Pushing the limits in Serre Chevalier

Charlie joined the 20 week French ski instructor course in Serre Chevalier last season in his quest to pass the Test Technique, the entry level to the French instructing system. As he prepares to head back for his second attempt this winter, we spoke to him to hear about the highs and lows of slalom skiing, and life in one of the ski world’s best-kept secrets...

As we drove over the Col de Montgenèvre, I caught my first glimpse of Briançon – the gateway to the Serre Chevalier valley – I was nervous and excited. With almost no snow on the ground in early November, it was difficult to imagine the journey that lay ahead; but to live up to the cliché, it truly was the time of my life...

Physical Training

The first two weeks on the course comprised of physical fitness training and testing.    As a group of eight English people within the thirty-strong group, as ‘les anglais’ (how we were affectionately known), we were well prepared and often found ourselves near the front of the pack. Pete ran 3300m+ on the 12 minute cooper run at altitude, which was particularly impressive, with me and James not so far behind. Although to my extreme displeasure it was Sherfield who was winning the jumps, sprints and agility tests – which he ensured I was well aware of!

We all bonded well and the early weeks were a great time to integrate with the other French participants with a beer after training, although some of them were later let go due to a lack of fitness or skiing ability. Hiking up mountains, sprinting back down, going on runs and doing one or two hill sprints were all part of the daily routine. We also spent time in the gym, playing ball sports and doing various activites such as slacklining, work with swiss balls, and various other plyometric and core exercises.  I absolutely loved every second of it, it was challenging, satisfying and most importantly competitive!  A short sprint in the last 30 metres of a two-hour hike, in which me and course director Christian had spent the majority of time together, ensured that he still finished firmly behind me!

‘Les formateurs’

The trainers (‘les formateurs’ in French) are the fittest 40-50 year old men I will ever see.  They are fun, energetic, professional and by a mile the most competitive out of everyone. The trainers made me feel welcome from the start, although for sure I had to earn their respect by working hard.  If you put in the effort and time, you will reap the rewards.  Above all, they are friendly and enjoy a good laugh. Jean-Christophe, who doesn’t speak a word of English, managed to learn his first two English words, “Two points”, after France’s two-point victory over England in the Six Nations – which we subsequently heard directly before the start of every single one of our slalom runs for the next 3 days!  Not only that, the trainers are the best skiers who I have ever seen, Seb raced for France in his junior days and continues to be an opener for the Test Technique, which I will go on to talk about later. Vincent is the boss and as well as being a phenomenal skier, provides the real gems when it comes to advice and improving your technique. Jean-Christophe is my idol though. His flamboyant technique is so easy to watch and he makes anything look easy.  

Finding your feet before Christmas

We spent the final three weeks before Christmas skiing. Me and Pete hitchhiked all the way to Montgenèvre the day before the first day of skiing, as we heard there was a good snowfall and the other boys hadn’t stopped going on about their trip to Clavière a day earlier.  On the first day training on the ‘formation’ (training), we were set in groups of around 10 people and worked primarily on technique, doing various exercises such as skiing on one ski with the other one left behind at the top of the mountain, so you really didn’t have a choice!  At first it was a very scary thought, but after I fell at least 10 times in the first 15 metres of the run, I soon picked it up to save myself from any further bruising!  In the afternoons, it was off-piste and despite a distinct lack of fresh snow in the early part of the season, it brought my skiing to a new level. The beauty of skiing for the season is that you have the chance to experience all types of snow and improve your skiing by adjusting your technique accordingly. It also means you will be there on those champagne powder days!  

My first experience of a real powder day came on the last day before the Christmas break in Risoul-Vars, where we had trained for the week due to a lack of snow in Serre Chevalier. With my 20+ weeks of skiing with my family on holidays, I thought I was pretty good. Sadly, I couldn’t have been more wrong!  After skiing with the trainers and other skiers who had been brought up in the valley I realised I had a long way to go, especially before I reached the standard required to pass the Test Technique. That day, I fell on every single run. Nevertheless it was an unbelievable first experience in deep powder that I will never forget.   

