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Skiing in Les Diablerets – an emotional rollercoaster

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(Les Diablerets, Switzerland)

Skiing here is in 4 distinct areas. There is “Glacier 3000”, which is sits on a glacier at about 3000 m above sea level. One of the pistes is 8 km long. The other three areas are connected by lifts: Les Diablerets, VIllars, and Gryon. It’s fun to ski from one resort to the next…you just have to make sure you get back before the lifts close. It’s very expensive to return to your base, as these towns are very far apart by road or rail. The mountains are in the way!

A summer village nearly covered in snow, between Les Diablerets and Villars

On our first day, the good news was that there was an ongoing blizzard depositing huge amounts of snow on the pistes. The bad news was that there was an ongoing blizzard; the sun was absent, and visibility was hit and miss. The more exposed areas above the treeline had some icy patches, as the wind was blowing the snow away. As a result, we spent most of our time below the treeline, and enjoyed the skiing very much despite the occasionally challenging conditions.

Skiing at Villars (from Petit Chamossaire)

After lunch high above Gryon, we began following the route that would take us back to Villars and then Les Diablerets. Alas, the lift connection that brought us to the Gryon slopes had just closed due to high winds. We had to take a gondola down to Gryon itself, where hopefully we could catch a bus to Villars, and then ski back to Les Diablerets (via several lifts). However, so many people were stranded by the closed lift that we couldn’t take the bus.

Les Diablerets, seen from the slopes

We then walked to a train station, and took an alpine train to Villars. But it took so long that we would not make it back to Les Diablerets before the lifts closed. We were despondent and were facing the prospect of a 3 hour journey by bus and train (at our expense) back to Les Diablerets. And then we saw the “snow angel” (seriously…he wore a sign that said this).

Skiers on Grand Chamossaire

The Swiss are known for quality products and services. The “snow angel” told us that a bus had been arranged to take us (and 21 other stranded skiers) at no cost to us. And because it might take 45 minutes for the bus to arrive for us, the ski area bought us all drinks at a nearby pub! Given the prices in Switzerland, this was quite a generous offer! As we finished our drinks, the bus arrived, and we all enjoyed a stunningly dramatic drive from Villars to Les Diablerets…in just under an hour. We were even on time for dinner.

We can see Lake Geneva from Grand Chamossaire!

This was enough of a rollercoaster for one day, but the second day had nearly as much drama.

Another photo from the slopes above Villars

The sun was shining and it looked like a beautiful day for skiing. We caught the first bus from Les Diablerets to Col du Pillon – where the lifts to take us up to Glacier 3000 begin. Alas, there was more bad news. As they had received 150 cm (!!) of snow, the lifts were late and they could not prepare the pistes. You could only ski if you had an avalanche transceiver and other highly specialized alpine gear. So we had to return back to Les Diablerets,

We had lunch at this restaurant above Les Diablerets

We finally started our ski day about an hour later than we had hoped, and we were feeling kind of sorry for ourselves. But it turned out to be a spectacular day on the slopes. There was little wind, the sun was out, there was plenty of powder on the slopes…it really wasn’t necessary to ski off-piste.

It is green down below in Aigle, but very white above Villars

While it was very crowded in places, as the conditions had been poor for quite some time before we arrived here, we managed to avoid the queues by taking the “less glamorous” drag lifts (pomas, t-bars) rather than chairlifts, gondolas, and cable cars. This strategy worked in Lake Louise, and it seemed to work here as well.

Downtown Les Diablerets, after our day on the slopes ended

The photos in this post are all from our second day of skiing…there was too much blowing snow to take pictures on the first day! Coming up next: Skiing in France!

Posts from the road

Les Diablerets, Switzerland

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(Les Diablerets, Switzerland)

After a very long journey, I have finally arrived in this winter’s first ski destination: Les Diablerets, Switzerland. It is by no means the largest Swiss resort, but it is relatively close to Morzine (France) and Les Portes du Soleil, where I will be skiing all of next week. As I only have time for a couple of days of Swiss skiing, it wasn’t necessary to ski in a huge resort.

Canadian treats in Les Diablerets!

Les Diablerets is located on the eastern fringe of French-speaking Switzerland, just a little bit west of my German-speaking “Heimatort” of Lenk. I went skiing at the nearby glacier in August (!) of 1987, so I wanted to get a better idea of the area (most of it) that is not actually open in the summer. In fact, with climate change and increased awareness of environmental impacts, I am not even sure that skiing is still offered here in the summer.

