No injuries to report

Today has been our last day at Camping Champ du Moulin in the French Alps. Initially I'd been worried about our lack of planning which meant we'd be skiing without lessons. I fully expected at least one of us would break a limb. But we haven't.

It was a shaky start and I almost called it a day on the first morning, but five mornings of skiing later we've really progressed and I've felt quite confident by the time we have left the slope for a late lunch for the last two days.

Knowing how to stop is everything. The rest has just come from experimenting. I'm so proud of what we've accomplished on our own, and I know we've enjoyed the holiday more for the freedom that we wouldn't have had if we'd been tied to four hours of lessons every day.

Skiing can be very expensive but we've saved money everywhere. We bought our ski boots from TK Maxx for £35 and £25. The skis followed months later from Decathlon; they were last season's and reduced to £69. So no ski hire costs have been incurred. Camping here has cost around £26 per night and there's not even the need to buy a ski pass if you're only going to be using the beginner slopes.

We've enjoyed the week so much that we've booked to come back in February.


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