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As this was our first JGP of the season, Asher and I were quite nervous. Fortunately, unlike most of the European teams, we already had some experience competing our programs. While this was only our third time flying to Europe, Asher and I felt as though we were already experienced travelers and the flight to Lyon was quite relaxing. Upon arriving at the hometown of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, we were alerted we would not have time to eat lunch before taking a bus ride to Courchevel. As first one hour and then another passed, Asher and I started wondering whether or not we would actually reach our destination before nightfall. As we drove higher and higher, the trees started thickening and the roads became even narrower and steeper. Only signs with the word, ‘Courchevel’, and an arrow pointing up gave us hope that we would reach the ever-elusive ski town before we died of starvation. The bus wound around and around the mountain for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually (that is, after our bus driver got lost), we arrived at the deserted town. As Courchevel thrives mainly on winter tourism, the people there were made up mostly of competition volunteers and construction workers. After a late dinner at an Italian restaurant―which Asher and I ended up frequenting every day―we returned to our hotel. Even though the hotel was absolutely beautiful, there was no heating. NO heating. Also, since I am such a practical person, I managed to lock myself in the washroom. Luckily, one of the parents was able to pick the lock and liberate me from my icy prison.
The next day, our practices started. As our legs were still a bit shaky from both the flight as well as the bus ride, we were quite anxious about making a good impression on both of our practices. We were pleasantly surprised that the altitude did not affect our breathing as much as we had thought it would. As has become custom at Ice Dance Elite, we did both OD and FD run-throughs that day. After we left the rink, Asher and I felt quite pleased with how the day had transpired. We were truly looking forward to skating our compulsory, the Starlight Waltz, the following day―especially as Asher had drawn us a good spot in the skating order (YES. No more of this ‘skating first’ nonsense).
Our Starlight felt quite smooth and we ended up in fourth place. Just thinking about entertaining the audience, we skated a solid OD that placed us in second going into the FD. After the OD, our fellow Canadian dancers―Maja Vermeulen and Andrew Doleman―Asher and I decided to tour the streets in search of any shop that happened to be open. After all, since the very first day we arrived in Courchevel, we had always seen some Russian teams returning to their hotel carrying bags and bags of clothes. In the hope of reaching any open store, we walked to the edge of the town. We were indeed quite saddened and put down by the fact that we found absolument rien.
The day of the FD was indeed quite long and tiring. Ice dance was the first discipline to start off the competition, and consequently, it was also the one that closed the competition. After skating our FD, we ended up maintaining our second place behind the Americans. However, we were not done skating as yet; there was still the exhibition to do. Scrambling to remember our show program, we managed to skate it well. Once the exhibition was over, we ran back to our hotel to change for the banquet. Since the banquet started at 12:30pm and we left at 3:30am, we decided to pull an all-nighter.
The drive back down the mountain was, in itself, quite a terrifying experience. Or, it would have been anyway if we had stayed awake. From what I gathered from my numerous reliable sources (aka. Carol and our parents), there were no lights whatsoever to illuminate the steep and narrow road. I do find it quite intriguing how the bus driver managed to get us down the mountain alive without hurtling 1300ft. over the side of the mountain to our deaths.
We will remember this JGP with fondness. It was great to meet and cheer the other Canadians: Diane Szmiett (my awesome roommate), Rylie McCulloch-Cassarsa, and Jackson Wood.
By the way, Paul was with us as well…without Vanessa. It felt très weird.
Kharis Ralph
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