Figuring out where to go next: the main junction at Vers l’Eglise, Switzerland

It has been a mild winter here: on the rail trip from Geneva to Aigle, there was no snow at all. From the rustic mountain train that travels between Aigle and Les Diablerets, snow only began to appear as I arrived in Les Diablerets. Not every piste is open right now.

Main street in Vers l’Eglise, Switzerland

As I write this, on the day before we first hit the slopes, the snow is finally starting to arrive. We received about 25 cm of snow today, with more expected in the days to come. In fact, I suspect we won’t see too much of the sun for the first part of this international ski odyssey. But that’s OK – it’s hard to enjoy the sunny slopes if there is no snow on the slopes!

L’eglise, in Vers l’Eglise, Switzerland

The village reminds me of Lenk too, or perhaps Andermatt, before Andermatt underwent a massive expansion. There isn’t much of a corporate presence, and somehow (in a good way) it feels like the town is still in the past century. Somehow, it is a little strange to use my laptop.

The very lonely and very small train station at Sur Le Buis, Switzerland

I’ve been scanning menus and have come to the conclusion that you had better be a cheese lover here. Cheese is everywhere…and bread, potatoes and ham are ubiquitous too. Again, not too different from my observations in Lenk a couple of years ago. And from what I understand, I may see more of the same in Morzine next week. It may be in a different country, but the history here goes back much further than the relatively “new” borders between France and Switzerland.

Here comes the train! The train from Aigle to Les Diablerets, just past Sur Le Buis

I am staying in the Auberge de la Poste (see photo at the top of this post) – one of those rustic old chalets that passers-by like to photograph. It’s right in the middle of town, and I think it will suit our purposes perfectly.

This is what my hike was like – between Vers l’Eglise and Les Diablerets, Switzerland

Today’s photographs were all taken while walking from Les Diablerets to the nearby hamlet of Sur Le Buis. While there is no sun to speak of, and a few of the photos were taken in blizzard-like conditions, I think you can get an idea of this area is all about. By the time you read this, I will hopefully be on the slopes!

Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback – Stuben, Austria (2013)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Context is everything in travel. In 2013, I had such a great week of skiing in Val Gardena that the following 4 days of skiing in Stuben, Austria, could never measure up. And by the end of a stretch where I was skiing for 10 out of 11 days, I think that some fatigue set in and minor annoyances were easily exaggerated.

A daytime view of the photo at the top of this post

I was recently browsing through my photo archives and found some pictures from my 5-day stay in Stuben. A lot of impressions came flooding back.  I realized that Stuben really was a beautiful village.   I also remembered that the weather really didn’t cooperate…we didn’t see too much sun when we were on the slopes, even though it was technically already springtime.  In fact, I think we only had one partial day of sunny skies.

Another night view of downtown Stuben

Strangely enough, the strongest lingering impression was about cigarettes. The owner of our B&B smoked incessantly. The nearest pub and restaurant also seemed to follow a different set of rules from the rest of the Alps.  Restaurants and hotels have been smoke-free in Canada for so long that these smoky places literally left a really bad taste.

Finally, a sunny day! This is above Zurs, Austria

Many years have passed, and I know that the B&B is now under new management.  I suspect the pub is no longer a smoking “outlier” either. Maybe it’s time for a fresh assessment of skiing in Stuben?

We had just skied down this stash of fresh powder, above Zurs

Stuben has a lot going for it. It’s a tiny, remote village at “the end of the road”, but is still linked to the legendary St. Anton ski area. The pistes are long and often challenging. And the lift pass also gets you on the slopes at Lech, Zurs, St. Christoph, and Sonnenkopf. Since our visit, the slopes at nearby Warth and Schroecken have been linked as well.

More “almost” off-piste skiing above Zurs

Even though there was a blizzard and there were only about 12 people skiing in the entire Sonnenkopf area, we still had a lot of fun on our day there. Sure, we rarely saw where we were going but, with slightly better visibility, it could have moved from “fun” to “epic”.

The sun was also out on the day we left Stuben. This is the “main street” of the tiny village.

I’ve had some great travel experiences in Austria, such as my whirlwind 2014 visit to Vienna. It may be time to move on from the bad weather (and cigarettes) of 2013 and give Austrian skiing another shot!   

Posts from Base Camp

Trip Debrief…and revealing the next destination

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

From the natural landscapes to the 24-hour loss of heat and power, there certainly was no shortage of drama on my recent trip to Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

Antelope Canyon

Ultimately, however, the loss of power was just an inconvenience. We met people the day before who cannot connect to the electrical system at all, so that put our temporary loss into perspective.  It also reminded us how utterly dependent we have become on electricity.

