29th April - 5th May - Maldives Magic

The flight out was on time but Air Sri Lanka was not good. John’s seat was particularly uncomfortable. The food was not good at all; most of the time our food choices were not available, although mysteriously, other punters seated near to us but served after us seemed to get what they wanted!!

We arrived to a hot but very cloudy Male. Our private launch, took us to our Island in just 30 minutes. First impressions were that the Island looked similar to Coco Palm (Previous Holiday in the Maldives) but was a little smaller.

Our villa was available immediately, it was quite different to other Maldives accommodation, very classy, great location, with a back garden area with whirl pool and seating area, plus a seating area in the front garden and our own shaded sun hut down on the beach. (See photos).

On our first morning we met up with Graham and Helen, our Irish neighbors. They were out on holiday, celebrating a wedding anniversary and Helens 60th birthday. Lovely couple. The snorkeling was wonderful with great corals, the best we have seen to date in this part of the world. We realized that we should have bought an underwater camera case as there is just so much to see, including quite a few large reef sharks.

The food is certainly a touch above Coco Palm. The lunches are just amazing, fresh grilled sea food to die for. More gigantic prawns than you can imagine!! We are being good at breakfast (fresh fruit prepared to order including delicious lychees and the sweetest mango we have ever eaten.)

We had booked on the snorkeling safari and turned up Wednesday morning ready and eager. However, it turned out that the trip had been cancelled but we had not been informed. John had a firm word with the reception staff, who apologies profusely. We had planned our day around this trip so were a little peeved.

A little later in the day, one of the managers took us aside and apologized for the error. In recompense, he offered us an all expenses paid two day trip on their luxury yacht. This one year old yacht is huge, has its own chefs and crew, all air conditioned, with just 6 luxury births. They have their own on board diving crew. We are to visit some of the southern atolls, stopping off for secluded beach BBQ etc. What a result. This boat usually costs over $800 per couple per night, so we feel very lucky indeed.

The next day was Helens 60th birthday, so we met them on the sun set jetty for a champers celebration. (See photos). They then had a romantic private BBQ in front of their villa. Very nice!! Before this celebration, we went for our joint spa massage. It was wonderful, lasted one and a half hours and was the best l have had to date. So good, we have booked to go for another the day before we leave.

We also met with a very nice couple from Japan, Geoff and Katherine. John got talking to Geoff after Fiona pointed out that he was carrying a very neat underwater camera. He showed us some of his photos from the reef surrounding the Island. He also offered to download some for us onto our memory stick. They are a true representation of what we see every day on the reef. They both dive every day, so, so shots are from deeper water. These photo’s spurred John on to book a refresher dive.

The nest day, we had a lesson on the catamarans and the took one out, great fun. The reef is tricky to navigate as there is only one route in and out. However, once outside the inner reef you can sail for miles. Great fun.

The food just gets better and better, lunches are a real gastronomic treat and very relaxed affairs. The evening meal is a la carte, luckily the puddings are just about avoidable!!

We also visited the sister island, just five minutes by boat. We had a great snorkel, seeing turtles and sharks to boot. This island is smaller and less busy, great tea and coffee’s by the lapping sea. John managed to leave his T shirt there, however, the staff had it back within the hour!!

We also met with the islands marine biologist, Robert, who has also offered to supply us with some photo’s. He introduced us to a another guest, Oliver and his fiancé. He lives in Germany and has donated money to the island to help with their continuing quest to manage and conserve the coral gardens. They are actually building new coral gardens using a combination of cement and graftings from existing corals. Every night they feed rays by the jetty.

On Saturday, John went for his dive, which went well. He had to complete a written dive test before hand which he did remarkably well at!! The dive was great and he plans to do some more from the yacht. We chilled out for much of the day, taking another catamaran out for a spin. A sun set drink followed by another wonderful evening meal and a skinny dip finished the day off nicely!!

Sunday began with the snorkeling safari with some new chums, Donald and Shona Nesbit. They are here visiting from Glasgow. Shona chose not to snorkel. We saw, thousands of small fish plus, turtle and very friendly bread fish. Shona was shooting video of us from the boat.

Later on we had a lovely lunch with john eating as many grilled fresh prawns as he could.

