If you've read my blog previously, you will know that I went snowboarding in La Rosière with the Caring Cancer Trust and had the most amazing time ever! Well, a few months after we came home, I got a call from them asking if I would like to go again as a mentor on the summer trip. I couldn't believe that they wanted to take me again! But unfortunately, I couldn't go as I was on a family holiday the week they had the summer trip scheduled for. But then they asked me something else:
"Okay then, what about next years winter trip? We can put you on that trip as a mentor?"
"Okay then, what about next years winter trip? We can put you on that trip as a mentor?"
I honestly couldn't believe it! But of course, I accepted their offer.
When it come round to April 2013, it was time to drive up to London to meet everyone. This time, because of how horrible the coach journey was the year before, we were meeting at the airport to fly there. This meant the journey was quicker and much more pleasant; the flight to Geneva only took around an hour and a half and then there was an hour drive into France and up the mountains. When we got out plane tickets, we just sat in the seats on our tickets rather than swapping around. This was good because I didn't know anyone this year, so I made friends with the person I sat next to. His name was Tom and he was really nice! We got on really well, and throughout the rest of the holiday we became good friends, as did I with everyone else.
One girl I shared a room with was called Shannon. She was such a lovely girl, and we've become such good friends and we still keep in touch and see each other now. I couldn't ask for a better person to share these holidays and this experience with than her.
When we arrived at our chalet in the evening, it seemed a lot more modern than the one we stayed in the previous year, but it was still so pretty and it had an amazing view over the little village! The inside consisted of several bedrooms, a lovely living and dining area everyone could sit together at and a games room with an xbox and a table football game! It was such a nice chalet with so much to do!
Before we had out first dinner, we went out to the hire shop to get out boots, boards and skis. There were 5 of us on snowboards and 10 on skis. We were ready for our first day!
To get right to the top of the mountain where we would be skiing, we had to take the gondola which was really scary because it was so old a shaky, but gave you such a good view!
We started off going over the basics so that me and another boy who had gone the previous year (I didn't recognise him at the airport, but I remembered him now!) could remember what to do and the other 3 could start learning. I picked it up again surprisingly quickly! Then we got going down some small slopes learning to slide across the mountain and turn.
By the end of the week, we were going down a red slope (the second hardest slope you will find. VERY steep with no obstacles).
During this holiday, I made closer relationships with the other kids than I did with the previous holiday because instead of the snowboarders and skiers going to different places, we all stayed in the same chalet together and we had chances for boarders and skiers to go down the same slopes at the same time. And on occasions, skiers took the snowboarders round flat slopes which are a snowboarders worst nightmare because you get stuck, so the skiers had to pull us boarders along with their sticks, it was great fun! haha!
Because everyone had to work together, we all formed closer bonds and good relationships.
We all formed such good friendships that we even worked together to get up to mischief too!
When we first got to our chalet, on each of our beds were an SPF Lipbalm, a small bottle of showergel and a small bottle of shampoo.
So one day, (in the girls defence, the boys started this off, we just went outside and joined in the fun), the boys got all of their little bottles of showergel and shampoo the chalet had supplied and poured them al into the hot tub and then turn the hot tub jets on, and this happened:
The bubbles rolled all the way down the hill eventually..
This all happened over the period of about 20 minutes, if that!
The adults weren't too happy about it and they told everyone involved that they would have to help the chalet staff clean the tub out, but when they told he chalet staff this, they laughed, said it was such a funny idea and they said "oh no, you had fun! Cleaning it out is our job, that's what we're paid for, don't worry about that!". They were amazing about it. At the beginning of the week, they even challenged us to get as many people in the hot tub as possible, their best try was 14 people. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to beat it because not everybody wanted to go in the hot tub): But if they did, we could have done it easily!
During the day, skiing and snowboarding was so much fun, but by the end of the day you were aching so a soak in the hot tub was fab!
During the day, we even got to relax in the cafè with a nice hot chocolate!
But then we went out again after and worked harder than ever!
When we arrived home in the afternoon, the chalet staff always had some treats waiting for us, sometimes a cake, sometimes brownies and sometimes cookies, but they all made by them during the day, how lovely!
Once we had nibbled on these (they were always so delicious!) we would have a shower, have some dinner and then either go down into the games room together and challenge each other on table football (team Stewie and Alex for the win!) or one night we all sat round the sofas together, even with Graham Bell (an olympic skier) and his family and sang songs whilst James, our snowboarding instructor played the guitar. We even got Graham and Ash, one of the three amazing chalet staff, to take it in turns playing on the guitar with James! Little duets(:
It was such a lovely atmosphere and it's one of them special nights I'll never forget!
The chalet staff were truly amazing and I couldn't thank them enough for what they did for us! I have missed these guys so much since we left it's unreal! Three in a million these are!
Thankyou Ash, Stu and Jez!
But the most special part of this holiday that I will never ever ever ever ever forget was getting to witness AND be a part of an engagement between to wonderful people!
At the beginning of the day, only some of the adults knew what was going to happen, then I got secretly told it by the nurse I was super close to (who's name I'm not mentioning because she didn't tell me anything at all, really..) and then a few more of the kids found out but by the time it happened, half of the kids still didn't know!
During lunch, we were called outside for a group "photo". Four of the boys were given a folded banner to hold, and they were told that when the camera man had counted down from 3, once he reached 1, they were to drop the sign so we could see what it said. The four boys genuinely thought the sign just said the name of the charity, but in fact it said "will you marry me?".
Then one got down on ones knee and proposed to his beautiful girlfriend, in to which she said yes!
It the most extraordinary and romantic and cutest and wonderful thing I have ever witnessed and the fact he wanted us kids to be a part of it to make it as special as possible just, wow. I have no words for it!
Thankyou and congratulations!
The fact I got the opportunity to do this once again, I couldn't thank Ian, the hon secretary of the charity, and everybody else enough!
The experience has honestly changed my life for the better.
This charity is such an amazing charity and I will do whatever I can to give what they have given me back to them!
You can have an opportunity like this if you just say yes. It may be hard at first, but you will never thank yourself for saying that three letter word!
