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Number One's Reports
I am so glad that half term week is over. I feel so sorry for the many families who have paid top price and received, perhaps the poorest service of the season. This week I had to take two groups and the classes were quite large due to the number of clients booked into ski school.
I noticed that there was a rush for breakfast and that the dining room was very crowded. The staff coped well with the extra numbers. Indeed they even added black pudding and hash browns to the breakfast menu. Then after breakfast there was a queue for the ski bus. When they arrived at the telecabine there was a queue to get on. The hire shop and yet another queue, however most of our guests got their equipment the previous evening. After the lesson there was a huge queue for the bars and restaurants. I usually advise the clients to go back to the village where they will find a good selection of bars serving quick lunches. This week a lot of the families took my advice after their experience on Monday.
In the early evenings there were a lot of people watching videos of their classes.. But of course, the footage was very much shorter than on other weeks as the camera men rushed around trying to catch all the extra classes. The evenings were very much quieter than usual. So much so, I was in bed every night by midnight, except one, when Mike was singing in the Palarine. (That is another story).
I realise that this is the only week that families with school age children can come skiing in February but I feel very sorry that due to the sheer numbers, we cannot deliver the service that we want to provide. I hope that they were not disappointed and that they may be able to visit us during a much quieter period when we can make their holiday a much more pleasant experience. |
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The weather was the main feature for this week’s guests. We had perfect skiing conditions on Sunday and Saturday but the period in-between was very mixed. It varied from mild and overcast to windy and very cold (-27) to a blizzard. On the windy day the lifts at the top of the resort were closed. This left the beginners area and the green El Cortal open. Thankfully, the run down to the village (Les Marrades) had been widened during the summer. Snow cannons had been installed so this run is open practically all season. On the windy day I was able to take my class down this run several times. As it runs between the trees it was fairly sheltered from the wind. I think that the group enjoyed their morning, in spite of the weather.
Next week is the schools’ half term. This is the busiest and most expensive week of the season.. The price of a week’s stay in one hotel drops by £400, the week following half term. There must be a strong case for staggering half term ,to stop this appalling rip off of families with school age children.
Everywhere is crowded and the atmosphere in the bars and restaurants is totally different during half term week. I am always glad when this week is over.
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My luck is definitely in this year. I had a wonderful group yet again. The men were of mixed ages; father and son, grandfather and grandson and Mike, aka Elvis, a local entertainer, of indeterminate years. The ladies were all lovely and liked to party. Some of them would have had a quicker time in the slalom race if they had enjoyed themselves just a little less in the evenings. They had a great time and I very much enjoyed their company. I would like to mention one young lady, Debra, who arrived in the resort on Saturday and so was able to have a private lesson with me on Sunday. We progressed so well on the beginners’ lift that she was able to join my intermediate (1) on Monday morning. This returns me to one of my favourite topics; private or group lessons? There is absolutely no doubt that progression is much faster with private lesson.. This week I had private lessons with two separate ladies, who were very timid and tense. They both would have hated the pressure and competitiveness of a group lesson.. I honestly believe that they made great progress during their lessons. I am not against joining a collective class. It is ideal for some people. It gives you the opportunity to meet lots of other people and as Arinsal is a small and friendly resort, there is a huge chance that you will meet other class members in the evening. This all makes for a great social life. Earlier in the week I was involved in m impromptu Malt Whisky tasting session, hosted by Graham at the Palarine. Stuart (BBA) sadly missed this event as he was enjoying one of his many evenings off. We are considering organising a tutored Malt Whisky Tasting Evening in March, when we will taste six classic malts. However, I am reminded of an old Scottish saying regarding whisky: ONE is fine, TWO is too many, but THREE is never enough |
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I was fortunate again to have another very jolly group this week. They all appeared to enjoy their skiing and the holiday. Some spoke of returning. Their week was rounded off with a fresh fall of snow on Friday night with more during the following day.
On Tuesday two ladies in the group told me, that they thought that they were slowing down the group and would like to be put in another class. During a coffee stop I met an instructor, who had the next class down from me. He readily accepted my two pretty ladies and offered me one of his own, in return, as she was skiing slightly faster than the rest of his group. The following morning my two ladies were back, saying that the other class was slow for them and my group was too fast for them. There is a very easy solution to this problem;. a private lesson.. Both accepted my advice and booked a one hour lesson with Marcus. As the price is the same for one or two people they shared the cost. The result was that they rejoined my class and were able to keep pace with the others.
Monday 25th was of course Burns Night. The Palarine provided excellent Scottish food, including haggis. We had six nationalities dancing Strip the Willow. Mike Jones, the entertainer sang a memorable medley of Elvis songs played in the traditional Scottish style, a great night..
Each year the instructors hold a Burns Party on the Saturday following the 25 th. This year we held it in Bogart’s Bar in the Princessa Park. We had very few people at the agreed start time. In fact, at 8-15 pm, we had insufficient ladies for a Strip the Willow. I was forced tto improvise by borrowing one of the bar staff to be the fourth lady. This delightful Spanish lady said that she enjoyed the dance, or did she just prefer this to working behind the bar. Who knows? The evening improved with time and the last dance had 20 dancers. I did not count the Nationalities but I saw Argentineans, Australians, French, Spanish, Swedish and some South Africans. You do not have to be Scottish to enjoy Scottish Country Dancing..
Perhaps I shall get more skiing next week and a little less social life. |
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I have enjoyed a week of good weather and great company . We had a small overnight fall of snow otherwise the weather was good. I had a beginners group. All twelve were Irish (2 from N.I. and 10 from the Republic. We enjoyed our time on the slopes and met in the evenings to watch ourselves on video, in several bars. Sometimes, the videos were hilarious and other times educational. We had one casualty; Paddy (a great character) injured his knee but was talking about returning next season.
On Wednesday night, we enjoyed a late night Karaoke session in the Derby. I am sorry to report that out of my 12 strong backing group, only 4 made it to the slopes on Thursday morning. (Well it is their holiday; they can do what they want.) I had good attendance for the Friday morning Slalom race. Won by Stephen, who loved skiing from the very first day.
I am going to finish with a Mark Twain quotation (I don’t know why);
“Go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company.”
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