Antelope Canyon

From a travel strategy perspective, I was thankful that I had journeyed to these relatively remote areas as part of a group. Having that additional level of support was quite helpful, even on the days when the power remained in force.  I will continue to use small group travel in situations where I don’t think I’m properly equipped to manage on my own if things go wrong.  Off-season travel to remote locations certainly falls into that category, even if there is no language barrier.

Antelope Canyon

Having said that, I am very much looking forward to my next independent adventure.  Later this winter, I will be skiing in countries that are very familiar, but in locations that are new to me. I’ll start by spending several days in and around Les Diablerets, Switzerland. This is in the French-speaking Canton of Vaud, just a few kilometres west of my 2018 ski adventure in Lenk.

Me, hiking determinedly in Zion National Park

From there, I will travel further west for a full week of skiing in Morzine, France. While I have been in France a few times recently (including a wonderful summer 2018 trip to Normandy and Brittany), I have never been skiing there. In fact, I have never been skiing in any French-speaking part of Europe…so far, my only French-speaking skiing has been in the province of Quebec.

Antelope Canyon

Morzine should be a great base. It is part of the vast (201 ski lifts!) Les Portes du Soleil ski region, linking thirteen resorts in both France and Switzerland. We’ll be able to ski back and forth between countries, not just villages!  Stay tuned for lots more on this exciting destination in the Haute-Savoie.

Antelope Canyon

I will end this post by mentioning one more benefit of travelling in a group: being able to get great photos! All of the photos in today’s post were taken by other travellers who graciously allowed me to use them in this blog. If you want to read more, you can check out these recent posts on Antelope Canyon (Arizona) and Zion National Park (Utah).

Posts from the road

Cross-Country Skiing in Canmore

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(Canmore, Alberta, Canada)

After four chilly days on the alpine slopes, the temperature dropped even further. The overnight low was around -30’C. The visibility was iffy and there was also a cold wind. It would have been miserable on the lifts, even with Hotshots! We made an executive decision to skip our planned last day of downhill skiing and try an outdoor sport that keeps you a little warmer: cross-country skiing.

Me at the Nordic Centre “stadium”

Fortunately, I was in one of the best places in the country to do this: as I mentioned a few days ago, Canmore hosted the Olympic cross- country skiing and biathlon events at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.  The facilities have been maintained and remain a competitive/training centre today.  Instead of just visiting, however, this time I was actually going to ski!

Richard races to the finish line

I haven’t done cross-country skiing regularly for about 40 years.  The equipment has changed enormously.  But the basics are still the same and it is just a little easier to ski uphill with the new “skins” skis.  

Skiing through the forest at the Canmore Nordic Centre

There was no way that we could have enjoyed skiing downhill today: the windchill was approaching -30’C, although the actual temperature was about -17’C at midday.   While cross-country skiing was also cold initially, I warmed up after about 15 minutes of work.  We decided to do a series of loops that didn’t take us too far from the base lodge, just in case .  Eventually, the main concern was not getting too hot, as the moisture could really make you freeze when you got cold again later. 

Richard overlooks the meadow

After a delicious lunch, we did another longer loop in the afternoon.  The forest trails were beautiful but my favourite spot was  a spectacular alpine meadow (see photo at the very top of this post), where you could really appreciate all of the mountains around us. The sun had graciously reappeared shortly after we started, and the wintry colours were intense.

Some of the many flags at the Canmore Nordic Centre (representing the countries that competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics)

I don’t say this often, but this was definitely a day where it was better to be off the slopes than on them.  We ended up skiing more than 20 km and fully deserved the Mexican meal we enjoyed that evening.  I certainly wasn’t expecting to drink horchata in Canmore, but there it was! 

The Canmore Nordic Centre

We made the most of our last full day in Canmore, and we could only laugh the next morning when the temperature dropped to a totally ridiculous -36’C (again, without the windchill!) on the way to the airport.

Coming up: another Alberta attraction!

 

Posts from the road

My Coldest Skiing Ever?

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(Canmore, Alberta, Canada)

I have now been skiing for two days in the Canadian Rockies.  Winter is ending in a few weeks, and it was reasonable to assume that temperatures would not be significantly lower than what I usually encounter during my March ski trips.  But that would be wrong.

