When you go to an event sponsored by Carlsberg it’s pretty hard to not be fairly buzzed the whole time. Even though Carlsberg isn’t exactly the most flavourful lager in the world, it’s certainly easy to keep sinking them when they're ice cold and you’re super thirsty from all the shred. Safe to say the entire DC Crew went in hard during the DC Week in Meribel this year, and for a first timer, I couldn’t help but feel like I should have ridden my snowboard a little more. But such is life and we all know how to drink so you just gotta get involved and have fun. We certainly did. Here are a few random memories pieced together from the DC week that was. - William
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A three-hour bus drive from Geneva to Meribel thanks to the FTP dudes having bladders the size of small grapes forcing us to pull off the highway and reroute with an extra half an hour. Then needing to take a piss again 30 minutes later.
Catching up with Iikka Backstrom, Sebbe De Buck and Jordan Morse at the opening party eating finger food. Didn’t take long for the crew to get their hands on copious amounts of greenery which quickly got passed around. Wandering home and take twenty minutes to unlock the hotel door.
Wake up early and arrive at a breakfast room full of families and couples on their skiing holiday. Take at least ten trips to the buffet counter forgetting something every time.
Wait for the FTP dudes to wake up so we can grab a board. They get the serious hook-up with all new DC everything, start drinking beers at 10 am, while I wax a board and try to make them hurry up so we can go shred already.
Solo shred through the insanely fun DC Area 43. Everything is in perfect shape and there’s a monster hip getting built that looks like the size of four double-decker buses. Pasta for lunch and none of the DC riders are around. We head to La Folie Douce.
La Folie Douce is pumping! Beers on beers, people dancing everywhere. The DC Crew have landed and they are well on their way. Wild times indeed.
Mob shred down to the Rond Point. Everyone is very loose. The snow is sticky and tracked to shit so the only option is to head for more beers. They quickly arrive, along with jaegers and Aperol Spritz and whatever else they have behind the bar. Someone jokes that we should all hydrate. How right they were.
The DC Demo gets going and the team are sending it. The crew turn their backs on Jeru the Damage because the action is too good to miss. Whoops and cheers echo in the valley below. The bar tabs grow. Cigarettes pulsate on the lips of young seasonaires. Doubles get hucked on the jump. Airs are pocked and there are plenty of bails. Methods and backflips are the order of the day.
Another bar when the Rond Point closes, it’s dark so we walk for forty minutes down never-ending road bends to our hotel get a pizza and fall asleep.
Wake up with a mouth dryer than the Sahara. Red curtains make me believe the room is on fire. Pull them open, blinded by sunlight. Let’s get it. Straight up the hill to DC Area 43 for the Banked Relay Race. Bump into an old friend and join forces to team up for the race.
Carnage at the gates of the race. Four players jostling for the prime position into the first corner. Bumps and whoops and jumps appear out of nowhere as it begins to cloud over. The burms are building and the speed is intense. This course is too fun. The first race we take a win. Into the semis.
A while to wait for the next heat sees the free Carlsberg popping all around along with some extra medicines to help relax the muscles. Racing can be very intense you know. Best to try and relax a bit.
Semi-finals and they’ve up the ante with a five-player start. We come through in third. Not enough to progress to the final heats. Some epic crashes at the relay changeover spot. Including one of our own.
Alex Stewart and Victor Loron representing Rusty Toothbrush like very serious athletes take the final win and proceed to pour Carlsberg in their eyes to celebrate. We all blast down to the centre, blast a foot between the middle and top station of the gondola (thanks locals) and head back to La Folie Douce. This time made the first excursion look tame. The DC Crew know how to send it.
Victory lap with Alex down to the Rond Point. Feeling very floaty. Couple more beers. Few more shots. Everyone buys a jug of beer. Time to leave. So we send it down the final section of the hill with Alex, carving and laughing as we go because the booze is making itself be felt but it feels like flying.
Head to the afterparty, after the party that was after the party. Jeru on the mic lets his reals talents show and the food helps sober everyone up. But the drinks start flowing again and soon the dance floor is getting a taste of those quick feet that we snowboarders are sometimes known for. Cabs to O’Sullivans but we bow out early because the flight home is rapidly approaching. And sometimes you gotta remember when to stop. Until next year. Thank you thank you DC and all the crew. It was all time.