Later in the day we took a catamaran out for a spin. However, the wind suddenly turned very squally which made getting back tricky. We just about made it in time as the wind became strong and the arguments flew!! We managed to get the boat back to base just in time.

We met with Geoff and Katherine just after this to go snorkeling. Geoff allowed us to take his underwater camera and shoot as many pictures as we liked. We were originally planning to photo just a bright purple anemone which Fiona has found near the jetty. However, the anemone was fully out, hence hiding the purple cover. We still managed to get good shots of the clown fish and then proceeded to swim out further. We ran off a load of shots but also got sun burnt in the bargain as we had not planned to be out so long. We bought Geoff and Katherine a CD of Banyan Tree music to day thanks.

A Champagne sun set on the jetty (allowing some great sun set shots) and yet another gastronomic evening meal finished off the day.

Monday started off as planned, with a late breakfast and a chill out agenda. We are eating with Donald and Shona tonight, meeting for a cocktail at sunset in the bar to show Shona the underwater pictures, as she does not snorkel.

The weather has been fantastic so far although some rain is falling this afternoon. When it rains hear it pours!! Tomorrow we are off on our yacht trip tomorrow. Fingers crossed for good weather and calm seas!!

Friday the 18th of April - Last day

Well another week has flown by! The snow has been exceptional for the last week of the season although today was mainly cloudy and windy with a little snow.

We covered almost the entire resort, popping back to the top of Hochgurl and the 5 star hotel for coffee, before meeting up with Graham and Pam for a spot of lunch at the Hohe Mut Hut to the right of Obergurgl. Goulash soup was great. Pam had decided to purchase a new pair of skies, the design of which was an important consideration.



After lunch, Pam and Graham went to the ski shop and we visited the hotel equestrian centre to see the newly arrived foals which were extremely cute! We may visit this place again later in June when driving back from France. Below is a picture of them in the summer.




Fiona decided to end here seasons skiing, so l went backup on the slopes on my own for the last ski of the season. The slopes were empty and the sun peeped out a few times at the top of the mountain above Obergurgl. the last hour and a half were just sublime. this resort combined with Solden has been great.

We went to the Madelaine for our last cocktail and then back to the Edelweiss for the farmers buffet which was impressive.

The holiday was very enjoyable, meeting some new ski chums is always good fun. Tomorrow we are back off to the UK, where it is raining!

Thursday the 17th April 2008 – Solden Rocks

Today we took a taxi to Solden with Adrian, Mark, Pamella and Graham. We were here two days ago but today the weather was far better with some clouds but mainly sun.

We toured around most of the resort including he glacier, trying to keep up with Mark (see below), who is training for next years downhill world cup (at least that's how it feels).

The snow here was better than at Obergurgl and the area is larger and more wide open, with every type of skiing. Powder was still to be found but you had to look for it. I tried to learn from Graham who has a fantastic style of skiing in powder. Needless to say, l was unable to replicate his technique. Don't you just hate good powder skiers!!

We had a lovely lunch on the mountain, chosing to eat inside where the atmosphere was typically tyrolian. We all ate the same, a local dish of sauasage, potatoes etc. Very nice!!

Tonight we are of to the Madelain hotel too meet the gang for a drinkie and then we are off to the Pizzeria next door for our treat of the week. Last day tomorrow!!

Wednesday 16th April 2008 – Powder at the Neiderhut

Today was another fantastic powder day. We woke up to heavy snow falling, however by 10AM it had stopped and by 11AM the sun was out. We were one of the first to hit the slopes so were skiing virgin powder for hours. The resorts are so empty that we were still finding new powder to ski after mid day.

The sun was in and out all day and the temperature had dropped slightly so the snow stayed perfect for much of the day.

We felt a little tired by late afternoon, so we had a coffee at the five star hotel in Hochgurgl and then headed back to Obergurgl to meet some chums in the Neiderhut for a Tyrolean knees up from 3.30PM. The hut was up to it’s usual standard, although the musicians have loads more kit to play with now. They sound very impressive and had a good bop with Mark, Andy, Pam and Graham.

Pam taught us some Tyrolean dance moves that resembled the Adam's family! Mark started the Schnapps rolling, but we managed to stay relatively sober!



