testmeat photoblog

i did a few off-piste runs on my recent snowboarding holiday, but this was by far the most fun. gray had done it before, which was a good job as we appreciated the further along we boarded. it started of going down a fairly narrow valley. this then went through a really narrow crack in a cliff. it was hard to put any speed checks in to slow down, as all you could really do was point the board straight down. there were a few moments were it was impossible to go any further on our feet, and we had to scooch along on our hands and arses. we then arrived at this traffic jam, with about a dozen skiers in front of us. to get past this section involved removing our boards, chucking them down a hole, climbing down a rope into a cave and then squeezing out through a tiny hole at the bottom. that really was the point of no return. the funniest moment occurred a little further along, where again everyone had stopped waiting for this queue of skiers. it was another situation where everyone had to either take their equipment off, or negotiate their way down on their bums. the final skier was about halfway down as i shuffled up to the edge, ready to go next. as i shuffled forwards, my board slipped in the snow and i started sliding feet/board first into the head of a terrified french skier. i dug my board into the snow to try and slow down, as she put her hands up to try and protect herself, and as both of our eyes widened i finally came to a stop a few inches from her face. we exchanged a nervous anglo-francais laugh, until she stopped suddenly and her eyes darted behind me. i turned around to see marc repeat the same mistake i had made, getting too close to the edge and starting to slip towards us both. now three pairs of eyes widened and we all let out a harmonised scream as he hurtled down the slope, somehow sliding straight past us, towards the rocks below. it was one of those crazy situations, particularly with the obvious language barrier, where all you could do is burst out laughing. proof, if ever it was needed, that boarders and skiers should not mix.

here's the original