-29’C on the car dashboard, en route to Lake Louise for skiing

Thanks to a Polar Vortex situation, the temperature en route to the Lake Louise ski resort (see photo at top of this post) reached an incredible -29’C.  While I know that it can often be much colder than that in Canada, it is not the kind of temperature commonly associated with sustainable ski resorts.  They even issued a frostbite warning!

Me and the distant Mt. Assiniboine (in British Columbia!), while skiing at Sunshine

Maybe it was just a one-off?  Well, it warmed up the next day to a relatively balmy -27’C on the way to the Sunshine (Banff) ski resort.  In fact, that day was probably more challenging: it felt even colder (perhaps due to the altitude) than it did at Lake Louise, and I had to return to the lodge after only two runs.  As the day progressed, I was generally able to complete three runs in a row before I had to restore some warmth to my frozen hands and face.

One of the “Back Bowls” at Lake Louise ski resort

But!  This is not a story of icy gloom!  It is, instead, a story of ingenuity and survival against the odds.  Yes, I have discovered an easy way to continue skiing, even in the most frigid temperatures.

Entering the Back Bowls at Lake Louise

Thanks to the automatic hand dryer, found in most public washrooms, you too can restore at least some temporary warmth to your hands and mitts (I don’t recommend this technique with feet, boots, or faces).  Simply find a washroom with an automatic hand dryer, and forego the unnecessary preliminaries of actually using the washroom or washing your hands.  Just let the toasty hand dryer work its magic, and you’ll be ready to face the elements once again. Trust me, it works!

Back Bowls at Lake Louise

Of course, this places some limits on your ski itinerary.  My hands also feel very dried out right now.  But desperate times call for desperate measures!

Lake Louise summit

Around 1:00 p.m. or so, on both days, the overhead sun did help out quite a bit.  And I’m certainly not complaining about the crowds: lift lines were non-existent, and we often had huge pistes all to ourselves.  But I do have to admit that unconditional alpine enjoyment took a bit of a hit over the past two days.

Empty pistes in the middle of the day at Sunshine (Banff)

Fortunately, temperatures are expected to rise for the next two days of skiing, so I hope to provide some substantive commentary on these two beautifully situated ski areas in my subsequent blog entries.  And, just in case, I will also be buying a couple of “Hot Shots” (hand warmers that I haven’t used since the 1990s) to put in my mitts on the last day of skiing…temperatures are expected to plunge once again by then.

Near the summit of Lake Louise

Canadian skiing isn’t always like this. Stay tuned to find out what it’s really like when the weather is not so much of a factor.

Posts from the road

Ready to Ski in the Canadian Rockies

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(Canmore, Alberta, Canada)

I wasn’t able to cross the Atlantic for skiing this year…but when one door closes, another one opens.  I am now in the Canadian Rockies for a week of skiing in and around Banff and Lake Louise!

For a mere C$12,500.00, this samurai armour and sword can be yours from a Banff souvenir shop

It is a trip of “firsts”.  I have never been to Calgary, Banff, or Lake Louise.  I have never been skiing in Alberta.  And I have a feeling that I am also going attain some other “firsts” on the slopes…at least from a ski conditions perspective!

Bow River Waterfalls. near Banff, Alberta

I believe that Alberta is currently in the midst of a “Polar Vortex” weather system.  Whatever the reason, it is VERY cold here for late February.  We actually decided not to ski today, as the overnight low was -28’C and the windchill this morning was a nippy -30’C.  However, I still had the chance to explore this spectacular setting, in preparation for our debut on the slopes tomorrow.  

The Banff Springs Hotel, as seen from the (mostly) frozen Bow River

 We started off by visiting some hot springs and then the famous Banff Springs Hotel (see photo at the top of this post):  another one of the iconic Canadian Pacific hotels that sprang up across Canada approximately 100 years ago. I’ve been to a few of these recently: you may recall my posts on the Manoir Richelieu and the Chateau Montebello in Quebec. 

It’s -20’C outside, but they are called hot springs for a reason

The Banff Springs setting is amazing, but so is the interior.  The architect must have had a great time designing the hotel, given the disorienting maze of hallways and rooms.   The exterior also lives up to the castle motif shared by many other CP hotels.  After our dizzying self-guided tour, we came across some very unconcerned deer on our way to the Bow River waterfalls.

Wild but totally unconcerned deer near the Banff Springs Hotel

For lunch, we agreed that a huge bowl of Thai soup would be an appropriate way to recuperate from the cold.  We then visited a famous destination that will eventually get its own post, and finished up our non-skiing day by exploring some of the sights around Canmore. 