We were back home for 7.30PM, rested, bathed and then headed down for dinner with John and Jade. We talked politics with John and then went to bed to watch the Apprentice. Sir Alan made another bad decision. You can tell we didn't have TV for the 11 weeks in France!

Tuesday 15th April 2008 – Snowed out in Solden

Today we met up with other skiers and our reps to ski the Solden area. Unfortunately the weather had closed in big time and the snow was falling thick and fast.

By the time we were up on the mountain, the clouds had rolled in and the conditions were less than perfect.

We had some really really slow skiers with us and the reps refused to divide us into groups, so we ended up waiting about 15 minutes at the end of each run for the slower skiers to catch up.

Many of us asked then to split us up, but they were determined we all stay together.

They took us to the top of the glacier where the snow was falling in bucket loads but the resulting powder was exceptional. The powder was waist deep and the skiing fab.

Every now and then the snow stopped and the sun peeped out, the skiing was just amazing with no body else on the piste.

We stopped for lunch at 2.30PM!

The run back to resort was poor, as it is now so late in the season and Solden town is relatively low. We had to pick our way through green fields, taking our skies off to cross some roads.

A good day was great, despite the poor leadership as we met some new ski buddies, Adrian, Mark, Pamela and Graham amongst them.

After relaxing in the spa, we headed off for some drinks at the near by hotel, the Madelaine. Very nice too and good cocktails, especially the Long Island Ice Tea's.

We headed for the local pizza pad, however, the restaurant is shut on Tuesdays! So, we went back to our hotel and had an OK meal and a good chat with out fellow guests, John and Jade.

Monday 14th April 2008 – Yet Another Sunny Day

Today started with us visiting one of our fellow guests rooms to check on his sons badly burnt faces. One of the boys, Nick, had swollen lips, but both lads had badly blistered faces. We advised them to consider using Sun block and not to go out skiing today. Their father John had not realised that they could burn quite so quickly this time of year.

So, after breakfast, another sunny day beckoned, the pistes had been over bashed and the temperature had plummeted over night so the slopes were quite hard. We took our skies down to the shop to get them edged, which made a big difference.

After a coffee, we headed over to Hochgurgl where the sun was in and out but the snow at the top was sublime. At times the clouds really came in and caused white out conditions.

We managed to find some more powder and made some great powder tracks!

We felt a tad tired after 6 hours, so went to the spa area in the hotel. The sauna’s etc. are all massive and you are only allowed into the area in your birthday suit.

We had a few drinks and then off to dinner. We met John and Jade, a father and daughter from Bristol. She is only 11 and John has semi retired and is now into local politics. We chatted the evening away and then went to bed, exhausted but happy!

Sunday 13th April 2008 – Sunny day after all

As usual, the weather forecast was wrong and the day started and finished in sun.




We skied all over the resorts, HochGurgl is on the same lift pass as Obergurgl. We were lucky enough to have had snow fall on previous days, so we were able to benefit from lovely powder on the off piste areas, especially in Hochgurgl. The only down side being the T bars!!


Since our last visit to the area, they have built a new circular restaurant at the top of Hochgurgl which has great views and a good cup off coffee.





The resort is only a third full, so the slopes are empty and the lift queues non existent. A great days skiing!!



We met a nice couple from Manchester on the sun terrace, they had flown in under their own stream and are staying in some new apartments.

We had a few drinks at the bar and our evening meal was very Austrian. We went to bed in time to watch the results of the previous nights Nancy show (how sad is that?).

Saturday 12th April 2008 – Off to Obergurl

Today we left the UK for yet another fun time in the alps. However, this time we have chosen Austria. The day was taken up, flying to Innsbruck and then coaching up to our hotel in Obergurgl, one of the highest resorts in Austria.







Our hotel, the Edelweiss and Grugl, is very welcoming with a fantastic spa and swimming pool area plus an out door heated swimming pool to boot!


After dinner, an early night was had in readiness for the next morning ski. We were please that the hotel has live BBC into our room, so we watched the latest Andrew Lloyd Weber program looking for the next Nancy!

18th March 2008 - 21 Today, 21 Today.....

