FrChamonix Apres Ski Report: 18th April 2012

I've spent more hours on the slopes this year than ever before, partly due to the great snow conditions and partly due to swapping my daytime office job for a night time bar job. I'm not sure where I've found the time to sleep and eat but between skiing, working and partying I've had a fantastic season and met loads of great people. Chamonix is different to many ski resorts in that it carries on ticking over all year round, meaning that lots of people live here permanently and consider it their home. This gives the town a great atmosphere as there is a lively mix of “locals” of all nationalities, as well as seasonal workers and holiday makers from all around the world.

As well as skiing I have also been spending much of my winter training for a marathon, which took place this weekend in Annecy (a lovely town, about an hour's drive from Chamonix and well worth a day trip if you have a car). As any athlete knows, good nutrition is vital to a serious training regime so with this in mind we went for a team carb-loading session at Le Moustache a few days before the race. We went a few week's ago for a friend's birthday and were so impressed that we wanted to give it another try. It wasn't that exciting for me, as they only have one vegetarian dish on the menu, so I had the croute again; it is a very good croute though and I don't make a habit of eating it very often, so it was still a treat. The meat eaters in the group were keen to try the burgers and they were very impressed; homemade and cooked to perfection apparently. I could see for myself that they were enormous and came with plenty of chunky chips and a salad that was more special than just a garnish. The steak also went down a treat and was accompanied by green beans and cherry tomatoes with a side dish of potato Dauphinoise. Yet again, we were too stuffed to contemplate dessert so I think we need to make at least one more visit to get a complete overview of the menu...

With the marathon out of the way by Sunday evening we decided to congratulate ourselves with dinner at the MBC. I demolished an entire bowl of veggie nachos (the first time I have ever accomplished such a feat), while everyone else temporarily disappeared from view behind an enormous burger. MBC burgers are great but you have to bear in mind that there is no dignified way to tackle them – you just have to hold on to as much as you can with both hands, open your mouth as wide as it will go and accept the fact that most of it will end up decorating your face. Not to worry though, everyone else is in the same boat and if you drink enough of the tasty-but-potent home-brewed beer you won't care what you look like...

Everything has that nostalgic end-of-season tinge to it at the moment, particularly at The Daily Dump Season Finale last night at Le Vert. The Daily Dump has been keeping us entertained all season with their awesome footage of mountain adventures and last night they showcased their top 10 videos from the epic winter that was 2011-12. Amazing scenery, inspiring images, daredevil riding and bucketloads of snow from the Daily Dump crew and lots of heckling from the likes of us who were, quite frankly, just jealous. All topped off with after-show tunes from RJMC and R.I.A. - even if we can't ride as well as these guys, at least we can dance better than them (mostly...).

This weekend is going to be another big one, starting off with the Compagnie du Mont Blanc throwing its end-of-season party on Saturday. The ski slopes will be awash with live music, fancy dress parties and competitions. Head over to La Chavanne at Flegere for a circus themed afternoon that will include sledging, timed speed skiing, live music and a BBQ. If disco is more your thing then they will be busting out the funky beats over at Le Tour, where you can also try your skills on the banked slalom course and other snow games. The evening party takes place on the roof of the Brevent car park from 7pm, where there will be bars and BBQs set up and DJs/bands playing everything from ska, to rock, to reggae.

Save some energy for Sunday though for the all-day-extravaganza that will be the Kitsch Inn end of season party. They'll be starting at 2pm by invading the Les Houches cable cars with musicians, free drinks and canapés. You can then either ski,snowboard or saunter down to the bar at the foot of the Bellevue cable car where there will be live music from Juggernaut of Rock, Eleanor, DJ Jimbo, Jon and special guests. In the grand tradition of “everything must go” there'll be huge discounts on food and drinks, as well as loads of prizes and giveaways. Get stuck in and enter one of many competitions including: Best Retro Fancy Dress (ski, evening, day or disco wear... anything goes); Big hAir (no snowboard necessary just lots and lots of hairspray); Worst Jumper Award; Table Dance Off... you get the picture, it's going to be a big one so get your glad rags, disco shoes and luminous headbands out for the last Kitsch Inn apres-ski of the season.

You can find further details for all these events and more on our What's On Calendar, have a great week and enjoy the return of winter!