A Derry man has revealed he is one of the main characters in a TV reality show called ‘Brits on the Piste’.
Sean Lafferty from Carnhill says he is enjoying the attention the programme is getting across social media after it aired last month on Channel 5
Skiing is the favourite winter holiday of the middle and upper classes.
By day they take to the slopes and by night they are sampling the local food.
But for some, the time spent at some of the highest spots in Europe is focused more on drinking, sex and partying into the small hours.
This is the Andorran resort of Pas De La Casa, where it seems holidays are all about boarding, bargain booze and budget holidays.
Pas De La Casa is all about boarding, bargain booze and budget holidays
Channel 5 documentary Brits on the Piste has looked in to the antics of the workers who spend the winter season in the mountains and the holidaymakers who visit.
And the series, currently airing, has proved so popular that viewing figures doubled over the first two episodes.
Sean told Derry Daily: “The filming took place last year and were already 4 episodes into the series.
“And due to the program’s nature it’s now gathering media attention.”
With Pas De La Casa having the reputation as having the one of the best nightlife scenes of any ski resort, it’s certainly an eye-opening experiencE.
The four main bars, that are packed out during ski season, are The Milwaukee, Underground, Paddy’s Bar and The Shamrocks.
From downing shots in the bars, to having an early morning skiing lesson with ‘Dreadlock Dave’ and partying with DJ Craig, the ‘Pete Tong of Pas’, all things are covered.
And it’s not just the visitors behaving badly. The 30 or so British workers at the resort will often drink and part as much as the tourists, with one worker admitting she will have about ’20 shots’ while working behind the bar.
Fellow barman Danny admits that in the previous season he slept with 15 girls, but says he is aiming for 22-25 this season.
Despite the cold weather, there’s always time to take to the Jacuzzi, and these tourists from Wales take the plunge.
Following a night on the tiles, it wouldn’t be wise to miss your early morning ski lesson with ‘Dreadlock Dave,’ pictured here with bar worker Beth
It seems skiing is not particularly high on the agenda for visitors, despite the high costs of booking winter holidays.
Two lively party girls from Ireland find themselves on holiday for five days longer than they planned in episode three, while competitive Craig organises an alcohol-fuelled snowman-building competition, and three hungover resort workers go heli-skiing.
‘We were meant to book it for five days,’ say the two Irish visitors.
‘But we hit the wrong button on Ryanair and we’re here for ten.’
‘Everyone keeps saying to us ‘you’re total p*******s and you’re not going to make the slopes,’ but realistically probably all we’ll make is one day on the slopes.’
Group trips are particularly popular at the bargain resort. Fierce drinking battles between Team Essex and Team Bournemouth – a groups of friends who had swapped sand for snow to party hard – take place in the resort’s bars
Both sides of life at the ski resort are show here, from necking beers and shots on a wild night out, to a moment of romance as Joe proposes to his girlfriend Michelle on the slopes.
Meanwhile three brothers from Kidderminster, who are travelling to the resort for the first time without their parents, are under no illusions what they’re there for.
Engineer Scott, 19, says: ‘This year we’re allowed to go mental, completely mental. Just go out there and get smashed, every night, just drink hard and ski harder.’
Twenty bottles of Jägermeister and a further 20 of vodka are sold every night in the resort’s bars, so it’s little wonder party animals flood the venue.
The resort is very male-dominant, with 95 per cent of those who stay there being men.
And where alcohol and pride is concerned, this can lead to a tense atmosphere at time. Episode four shows how things can take a turn for the worst as skiing takes a back seat for most of the holidaymakers, replaced with drinking, vomiting and fighting.
* Brits on the Piste is shown on 5* and the next episode is this Sunday, March 8 at 11 pm.
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