Canmore Nordic Centre, venue for biathlon and cross-country skiing events at the 1988 Winter Olympics

Canmore is a former mining town that has made the transition to a sport and resort centre.  Our first stop was the Canmore Nordic Centre, home of the cross-country skiing and biathlon events at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.  It looked much hillier than it does on TV, and the hardy warriors on the trails were emerging with incredible icicle formations on their faces. And yet, they seemed happy enough to be there.

Ha Ling Peak, near Canmore, Alberta

We finished by exploring a little bit of the hinterland that was apparently the preferred site of the Canmore Nordic Centre, but building an Olympic-standard road to that location would simply have been too difficult and expensive.  Believe me, it was quite an experience being in such rugged terrain only a few kilometres outside of Canmore.

Spray Lakes, near Canmore, Alberta

I’m now fully acclimatized and ready to hit the slopes. Stay tuned for our Polar Vortex skiing debut!

Posts from the road

Skiing by the Numbers

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

As we prepared to leave Lenk for the bright lights of Zürich, I decided to take a look at something not typically associated with a skiing vacation:  statistics.

Catching some air at Luegli (above Adelboden)

A website called skiline.cc lets you connect your digital lift passes to an on-line account.  By entering the unique code on your ski pass, all of your skiing data can be collected in one place.   Each of the resorts I visited this year participated in this program.   The result:  I now know exactly how many lifts I took each day, how many kilometres I skied, and how many vertical metres I skied!

Typical chalet above Geils

I’m glad that I didn’t fully explore this website while I was still skiing.  I think I might have felt some subtle pressure, especially on the last day, to “set records” before it was time to return to Canada.  As it turns out, the data pretty much supports my guesses about the relative intensity of each day.

Skiing down from Lavey to Hahnenmoos

In total, my 9 on-slope days in Switzerland had me taking 201 lifts, skiing 455 kilometres, and accumulating 72,481 vertical metres (237,798 vertical feet).   No wonder I was always so hungry:  I was averaging more than 50 km per day!  Some statistics were useless:  I was the only Canadian registered on skiline.cc at Lenk this year.  I apparently also won the “gold medals” for most vertical metres in one day by a Canadian at both Wengen and Gstaad.   But my overall totals for those resorts were not best-in-class for Canadian skiers.

Unusual climbing apparatus at Sillerenbühl

It was interesting to see that I skied a formidable 71 km on our deep powder day at Betelberg.  We arrived early, caught the very last lift up, and didn’t have a particularly long lunch.  However, despite this being the “farthest” I skied in any one day, it was not the biggest vertical day.  I only accumulated 8,088 vertical metres that day, which I can attribute primarily to the relatively easy slopes at Betelberg.

Strange to see the Japanese flag on the slopes above Adelboden…

In terms of vertical, our biggest day was at Kleine-Scheidegg/Männlichen/Wengen, when I managed to accumulate a healthy vertical drop of 10,240 metres (almost 34,000 feet) over the day, despite only skiing a distance of 54 km.  This also makes sense:  we spent a lot of time on steeper slopes such as the legendary “Oh God!” and “Black Rock”.

The Chüebodmi restaurant, specializing in Ramen!

One nice surprise on our last day at Lenk-Adelboden, as you can see from the photos, was discovering the Chüebodmi restaurant on a little-travelled piste near Sillerenbühl.  We wondered why there was a Japanese flag flying above it, but upon investigating we realized that they specialized in ramen!  It was *very* rustic (no WC, just an outhouse!), but ramen turned out to be the perfect lunch for an active day on the slopes.

Speaking of surprises, we also had a couple of them in Zürich…stay tuned for the details!

Posts from the road

Skiing in Gstaad…almost!

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

After 5 days of skiing in Lenk, it was time for a change of scenery.  Fortunately, the village of St. Stephan was only a few kilometers down the road…and gave us access to the Gstaad ski region.  Gstaad is a well-known high-end resort, although we didn’t actually make it to Gstaad itself.  Our day was limited to the easternmost areas of St. Stephan, Zweisimmen, and Saanenmöser.

Buying our lift tickets after hiking up from the Stöckli train station

Even though it is quite close to Lenk, it was a bit of an adventure to ski in the Gstaad region.  We first took a train from Lenk to Stöckli, a tiny hamlet on the outskirts of St. Stephan (which itself has barely 1,000 people).  The  Stöckli station is a Halt auf Verlangen: the train won’t stop there unless a specific request is made.  From the Stöckli station, we had to hike over a bridge and down a riverside country lane to reach the base of the chairlift.   This was not particularly easy in ski boots!

