Ruff Rydaz 4-Evah

(the hyphen above should be a lighting bolt, but I can't find a button for that on this keyboard)

Update: I've decided to put a text file on the web containing my travel plans, possible plans, and vague ideas. Partly for my own benefit, partly for anyone trying to coincide with me. I'll try to keep it updated as plans are confirmed or abandoned.
Now, Some pics from Tignes.

The "eye of the needle" (on left):




Tignes village from the top of one of the mountains. The peak on the distant horizon is Mont Blanc, highest in Europe, 4800m:




Another mountain scene:




My ski class group:




Off-piste with Eivind:




Taken from our balcony, the blue sign on the right is the entry of a chair lift:

• Tignes was sensational. I don't think I can ever ski in Australia again.
• Now killing time in Stockholm, photos NOW.
• Unlike most of Europe, which is having a pretty shit season, Tignes is high up, and on a glacier, and it had plenty of snow.
• We could literally ski from the balcony of our apartment, 20 metres down a slope to a ski lift. There were zero queues at 99% of the lifts - longest wait experienced was a couple of minutes.
• I took lessons, and learnt how to do proper turns in powder - a skill which for some unknown reason I never developed in oz.
• French people speak funny - I got accused of immaturity by an English schoolgirl in my ski class for saying "Oui oui, poo poo" all the time.
• Eivind has an insatiable Norwegian desire to leave the groomed (and avalanche-safe) pistes, and make his own path through the wilderness. I followed on a few such ventures, and survived to tell the tale - just.
• The one day I was too hungover to attend lessons it was snowing like buggery and shit conditions anyway - couldn't have planned it any better. That was after a very high-speed pub crawl, where for each beer you bought you got a free shot, and had about five minutes to consume both before moving on. Messy.
• English guys on holiday in France like to dress up as girls to a degree I've not seen in any other situation.
• I have no idea what the dot at the bottom of my blog is, and quite frankly I'm deeply concerned about the parties that noticed - and subsequently discussed - it.