Nevertheless a quick weekend learning ice and snow techniques seemed like a good idea, so the Doc and I packed our bags and headed for La Grave, France, hailed by pot-headed skibums everywhere as the "like, the next Chamonix, man".

La Grave - The Doc coming down... Photo: Michael Liebreich

La Grave is a very special resort. It has two lifts, no avalanche safety crew, no grooming, and no chic hotels or restaurants. But it does offer 2,200 m of the most awesome vertical anywhere in the world. This is not a family resort. In fact in three days there we saw only one child under the age of twelve, and he was being spit-roasted by some hungry snowboarders from Valdez.

We had three great days of training, first just skiing, then renting touring equipment and heading off up Le Rateau for a taste of the steep & deep.

If any of you ever go to La Grave, call Robin Molinatti (+33 (4) 76 79 96 39) to be hauled up slopes and Eric Mossiere (+33 (4) 92 24 22 98) to be lowered down them.

Then there was the fitness training, four or five times a week. By the time we were ready for departure we could dismantle and assemble a running machine in the dark. "This is my treadmill, " we would chant as we climbed aboard for another mind-numbing five miles "there are many like it but this one's mine!"