2003 - Exmoor - Jules Ms Scarlet, Rachel H, Simon P

New Years Eve: Jules organises a fab long weekend in a cottage in Exmoor. Over 13 people and 3 days and nights. I was ill but still had fun. Got to read out Cloudy Head to a captive audience once night, my first public reading in a way, and I loved it. Next morning I was thrilled to find people coming downstairs smiling sleepily and saying they had dreamed of Cloudy Head.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was about to have the best year of my life to-date.

2003 - Champoluc / Italy

January: Back to Italy to join Andy C and about 30 or so others snowboarding. It was lovely being back, and this time with Jo. Shame about C-B to taint the memory... and led to a viscious argument during this trip...which ended with me sitting on the end of the bed in a foul mood, drinking... drinking until I passed out, but sat upright. Jo woke up in the middle-of-the-night and found me still sat there, snoring my head off. She nudged me onto my back. Argument over.

The Curse of The Foot!

What can I say...last year two weeks before going snowboarding I managed to tear the tendons of my ankle taking a peice of bone off in the process. Painful. Even more so when I got back from Italy and stopped consuming Neurofen like they were candy.

This year, two weeks before snowboarding I manage to lose my footing in my parents garage whilst carrying a carton of Rogan Josh into the kitchen. My ankle buckles and my whole body weight (plus weight of Rogan Josh) slams down onto it. I spend 2 days hobbling around Newcastle but thankfully it is not as buggered as last year.

But then...!

One week before snowboarding, Jo and I begin a Monday night sipping a Vodka RedBull and end Monday night by polishing off 2/3rds of a bottle of Vodka. Pissed, happy, staggering to the toilet I manage to trip over the vacuum cleaner and fracture one of my toes.

I arrive in Italy concealing my limp - and eat Neurofen like candy.

2003 - Champoluc / Italy - Jo

January

2003 - Champoluc - Djr

Last year I spent most of my time on a simple red run by the nursery slopes getting used to the basics. So I was chuffed when I snapped on my binders, stood up and shot off down a slope like it had only been yesterday. Great memories of spending a whole day out with an advanced group of riders, taking slopes at speeds, going off-piste, and discovering that the pasta gets better the higher up and more remote you go.

2003 - Champoluc - Djr, Oj

Jo picked it up quick, and we were able to have some real fun heading out on the slopes together.

2003 - Champoluc - Yvonne

I met Yvonne last year - nice company when you're out in the middle of nowhere.

2003 - Champoluc - Yvonne

Just like last year: A night time trip up to the slopes in the gondolas - then met by several blokes on skido's who urge us to quickly hop on, then with a twist of the throttle we're off hurtling up the piste in total darkness with the bright beam of the headlamp picking up the spray of snow around us.

A few minutes later we arrive at Belvedere, a fab wooden hut of an eating place about 7,200 feet above sea level.

2003 - Champoluc - Brass Bollocks Crew

Leaving Belvedere these guys decided to skip the skido ride; the ratchet on thier boards and push off - totally illegal but I could see the attraction. There's no light. Just the powerful beam of the Skido following behind and that is sometimes struggling to keep up with them as they hurtle at break-neck speed. At several points they vanished into complete darkness, hitting a steep incline and dropping down out of sight the beam of the skido could not reach them. Pino said that those moments were terrifying because without the beam you could not see anything ahead of you.

2003 - Champoluc - Djr

2003 - Champoluc - Djr

2003 - Champoluc - Oj

2003 - Champoluc / Italy - Nice Guy Tony

Jo and I were accompanied by the ever-fab NGT. He tried his hand at snowboarding but stuck to skis in the end.

Day Four ended with one of Nick's drinking games - moments from this include Eric the Sweedish barman jumping back from Oj as she tried to bite him (to complete her challenge), Nic kissing Eric the Sweedish barman, Mon blagging scissors and a chocolate bar from Eric the Sweedish barman, and NGT... transmorming before our very eyes into something terrifying...

A Bristolian.

Imagine, you're 4,500 feet up, in the Italian Alps, and suddenly you're hearing somebody shouting "You've offended my family, you've offended a Shaolin Temple" in pure West Country drawl. Nick's frown deepened throughout the night as he began to no-longer-understand-anything that NGT was saying.

The bigger picture is that NGT was supposed to be sharing a room with Kit and Oscar. However, Andy C and Mario decided it would be better (more fun for them) to have NGT sharing thier room. NGT was woken most nights by a belt across his backside or by threats of anal penetration by foreign objects - NGT steadfastly refused to retaliate, living up to his Nice Guy status. Until this night. Even Mario, a man who knows NO FEAR started to look worried at the prospect of having to share a room with Tony who was now standing up in the hotel bar pointing his finger and shouting at people in a mystical (Bristol Gibberish) accent.

NGT suddenly lurched away from the table and left the room. When he did not return I went looking and found him asleep with his head in the basin.

2003 - Champoluc - Oj, Djr

Our last day and final run.

2003 - Château du Châtelard, Switzerland

Four days after returning from Italy I was back on a bus to Heathrow again. This time Switzerland for a long weekend with Andy C.

Andy left London just under a year ago. A few months later I get an E-mail from him telling me he had moved into a 600 year old castle. He wasn't joking

2003 - Château du Châtelard, Switzerland

On the base of the existing fortress, the castle was built by Jean de Gingins in 1441, a Lord who was anxious to preserve the security of the inhabitants of the Montreux region whilst increasing its admittance capacity. The Barony was granted to the castle by Duc Philippe le Bel de Savoie. In the 17th century the magnificent Keep of the castle was transformed into a comfortable dwelling with all the characteristics of a palace.

