ON A CHAIRLIFT WITH...MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE

Stand-up comedian and enthusiastic snowboarder Marcus Brigstocke is a stalwart of Radio 4 comedy – the 35 year old’s recent show I’ve Never Seen Star Wars is a big hit – and you may know him from TV shows such as BBC4’s Late Edition or Argumental on Dave. A few years ago Brigstocke offered a bar owner in Méribel a deal – put me up for the weekend free of charge and I’ll do a comedy gig in your bar. The next year he brought some comedian mates. And now it’s a full-blown festival, Altitude, with the likes of Phill Jupitus, Lee Mack and Ed Byrne on the bill, as well as live bands, DJs and pro skiers and boarders doing their stuff.

Have you ever skied?
I learnt in Les Arcs, France, when I was 15, using the ski évolutif method. You learn to parallel turn on diddy skis and progressively increase the size of them throughout the week, without having to learn snowplough turns and all that guff.

Why did you switch to a board?
About eight years ago, in Banff, I quit skiing – I’d just had enough of agonisingly uncomfortable boots. But I wasn’t going to miss out on Rocky Mountain powder, so I decided to try snowboarding. My instructor Chucky had a goatee, and called me dude. I used to think boarders were w***ers who pushed the snow off the hill.

What’s your favourite resort?
Méribel, as it’s slap bang in the middle of the Trois Vallées, so you have access to a vast ski area. Because of doing comedy gigs in the resort I know loads of people there so there’s always someone to go riding with. My second favourite is Val d’Isère, as each day you can go somewhere new and find incredible off piste. I used to love Chamonix but I’ve got kids now and it’s not so family friendly.

What’s your favourite run?
Folyères to La Tania in the Trois Vallées. It’s undulating, long, rarely crowded and lined with trees and so is great in a whiteout. Last season I found incredible routes off Mont Vallon in Méribel. One of my partners in the festival showed me what he calls Super Mario Land, where you bounce from one snow-covered boulder to the next.

As an environmental campaigner, do you worry about the impact of winter sports?
Well I took part in expeditions to the Arctic in 2007 and 2008 to highlight the effects of climate change, but one of the reasons I like Méribel is that you can get there without flying. Plus the resort runs its snow cannons and lifts on renewable hydroelectric power.

What’s your perfect day?
An early start in fresh snow, with a bit of sunshine, in the company of my wife. My snowboard playlist on the iPod – Pink Floyd, the Who, Faithless – but turned off on the chairlift to be sociable. A good lunch of steak tartare and chips or tartiflette, then staying on the hill till everyone’s gone, and really looking at the mountains.

You’re a real cheese fanatic. What’s the best French cheese?
Beaufort – it’s what they use in the best fondues. But the Ski Sunday crew told me that star chef Heston Blumenthal [who appeared on the show] claims Switzerland is the world’s best cheese-making nation. That’s just perverse.

Did you enjoy being on Ski Sunday?
It was good fun, despite having not skied for years. I’m not sure how much they enjoyed having me on the show though. Graham [Bell] spent 45 minutes rigging up cameras, including one on my ski tip pointing back at me. First turn off the chairlift, I scissored one ski across the other and sliced a grand’s worth of camera in half.

What’s your idea of great après?
A big meal followed by watching some comedy at the Altitude Festival. There’s a good connection as you’ve all been out doing the same thing, so if someone talks about falling arse over tit on the ice on Saulire, 30 other people there did the same thing. And it’s great to see comics whose material I know backwards doing new stuff in the Alps.

What’s more scary, improv or dropping into a couloir?
Definitely a couloir. I’m happy doing what an audience wants me to do, unless that’s dropping into a couloir. The only times I’ve hurt myself are when I’ve got air – like the time I told my younger brother, “Watch this”, and hit a jump that was far bigger than I’d anticipated, turned upside down and smashed my shoulder. So now if my board leaves the snow for more than a millisecond, I’m filling my salopettes.