27 Mar
Although I did not go along on WEBI, I really enjoyed the pieces in the tour book. Such a story can be found below. (I apologize for any errors, it was not entirely readable everywhere :) )
Tête de Longet, AKA the adventures of Jandeman
Marijke, Job, Jan, Joep, Timothy
After we have shpongled in the car, we arrive at the parking lot. We were treated to a descent at the start, much to the horror of Timothy who had allready put his skins on his skis. After a gently rising continuation on a cross-country trail (forbidden for hikers, paid for cross-country skiers and FREE for tourers) we quickly hiked an altimeter or 1 - 200 to reach the edge of the trees. What followed was 1000 meters of beautifully rolling mountain scenery. By beautifully rolling, I mean an infinitely long terrain trap, with a venomous Frenchmen at the top of this pit that threw a stone at our Job with deadly intentions, which he managed to evade in the nick of time. We ended up, after a steep final climb, on the col, from where we traversed towards the mountain top at the risk of our own life. Here Joep played us a spotless Pirates of the Caribbean Cover on his Ukulele (which had been perfectly displeased by Peter v G the night before). Ready for the descent, the skiers were waiting for Job the splitboarder for 10 minutes. In the wind. In the cold. After this we started the 3.1 descent where Marijke had the fall scoop. Shortly thereafter followed by Joep who managed to get stuck in the snow after a 180-way back. But I forget someone. The name giver of this story. The hero, if you want. Jandeman. His debut hit the deceptive slope, the trick. This slope seemed to offer us powder, but it had hard hard bungs under it. Because of this, every group member was killed. Nobody escaped. But then Jandeman came. Undeterred by his fifty falls, he came up with a new tactic: no more falling. Never fall again. Only go. A graceful swan and a bull at the same time. Swinging ski poles, body bent backwards, unrestrained projectile. But mentally in control. Does it look unstable as an outsider? Then Jandeman just makes another turn. Is he going too fast? He manages to brake. With a traverse, Jan is already fluttering towards his new intended location. In this process he ruthlessly decapitated a cute tree. The summit is flying through the air, but before his pine branches cut by the sides of the ski land on the ground, Jandeman has already completed his skiing line.
This continues until the last leg, where Marijke, Job and Joep follow the same route back that we walked. However, Jandeman, fearless and bold, shoots left into the trees. Inspired by his traverse, I follow him. He loses his ski, but after finding it he decides to make up for his lost time by descending without turns. Occasionally he stops using trees and truly innovative technology. With tears in my eyes because of his greatness (and laughter) we arrive at the rest of our mess, after which we fall back to the car. How did he get his strength? His intelligence? His mental shild? Is it Timothy's "smiley gummies"? (me) or was he born with this? We can speculate everything about it, but one thing is certain. He lives during our era. Here and now. Jandeman.