In the 21st century, Mr Andy C aka 'Baron Luvbus' takes up residence of the entire top floor. 600 years of history wraps itself around a vast and modern living space - four bedrooms, a gargantuan bath, stylish kitchen and a real wood burning fire in the living room. Oh and a wireless ASDL network in every room.

2003 - Driving out of Montreux, Switzerland

It was Saturday 1st Feb 2003 - now called the 'Day of Days' and was quite frankly the best day of my life up to that point.

The Day of Days was snowboarding in Verbier, about an hour's drive from Montreux; followed by a night time venture into outdoor hot spas in Lavey, followed by a midnight ride to Lausanne where we went clubbing until 6.30 in the morning.

The drive to Verbier had a sountrack - funky Jazz sounds of Saint Germaine - whilst we headed up into the mountains, curling around hairpin bends, zipping between vertical cliffs loaded with snow sprinkled trees, riding the very edges of mountain passes, spotting a guy parascending alongside our car with nothing but a vast gorge beneath him.

So different to Champoluc; it seemed to me that in Italy everything was either falling apart and rusting or not quite finished yet. Having said that, I prefer Champoluc for the snowboarding - must more interesting runs and quieter.

2003 - Driving out of Montreux - Switzerland - Andy C

2003 - Verbier / Switzerland - Djr

2003 - Verbier / Switzerland - Jenny the Park

January: Jenny flew out with me. Not only is she the Queen of Party, she's easy to travel with. She'd never done snowboarding and was not about to start now. So...she went off and bought a bikini.

2003 - Verbier / Switzerland - Djr

January: these mountains were like nothing I had ever encountered before. They were vast, immense and considerably higher than Champoluc in Italy. It was freezing up here.

2003 - Verbier / Switzerland

From the roof of the world, to down into the shadow of the mountains.

2003 - Lavey outdoor hotsprings - Switzerland

By time we left Verbier it was dark. Drove half an hour to Lavey. Memory, driving along a small road at night and suddenly seeing these vast spotlights beaming up from beyond a curtain of tropical looking fronds, and great big clouds of steam rolling up into the darkness.

I could not take my camera in but this image from a brochure shows the best part of the place: the Whirlpool.

It was -7 outside but the water was 30c, there was so much steam that combined with the darkness and soft lamp light it was hard to see beyond your own arms; very disorientating, so the first few minutes were a surreal journey into the unknown with Scott leading the way, as Andy C, Jenny and myself waded after him through the mist.

The whirlpool took my by surprise; one minute I'm stepping through a small gap in a circular wall and then suddenly I'm being bodily carried off by a surging current, around in a great arc, to find myself flying past Andy and the others, all of us laughing and whooping and feeling like kids again.

Apologies to Scott for the Devil in me that made me tear off your shorts leaving you swirling around butt naked.

Spent nearly 3 hours in there. Coming out I was even more buzzed up than when I got down from the mountain.

We headed back to Montreux for a quick stop - half a bottle of Vodka - and then the next installment.

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland - Djr

January: D-Club

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland - Andy C

January: D-Club

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland - Sophia, Ros

January: D-Club

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland - Sophia, Djr, Ros

January: D-Club

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland

Left Andy C's castle in a hired Jag, 30 minute high speed cruise to Lausanne with tunes blasting. There was a strange smell in the Jag. I said, "Andy, what the f@*k is that smell?" Andy nudged me and gave me a look that said "keep quiet." Later he told me the smell was the driver. Poooooey.

My only experience with Lausanne before this point was in the Cthulhu scenario, Horror On the Orient Express.

I was expecting a sleepy little club.

Welcome to the D-Club. Every club head within 120 km's of Lausanne was here. Andy went to the bar and came back with bottles of Vodka and whisky.

Memory: cheeky clubber with a plastic finger, hooks it into my top; standing around outside waiting for the Jag, everyone swigging the remains of the vodka, breaths pluming in sub-zero air, everyone smiling, laughing and high speed chat everywhere.

Getting back to the castle, the driveway - a long road winding through trees - was too icy for the Jag to risk so we clambered out and started walking. I've got this memory in my head of following a short distance behind Andy and then just watching his legs shoot out from under him. I laughed (sorry Andy) but it was so weird the way his arms did not fly up or move to protect himself, it was the way he just went down! and then did this little bounce on his bum.

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland - x, Katrina

January: D-Club

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland - Djr, Steph

January: D-Club

2003 - Lausanne / Switzerland - Djr, Katrina

January: D-Club

2003 - Château du Châtelard

Sunday:this was the view from the place Sunday morning, after waking up and supping a cup of coffee. Imagine just being able to sit there, cocooned within the metre thick walls of the windowbay, gazing out upon this picturesque world of snow-topped houses, misty lake and mountains.

2003 - Château du Châtelard - Final Night

Sunday was mostly a chill out. Watched Pink Panther. Watched Catch Me If You Can.

2003 - Château du Châtelard - Djr

Everyone went to bed - I didn't want to, in fact I was buzzing. I sat in total darkness, recording some new tunes, watching the burning log fire, sipping Vodka, and finding my thoughts expanding across a magnificent horizon. It was one of those rare moments when you feel truly happy; exhilerated by the state of your life. I kept thinking: I'm sitting in a castle, outside are snow capped mountains painted by moonlight and Lake Geneva; the same view that Lord Byron savoured for so many years. I wondered if I could reach my mind back through time and touch his thoughts: I realised that maybe I had drunk too much vodka.