Wow, what a couple of weeks! Apologies for not posting a report last week but I've just been so swept up in all the fun and games going on in Cham at the moment that I haven't had a spare second to sit down at my computer and tell you all about it. So, in a nutshell…….
Boss des Bosses last Wednesday. Woo Hoo! We won! Yes finally, after 3 years of being pipped at the post by Zermatt, this year team Cham came good and beat them by one point in a nail biting finale. Now in its 21st year, the Boss des Bosses is one of my favourite events of the winter – teams came from Meribel, Courchevel, Val d'Isere, Vebier and Zermatt to compete on the naturally formed bumps course underneath the Tabé chairlift followed by the crowd pleasing big air kicker at the bottom of the run. The day dawned beautifully warm and sunny for the event and there were more spectators than ever this year (around a dozen coaches in the coach park!), all eager to cheer their team to victory and party on the hill.
Each team consists of 13 riders – 9 skiers (2 of which must be girls), 2 tele-markers and 2 snowboarders – who take it in turns to go head to head with each of the other resort teams. As the competition hots up, the descents through the moguls gets faster and the tricks pulled on the kicker get bigger and more spectacular as the riders do everything they can to clinch those points for their team. This year we saw some amazing air, including several front and back flips, the majority of which were landed successfully. For those not so fortunate on the landing, help was at hand from physio Neil Maclean-Martin of the Chamonix Clinic, although thankfully there were none of the serious crashes that we've seen in previous years that have required the intervention of the pisteurs. Several of the more minor stacks and slams were soon brought back to form after some tending from 2 female Zermatt supporters and a bottle of Jaegermeister!! Final positions for this year were: 1) Chamonix; 2) Zermatt; 3) Verbier; 4) Val d'Isere; 5) Meribel and Courchevel took the wooden spoon in 6th place. Well done to everyone that took part and definitely make a note in your diary for next year – always on the Wednesday around Paddy's Day - it's a really great spectator event. See more photos from the day here, courtesy of Adam Johnston >>
As in previous years, the Boss des Bosses again marked the start of the Black Crows “Black Weekend” – a festival of music and mountain sports that has been held here for the last 2 if not 3 years now. For 4 days, there were pro demos & Black Crows ski tests on Grands Montets followed by a lengthy line up of live bands and DJs playing all over town. The organisers could be seen cruising around town in their fleet of rather eye catching Nissan Cube voitures. We crashed the party at Choucas on Friday night (I know! Chamonet not on the guest list!! What is the world coming to?) With tunes from Bull, Get the Curse and Phil Good – the dance floor was rammed all night long. I danced so much I ended up padding home in my socks my feet were that sore. And it was nothing to do with the number of shots of Kamikazee I had downed throughout the evening rendering my rather high boots an impossibility by 5am……
There was too much choice last weekend. As well as the Black Crows party on Friday, the Winter Sessions crew held the last of their epic parties at the Podium with the Next Men headlining. Weaving their way between 4 turntables, Brad Baloo and Dom Search – aka the Next Men – played a mix of drum'n'bass, hip hop, soul, funk, indie and straight-up “hands in the air” party jacking pleasers to the delight of the well up for it crowd on the dance floor. As with all the Winter Sessions events, the party went on well into the small hours and there was a hint of sadness that this was the last of their big events for this season. However, all is not quite over yet. They are still planning the Winter Sessions Weekender – 16th -17th April – which will be 2 days of mountain action including the Le King Of Ping table tennis competition, extreme sports action, the Winter Sessions party, a Jam Style Ski snowboard competition and the very special Trash Black Tie ball. The full line up for this event is still to be released but keep an eye on this report and the What's On calendar and we'll post it on the site as soon as we hear. We do know that tickets will be limited to 600 places though and that they will go on sale on 16th April, so you're going to have to be at the ready to bag yourself a ticket for this end of season bender.
Needless to say, when the Balboas played their one off gig at Chambre 9 ten days ago – their fans came out in force and proved that they had far from been forgotten in the two winters since they stopped playing this legendary après set. If you weren't here for that then don't despair as the boys are still in town (well some of them at least) and they will be playing slightly calmer gigs at après in the Savoy Bar in Argentiere for the remainder of the week.
Going at this pace for the last couple of weeks, it was hardly surprising that I needed a quiet night. So it was perfect timing when I spotted that the cinema was holding its Spring Film Festival (21st-23rd March) when every film only costs €3.50 instead of €8. Bargain! Sherlock Holmes was my pick (can't beat a bit of Robert Downey Junior after all…) but there are currently several films showing in their original (English) version this coming week. Ghost Writer, A Single Man, Nine and a very special showing of Boy A (the Channel 4 film adaptation of the award winning novel by our very own Jonathan Trigell - Chamonet's original video snow reporter!). This film projection on April 1st will be followed by a discussion with Jonathan, where you can pose your questions directly to him about this and his subsequent best selling novel Cham.
Well, I might have to calm it down a bit next week, still another 6 weeks of the season to go and I certainly don't want to burn out before the end. However, there are still a couple of bands that I really want to see and Le Vert are having their 4th birthday bash on Saturday (27th) with the Cuban Brothers, so I might just have to down the Berocca and keep on going. After all, some of the best parties are still to come!!
Don't forget to keep an eye on the What's On Calendar for a full list of events over the winter season. You can also find full Bar and Restaurant listings in the Dining and Going Out section of the site.