Today was another big day, it being James's 21st birthday. We had the usual sing song at breakfast and James opened his cards and presents (of which there were many).


Today was also our last chance to hit the slopes in 2008, so we headed to Canyons, which as become our favourite resort. It is probably the largest and close to Park City.

The day was OK weather wise, with a few clouds and occasional light snow showers.

We hit the slopes and had a great day stopping at one of the mountain restaurants for lunch. The snow became heavy for a while but then stopped and the day finished dry and sunny.

We travelled the whole resort finishing on the much favoured Doc's run which takes you down to Doc's Bar (very handy). We had a last drink on the sun terrace outside the bar as Fiona and Shauna had managed to secure two gas heaters to stave off the chilly wind.

After relaxing, and dressing up, we headed off to Zoom (a restaurant owned by Robert Redford) for another excellent meal. Unfortunately, James had a sudden bout of sickness just after we returned home, so he was unable to join us for his own birthday celebration meal. Still the ribs etc. were amazing.

A DVD finished off the day. Tomorrow we return home (Boo Hoo). The time has rushed by as always. It has been an excellent holiday and we hope to return to the Utah Powder as soon as we can.

17th March 2008 - Adventure all the way

Today began as expected with blue sky and sunshine. We had agree the night before to get up extra early so we could catch the powder that had fallen the day before. By morning we had about a foot of snow in the town, so expected more on the mountains. A waiter at the restaurant the previous night had told us that Brighton (a ski resort in the next valley) had received two foot of powder!!

We headed off at 8AM and arrived at the resort for the first lifts. The resort had not had two foot but the new snow was great. We headed up the far right of the resort and after a few runs down, John took the team off down a new track. BIG MISTAKE!! The run was a link to the next resort (Solitude).

Chris was the only one to see a very small sign up high in tree. By the time we realised, it was too late and we were quite a distance outside of Brighton. The only way back was to ski down deep powder onto a plateau and then into the Nordic ski park. We ended up tracking through deep, deep powder for half an hour, which was exhausting. Fiona got stuck in the deep powder and James and Chris found the going very tough on their snow boards.

We eventually hit a snow shoe path which took us to the Nordic Centre Office. From there we had to walk back to the main resort centre (5 minutes up hill).

By the time we had reached the resort lifts, we were exhausted!!

we had lunch at Molly's but the service was awful. They forgot John and Fiona's meal and when the Nachos turned up they had forgotten to include the beef. It was also st Paddy's day, but nobody apart from Tim had made any effort.

The rest of the day was spent skiing the wonderful on piste and off piste powder. We all took turns leading and had a great afternoon.

We stopped off at the Silver Lodge on the way back home for a few drinks.

Dinner was an "eat in" affair, this time the boys cooked and the girls relaxed. Nachos followed by chicken salad.

A DVD finished of the day nicely!!

16th March 2005 - Heavy Snow - Day Off

Today began as forecast, with heavy snow. It was expected to dump down all day, so we decided to take the day off and recharge our batteries.

After a long breakfast and lazy start, we headed off to the Discount Retail Outlets, just on the edge of town. The site contains about 50 well known retail outlets which sell last years stock at huge discounts.

John and Fiona purchased trainers, tops and jeans all at less than half price. John also found a pair of Cat shoes he had seen on sale in the UK at over £120 for just £33.

Shauna purchased, tops, cycling gear, shoes and trainers whilst Tim and he boys went mad, buying watches, sun glasses, tops, hoodies, jeans, trainers etc. many of these were birthday presents for the boys.

The weather cleared during the big shop, but on the way back to town the clouds rolled back in and some of the heaviest snow we had seen started to fall.

We found a good restaurant on Main Street and had a lazy lunch, watching the snow whizzing by the windows.

After lunch we walked up Main Street, stopping by a gallery where they had a wonderful collection of bronze frogs created by an English sculpture. John & Fiona could not resist. Shauna bought some very special earrings.

We headed back for home and watched some DVD's before going for an Italian meal at a restaurant called Grappa. what a wonderful place. the best so far in Park City.

15th March 2008 - Too Cold and More Snow

Today started very cold and sunny at minus eleven!! So, we decided to head for Deer Valley. This meant that the boys (James and Chris) had to ski Park City as Deer Valley does not allow boarders.

