Proud dad – by proxy

You know all the kids growing up here are just fiendishly annoying in their skiing skills, they don’t seem to learn they just do – doesn’t Bruce - can’t get cooler than that - Lee say something like “don’t think, feel”, in one of his films, anyway these kids are amazing.

There is also an everso not stated rivalry amongst us all, sure we’re all cool and the gang, but – and this especially true of us Brits who didn’t have anything like the exposure to snow real residents of Serre Chevalier get – we like to see our nippers hareing around the pistes and collecting stars, then arrows and (if my son is to be believed) various forms of animal as they progress up the slippery slope.

One man who breaks the mold is my very good friend Mr Rick Lomas, humble and no braggart – fortunately I’m here, so let me tell you about the excellent Miss Maddy Lomas and her “zooming” skiing skills.

She’s only six, full English – not like my half-breed kids, and I hear they’re already thinking of renaming the Piste Luc Alphand in her honour. Well Maddy only went and won the slalom competition at the end of her ski schools’ course.

Not bad, well done Maddy.

Here’s the thing, I reckon if you get kids out here for two weeks intensive a year from an early age they won’t be far behind. By this I mean not like great lumbering me who first donned skis at 35 or 36. Makes me go all rheumy-eyed thinking just how different my life would be if I’d been born here.

There’s still a couple of weeks left to the season, there are hotel deals already on this site, I’d expect ski hire to be 20% cheaper – if you haggle, and there is usually a steady decrease in ski pass prices about now.

If you don’t do it for yourself, think of the children.