In a race between a car and a train to the Italian ski resort of Bormio, there was no way I was going to break through the Swiss border first. But then taking a train isn't just about getting places fast.

In a desperate attempt to avoid a 4am wake-up call yesterday I opted for the somewhat indulgent train ride from London, rather than jumping in the BMW X5 with the rest of the Fall-Line team. It's a long haul, and I wish it wasn't just eco-tendancies that I could sell it to you with. Taking the train from Britain to Italy is, afterall, a bit of an adventure – and isn't that what ski and snowboard trips are supposed to be about? Getting lost in stations in the middle of big cities; meeting a bunch of strangers you can't communicate with other than snoring through the night or dining or red wine and brioche? No? C'mon, where's your sense of fun?

My journey may not have finished until midday today but at least I missed that 4am start yesterday!

The Eurostar from London to Paris is a doddle, two hours and they've even stopped telling you that you're going through the tunnel. The only indicator that we had arrived into France was the shady looking Franglais wine outlet on the way through Calais.

The next leg of the journey turned into a bit of an arse. Trains to Milan, and so the Italian ski resorts, depart from Paris Bercy. I'd never been to it before and wasn't ready for the minimal design (there was nothing there). I had an hour to kill so when the news came that the train was going to be two and a half hours late, well...

Finally the train did arrive and it was all very civil – I was sharing a couchette with three Italians on their way home from a meeting in Paris. Apparently there was girl from Cornwall at the meeting they'd been to and my English was much easier to understand than hers – that's not really a complement, it means I was probably talking  too slowly and too carefully with a kind of Australian/American accent.

We woke to a sight I don't think I've seen in months though: sunshine. It was euphoric. Unless you've spent the last four months working indoors with nothing but the Southern rain to keep you company you probably won't get it, but seeing the sunrise-tinted mountains, far in the distance from a very industrial looking Milan, was probably the best thing I've seen since fireworks night. Amazing. And it was only to get better. As I eventually got to the slopes of Bormio, it was bluebird with the remnants of a previous dump lying around for all the Ski Test revellers to enjoy.

I'm a bit of an anomaly at the ski test. It's not that I'm trying to be some kind of petulant child but I'd just rather snowboard than ski. To keep in the testing swing of things though, I'd pre-ordered a bunch of Endeavor snowboards and SP bindings to check out – check back tomorrow for a full review of the Endeavor Live and SP's hyper-tech quick release bindings.

Obviously we're here to work and to prove that being a professional skier is the best job in the world I grabbed Joe Tyler and got him to do some stunts for the camera.