Slalom

After the various figures within a slalom course had been explained to me, I honestly still had no idea what was going on.  After going the wrong way through the gates a few times and after many dramatic wipe-outs, I started to get the hang of it. Slalom is so frustrating. It is all about precision, timing, anticipation and speed. If you have a good run and Vincent or the trainers tell you it was a good one, you feel like Marcel Hirscher. The trainers are kind, but they are also honest and will tell you the truth, so when you hear some praise, they really mean it.

My very first Test Technique

Nightmare... is the only way to describe it! After just three weeks of slalom, I was travelling in Maccers’ capable hands who was driving James’ not so capable Land rover, to Sauze the destination of the first Test Technique. Eva, Pete and Maccers and I all woke up at 5.00am in anticipation for the drive, to find heavy snow had fallen so we assembled the troops who were enjoying their lie in and dug the car out – we were off. With snow falling heavily, we reached a road sign with a dozen ‘Col de.....’ on, meaning ‘pass’.  11 of those passes were labelled closed, although one was open. It was indeed ours.  Delighted and singing along to some of Paolo Nutini’s greatest hits, we steamed up the hill only to realise we were the only car on the mountain and snow was falling more and more heavily. We had two major slides that morning, one of which we headed towards the unbarriered drop and fortunately stopped short and one where we skidded 10m sideways down the hill. Maccers, a former tank driver in the army, claimed he always had it all under control; whilst Eva only remembered how to turn on the four wheel drive after the whole ordeal.

The test technique is a slalom test whereby around 200 competitors line-up over two days and try and get within 20% of a time set between three professional skiers, who are also fighting it out between them for a cash prize.  It is tough. Only around 14/100 skiers succeeded in Sauze and 9/120 in my second Test Technique in late March in Montgenèvre.  In Sauze in January, my two runs were 12 seconds and 9 seconds outside of the 20% leeway required to pass the Test. So, not great...

Off-piste in Serre Chevalier

Generally, we practiced slalom in the mornings, followed by off-piste in the afternoons, or if there was heavy snowfall the night before, the whole day would be spent in the powder! We skied couloirs, and did plenty of tree-skiing:  Serre Chevalier is well-known for its open trees.  There were always little expeditions in the afternoons, such as hiking up the Col du Lautaret and traversing round to somewhere only somebody with years and years of experience skiing in the area would be able to find.  Whether it was Sherfield falling through a cornice, Walbridge bragging about his Atomic Bent Chetler skis or Maccers unknowingly taking on a ridiculous drop, we always had a good time and skied some seriously cool stuff that I could never have imagined before I left.    

Second Test Technique

The second test technique was in Montgenèvre. This time we spent the upcoming days on the ‘stade’ and getting familiar with the run. Unfortunately, two days before the test, Sherfield had an accident when pushing hard on a practice run and broke his leg. We were all pretty deflated afterwards but that is the risk that is involved with skiing and that risk is probably why skiing is so thrilling.  The closest I had come in training so far was +0.01 off the time and was averaging just less than 1 second off the time required, so I knew I would have to ski my absolute best were I to have even a chance of passing.  I did my two runs, fell on the first and the second run I missed the time by 2 seconds.   I was gutted, but I fully understood the difficulty of the test and somewhat luck you need on the day. Around 6 people passed from our ‘formation’.  I can only imagine the feeling when you pass!  Walbridge, one of ‘les anglais’, passed the test the following day and everyone went crazy when we heard the time, fair play to him.

We also had a trip to La Grave, but I don’t want to ruin all the surprises...

Friends and the ski area

Skiing aside, I made some great friends. On my birthday we got dressed up in full retro gear and played some games on the slopes, followed by one or two birthday shandies.  Serre Chevalier is not the place to come if you are looking to be out until 4am every single night.  It is not like anywhere else I have ever skied – it is very different to the more commercial resorts such as Val D’Isere or Meribel for example but we still managed our fair share of nights out.  It has a good few bars and Sky Sports in La Grotte, where I spent most of my après-ski afternoons.   Serre Chevalier is a great place with a homely atmosphere and most importantly, a fantastic ski area.

I believe the most crucial thing on this course is to ski with a smile on your face and concentrate on enjoying yourself... the improvement in skiing technique and everything that comes with it will all fall into place. This is not one for the faint-hearted, but if you love skiing and are up for a challenge... then this is the one for you.  

... And for those reasons: I am going back.

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