So, after dropping the boys off, we drove up the hill to Deer Valley. Tim had to park in lot 5 (as far away as you can get) so it took while to get on the slopes.

Once on the slopes, the weather really closed in, the snow came down and wind increased. Cold is not a strong enough word to describe today's weather. Within half an hour we were all chilled to the bone!!

The skiing was not so good in Deer Valley. The slopes were either icy or loaded with chunky powder. We all felt tired after yesterdays powder fest.

We changed tack and went to the lower peak. It was better protected but still very cold. On the way down one to the pistes we went past one of the mega houses which was open for viewings.

So, rather than stay in the cold, we went in side. This mansion on the snow was just ENORMOUS. It was almost too big, verging on the obscene. However, inside was amazing, 6 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, set on three levels. It had everything including a 16 seater cinema, two wine cellars, swimming pools and Jacuzzis and the most amazing bathrooms. At 18.9 million dollars we decided against a purchase!

After the house viewing we went down the hill to a very nice restaurant for a spot of lunch. During lunch, the snow set in and we quickly decided not to ski any more. John had planned to take the link lift and ski down to the base station, however, Fiona and Shauna insisted we take the chair right down to the base. So, we had to endure the embarrasement of arriving in the resort on a chair lift, a first for all of us. It has to be said that Fiona and Shauna had not realised that the chair took us all the way back down to the baser station!

Chris and James had also had enough, so we picked them up on the way to the super market and DVD store. Fiona, Shauna, James and Tim were dropped off in town to do some shopping and John and Chris went home to unload the car and chill out.

Our evening was spent at home, Nachos and Chicken Salad, followed by ice cream!!

14th March - The greatest powder on earth!!

And it's true!! This place has the best powder on earth!!

Today we woke up to snow again, but it had dumped about 6 inches and was still falling. We decided to go to The Canyons ski Resort, just down the road.

When we arrived, John realised that his ski poles were missing, so he had to go and rent a pair. However, the rental guy felt sorry for him so gave him a pair for the day, free of charge.

The morning was just amazing. skiing a foot of powder which had collected to more than two foot on the sides of the piste by the trees. We skied through the larch trees in powder over our knees.





The feeling of floating on air down the slopes was something you dream about. The snow here is just so different from the stuff we get in Europe. It's dry, like polystyrene. It is cold but not too cold, still we needed to wrap up.




Lunch happened at the look out cabin near docs run. John decided to carry on skiing and what a good choice. The sun came out and the ski bowl skiing was the best ever. The powder is just so soft, you want to keep on going and going and going!!

On the way up to Docs Trail we saw a moose, infact two, a mother and baby.





The rest of the team had a great lunch and joined John for an afternoon ski. The weather started to really come in and by 3.30PM the snow fell in such quantities that the only thing to do was to go to docs bar and watch the weather from a safe place.

We have never seen such heavy snow, it just bucketed down. We stayed for a few in Docs and then made our way down to the car. The sun came out, finishing the best days skiing you could ever wish for.

Currently more snow is on the way, bring it on!!

13th March 2008 - Solitude is what you need

Today started with heavy snow, so we decided to go to a lowish resort, Solitude. However, due to the weather we visited the Tanger outlet discount stores.

Everything is discounted but also branded. John managed to get a fabby pair of Cat shoes for just £33 and the boys purchased wacky trainers, t-shirts, hoodies etc.

Once the big shop was over, we headed off to Solitude. This resort is relatively small with some good back runs and nice easy slopes.

After a few hours there was an massive clap of thunder and the snow just flew down. They closed the lifts for 15 minutes, so we headed off to the bar.

When the lifts re opened we hit the slopes and cruised the runs in the most amazing powder. We went gliding through larches on soft, forgiving powder. The best experience and one you dream about. It was simply wonderful to float on virgin powder to a couple of hours.

Just before coming off the slopes, the wind increased and we had a weird of experience of being almost blown back up the hill in a blizzard!

On the way back to Park City, we stopped off at our regular bar/hotel for a drink and some nachos.

We had dinner at home, spag carbonara and cheese cake!!

Also, a big happy birthday to Russ!!

