(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

While tentatively musing about post-pandemic travel, I came across some photos from a highly enjoyable 2005 ski trip to Wengen, Switzerland. I’ve posted photos from other trips to the Wengen area (here’s a post featuring 1999-2002 photos; and here’s the start of a series of posts from a 2018 trip), but the 2005 trip was a special one.

The linked resorts of Grindelwald, Wengen, and Mürren form a large and spectacular ski area in the shadow of three famous peaks: the Eiger, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau: these appear in the “cover” photo at the top of this post. As a base, I find Grindelwald a little busy: in addition to being the end of the railway line, you can actually drive to the resort…so there is a lot of car traffic. But both Wengen and Mürren are car-free: you can only get there by mountain train (for Wengen) or by a combination of lifts and trains (for Mürren). Both sit on impossibly remote alpine ledges, and there is no tourism sprawl.

As with all of my Swiss winter trips between 1992 and 2012, I was in Wengen for a ski camp organized by the Youth Division of the Auslandschweizer–Organisation (ASO – or “Organization of the Swiss Abroad”). 40 of us from around the world took over a youth hostel and spent a huge amount of time skiing and (in the evenings) participating in other Swiss activities.

This trip was notable for two main reasons. Firstly, it marked my recovery from a complex concussion suffered the previous summer during a soccer game. I had to skip that hockey season and was only cleared for strenuous sports shortly before the trip. Being able to do “normal things” again (shades of the current pandemic situation!) was a long-awaited and very much appreciated development.

Secondly, our group leader Simon W. introduced us to the joys of off-piste skiing. Simon expertly assessed our capabilities, found us some amazing skiing, and taught us how to enjoy the “steep and deep” without unduly endangering ourselves. Not only did it make for an unforgettable 2005 experience, it prepared us for similar adventures in the future. One of my 2018 posts describes how some of us met Simon W. again in Wengen.

Many of the pictures in today’s post are from those off-piste adventures. I remember the first time I truly found the proper rhythm of skiing in very deep snow. It was both exhausting and exhilarating. Bouncing in and out of the powder was so much fun that a photo from that very run remains my Facebook avatar to this day.

However, one of my fondest memories was off the slopes. My very first time on skates for at least 6 months (since before the soccer injury) was on a snowy evening on an outdoor rink in Wengen. Even though I had to borrow skates and a hockey stick, I felt like a little kid again…giddy about being able to skate and stickhandle once again with no real rules or restrictions.

That evening on the ice, with dramatic mountains towering above me in every direction, made a profound impression on me. It was so memorable that it became the subject of an essay I submitted to the organizers of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Torch Relay. You can imagine my joy at being selected to run a portion of that Olympic Torch Relay in December 2009 (here’s a link to my post about that special day).

Alas, one of the conditions of the Olympic Torch Relay was that I had to more or less relinquish the rights to my essay. So I can’t share the actual essay with you, but I think you get the basic idea.

I’ve also included some group photos. I’m still in touch with many of the other participants, with several of us still organizing an annual ski trip together even though we are technically no longer “young Swiss Abroad”. We won’t be able to do that this winter, but I’m sure we will in early 2022. I’m already thinking about where I would like to go!