I feel in my fingers
I feel it in my toes
Autumn is all around us
So let the cold winds blow!
Halloween, juicy pumpkin, spicy wines, darkening nights, cosy fires. Finally, it seems, that although it seems to have taken forever to get to us, the cold is finally set to arrive, and with it the weather we are hoping will bring us the snow we pray for every year at this time.
I’ll confess to being a Summer Lover. Dry dusty heat and roasting temperatures are where you’ll find me most alive, when skin is tanned and clothing is light and airy, when dining is outside and not far from a constant rushing of sea waves. For me, that’s my default, my place of peace.
But I equally have to confess that as winter sets in, the cosiness of hygge gets me all a-swither. Soft throws, candlelight, dancing flames from the crackling fire, stews and casseroles, deep red wines. And Christmas. A time of year that fills me with wistful nostalgia and overwhelming love. Just the cinnamon smells, the mince pies and traditional cooking, pressies, my kids. I love this time of year too.
Autumn at WoW is a testing time. Our bookings start to fill up, but organising who goes where and group dynamics and trying to match levels isn’t without it’s own stresses. By the end of November, and as in past years, we hope to have our WoW weeks booked out, so tension increases throughout the month as the final slots are whittled down.
There’s also the thorny and expensive issue of our autumn ski training. You Ladies have no idea the effort we make to ensure that we are equipped with the best possible education in order to make sure our own skiing is up to scratch, to ensure we keep every one of you safe.
So far, it’s been a bit of a partial success. 3 windy snowless days in a hotel in the Stubai valley in Austria, holed up in a sparse hotel, waiting, waiting for the lifts to open.
We are currently in Switzerland, on day 3 of high winds, stuck in our little rental apartment, though there has been good snowfall on the glacier, and it looks like tomorrow, for the first time since March, we’ll get to don our skis and try to remember what to do.
You’ve got no idea how technical and frustrating, and sometimes downright DEPRESSING ski training really is. None of this sitting down for a coffee and taking in the views whilst putting in some gentle turns. This is serious stuff; centre of mass, steering elements, edge control, separation – both lateral and rotational, angulation, pressure control, corridor width, arc shape, backwards skiing, braquage, j turns, javelin turns. And all critiqued by a trainer filming and commenting and going up and down and up and down concentrating on the fact your hand is 5 cm too far back and forcing your shoulder into a backwards position causing your weight to fall back. CONFUSED???? Aaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!
But somewhere out of all of this comes an understanding, and slowly the pieces start to fall into place. And then you get it right. First 3 turns. Then a quarter of them. And then a few more. Until slowly, patiently, arduously, your runs become consistent, with your arc shape the same and your timing rhythmic. And then you realise you’ve been screaming with delight!!!
All this ladies, for weeks on end, is for you. This training, quite apart from the zillion other pieces of information we process to ensure our WoW Ski weeks are all round top notch, means we are more than able to take you safely and and skillfully round the Dolomites, most beautiful ski area in Europe.
WoW is us, but you are WoW. Together, we make a cracking team.
Be part of it. Book ASAP for our last spaces.
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