12th March 2008 The BIG FIVE O

Today is a big day in the life of the Utah ski team. Tim is fifty today although he does not look a day over fifty!

We started off the day with birthday bacon rolls and a bit of left over cheese cake with 50 birthday candles.

After opening his many cards and presents, we decided to hit Brighton ski resort.

The weather was cloudy and cold but dry. This resort is all about tree line skiing and we hit many of the slopes. They could do with a little more powder, but compared to Europe this year, the runs are great.

We suddenly saw the message below on one of the resort information boards. Tim had left his credit card at the lift pass office!!

We had a late lunch, some of us were feeling the cold. Yet again, the lunches were massive, the Americans do calories big time!!

During lunch the heavens opened and we had very heavy snow. It lasted for about an hour. we really thought we would be going home early. The boys were determined to try the slopes and so we hit the lifts again.

After 15 minutes the sky cleared and the sun came out. Fantastic, a couple of inches of new powder and sunshine. We had a fabby couple of hours, tree line skiing and hitting the jumps (or the floor in John's case) in the ski park.

We stopped at the Silver Fork Lodge on the way back for a birthday celebration drink. Shauna fell in lust with one of the waiters (Johnathan) due to his amazing white teeth and eczema!!

Tim loved the Silver Fork T Shirts, so Chris bought him one for his birthday. The girls decided the flowers looked tasty.

Champagne flowed at home and then we popped out to a local restaurant where we had the usual warm food with very salty chips.

A DVD "Chuck and Larry" ended the day by midnight!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMMY!!

11th March - The Big Bird

Today we went back to a resort they call the Big Bird, official name Snowbird. We have not been to this resort for many years but decided it was time.

This resort is very much an off piste paradise, with very few marked runs and plenty of double diamond black runs (which is Europe's version of off piste black runs).

Lunch was a typical American over load. Most of us had burgers and chips but the chips were HUGE. Each portion was enough to feed 3. No wonder the USA has a big fat person population!

The sun was out but it was slightly windy and a bit colder than the previous days.

We hit the slopes all day managing to find a little powder.

Dinner was one of Fiona's Chicken Thai Curries. Plenty of tomatoes, green peppers and corriander. Wonderful!!

We have found a great way to dry out and warm up our boots!! Thank god for a big fire in the lounge!!

10th March 2008 - You simply can't beat this snow!

Wow! Today we hit Canyons and had just about the best days skiing ever. Europe just can not match this place. The slopes are supreme. Challenging, empty, no lift queues, perfect snow, great moguls.

We all agreed that today was the best day we had ever spent on the slopes. Canyons is fantastic, we love it!!

We initially wanted to ski Deer Valley, but forgot that they had banned Snow Boarding, thank god, there is no way that Deer Valley could have been this good.

Richard, if you are reading this, jump on a plane and get over here. Crufts can't possibly be as good as this!!

The sky was a fantastic blue and the larch trees make a great contrast.

The mountain houses in this resort are enormous and cost up to 10 million dollars.

The views at the top of the resort are just amazing. very different from Europe.

9th March 2008 - Why Can't Europe Be Like This?

Today started bright and sunny, but most of us had a poor nights sleep due to the lag, so were not in the best shape.

We were all really hungry so decided to go out for breakfast as nothing edible was in the house.
We drive down to Main Street and had the usual American breakfasts. Lots of it but not that hot!!

After that we went to the local super martket to do a big shop. The lady on check out gave us a 20% discount.

Park City resort was really busy, due to it being a sunny Sunday. Parking was a bit tricky. Everyone rented their kit and we kit the slopes.

Unfortunately, James was given boots tat were on the small side, so, after just one run we had to go back to the centre to change them. We took the wrong run and ended up having to walk back to the resort lifts.

Then we hit the slopes and they were just as amazing as we had remembered. The snow is fantastic and the slopes quiet, especially when compared to Europe. The slopes in Park City are great and we hit some lovely moguls.

When we got home, we chilled with come TV, nachos and dip.

We went out for dinner to a local pizza and noodle house. Unfortunately, the pizza were all thick and stoggy. Still the wine was great!

Went to bed at 9:45 feeling bushed. Off to Deer Valley tomorrow.