I forget to mention lugging two hefty suitcases from Newcastle to London, before then navigating London. This was in fact before the wedding (long story) but I can confidently say it was also quite the workout.

During Arosa

Barely had the confetti touched the ground over in Northern Ireland before it was time to join up with the Arosa Half Term team over in Switzerland, to begin ten days of blue skies, snow, skiing and a little work mixed in.

This was what it looked like from the outside anyhow, in reality there was a lot of work, and only two days of skiing. This was all clearly laid out to us before taking the job however, and for me personally, just working in the environment that Arosa provided and having two days of skiing entirely paid for, still made the experience completely worth it. 

The time for reflection comes later though, let’s talk skiing. Weirdly this trip was only the third time I would be skiing on actual snow. I think my endeavours in the deserts of Peru and (not so) dry slopes of Sunderland made it feel as though I had been skiing a lot more than I had. Either way, I don’t want to say that I took to it again like a duck taking to water but… pretty much my first run of the day was down a black. So make of that what you will. I definitely didn’t wipe out halfway down or anything…

In all seriousness, I was pleasantly surprised by my apparent ability to pick up where I left off almost six years prior when last skiing on snow. I took two tumbles on my first day, with a few more hairy moments sprinkled in. Having spent the run up to our first day off sat in a car for 12 hours a day as resort driver, it’s fair to say I was loving my time on the slopes.

It really can’t be described well enough, the feeling of cruising along some of the best vantage points in Europe surrounded by blue skies and pristine mountains. It’s made even better when you’re feeling semi confident on skis again!

I can’t really talk about skiing in the alps without mentioning the apres briefly as well can I? All I’ll say is a day on the slopes, finished by a beer, a boogie and blue skies is really, really hard to beat. The ski back down on the other hand? Petrifying.

The second of my days off was spent exploring more of the slopes with my girlfriend. Having had only one day experience of skiing on snow before working in Arosa, pretty much all of her skiing ability was completely self taught. Understandably, the day involved less black runs and more red and blues but made for perhaps a more enjoyable day.

The last afternoon of my previous day off had been spent haring all over the resort down icy blacks keeping up with a group that had predominantly skied all of their lives. Fun? Absolutely. But I find just as much fun gliding along blues with majestic scenery and special company. This is why my second day off was such a pleasure. My girlfriend’s desire to improve her skiing was so inspiring and just seeing the progress she made over the course of the day made for one incredibly proud boyfriend.

So, all in all, despite only having two days off over such a heavy work period – they were the perfect two days and made the endeavour definitely worth it.

Post Arosa

I must confess, the frantic work schedule complete with travelling back from the resort ensured I was written off for a good couple of days upon returning to England. It took a good three of four days to stop waking up and thinking I had to get into the car to shuttle kids to the bottom of the slopes!

Luckily for myself, I recovered just in time for another packed day of Lake District exploration. Or had the prospect of this aided my recovery… I think the latter. Led by my personal Lake District guide and old uni mate, we boxed off a 16km hike upon the fells over looking Crummock Water and Buttermere. I am always staggered as to just how the Lake District is as beautiful as it is in all weather conditions. And the natural beauty helped take my mind off what in the end was a fairly strenuous hike – so fun all the same of course.

Finishing with a short, sharp and sickeningly cold dip in the lake, that concluded my three week hiatus packed full of enjoyment and new experiences. Time to get back to reality…