On our new “secret” piste at Parwengesattel

Even the chairlift was somewhat surreal, as there was essentially no snow (the base elevation here is only 1000m above sea level) and we ascended on an ancient lift over grassy meadows…while still strapped firmly into our skis.  Fortunately, the endpoint of that first lift at Lengebrand was at 1383m elevation and we could ski to the next lift over actual snow.

We had lunch at this restaurant (Hornberg)

The skiing around Parwengesattel was outstanding that morning.  We discovered a newly created piste around the back side of the mountain (see photo at the very top of this post) that eventually brought us back to Lengebrand.  The scenery was beautiful, the snow was great, and we once again made first tracks in a few places.

The snow gradually disappeared as we skied toward Zweisimmen!

After many runs here we decided to move towards Zweisimmen and Saanenmöser, in hopes of finding a quaint spot for lunch.  Alas, our progress was significantly slowed:  the temperatures were warming quickly and the snow was getting sticky.  So sticky, in fact, that we suddenly felt like beginners!  After a week of confidently schussing through whatever came our way, we would now frequently hit sticky spots and pitch violently forward as our skis suddenly stopped.

Believe it or not, we could ski to this apres-ski location in the village of Zweisimmen

This continued for most of the afternoon, even after an extended lunch at Hornberg (I recalled eating here about 10 years ago with my uncle).  We needed speed to get anywhere on the sticky snow, but increased speed also increased the risk of a violent face-plant.  Finally, at the very end of the day, the snow became slushy:  while not ideal for skiing, at least it was somewhat predictable.

Part of my ski posse, relaxing after a day on the slopes

While there was no talk of a Traumpiste that afternoon, we still enjoyed exploring some new terrain…and some terrain that I remembered from past skiing experiences with my mother and uncle.  After skiing for 9 of the past 10 days, it was finally time to end the alpine part of my Swiss holiday.

Stay tuned for the ski wrap-up and our experiences in Switzerland’s largest city!

Posts from the road

The Dream Run!

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(Lenk, Switzerland)

Every time I go skiing, the ultimate goal is the Traumpiste, or “Dream Run”.  Simply put, this is the type of run that you remember for years afterward, long after hundreds of others have been forgotten.  The criteria are somewhat flexible, but generally include untracked powder, scenic beauty, and a piste that seems to go on forever.

My ski posse, about to make first tracks on the top of Piste #1, Leiterli, at the top of the Betelberg ski area

This year’s Traumpiste was unquestionably the Tschuggen piste, running almost the entire length of the Betelberg (Lenk) ski area.   On an ordinary day, it might not have warranted more than an acknowledgment of its decent length (roughly 900 vertical meters, or 3000 vertical feet) and its scenic path through the forest above Lenk.  But Wednesday, March 7 was not an ordinary day on the slopes.

The morning is well underway, but my posse’s tracks are still among the first on the pistes above Wallegg

The previous evening, the piste groomers on Betelberg must have gone to work early:  by the time we got to the top of the mountain on Wednesday, a luxurious dump of fresh, dry, powder had landed on the firm, groomed base.   And with overcast conditions to start the day, there was almost nobody on the mountain!  Things were looking good!

Late in the afternoon, the Tschuggen piste still has pockets of powder

We were actually the very first ones to ski down the short piste from the top of Leiterli.  There was snow everywhere!  We couldn’t really see our skis through the powder as we made our way down, but revelled in the feeling of snow billowing every which way.

We decided to try the timed slalom course at Mülkerblatten…with all the fresh snow, it wasn’t as icy as you might expect

Although it is usually best to stay at high elevations on days like this, we noticed that the Tschuggen piste down to the bottom of the Betelberg area was much longer than the rest and was unlikely to see much traffic so early in the morning.  Might we also make first tracks on that long piste?  We had to go for it!

Looking down on Lenk from the first segment of the Lenk-Stoss gondola

As it turned out, we weren’t quite the first ones to ski down Tschuggen.  But we were certainly among the first 10 people down…and we were not disappointed.  The piste was only rated intermediate but it was steep enough to pick up some speed:  there is nothing like the feeling of quick, short turns through deep snow to make you forget about everything else in the world.  The bullying Swiss Franc?  Completely irrelevant!

The ski posse is getting a little tired by this point…we ended up skiing a total of 71 km that day!

The terrain was not the dramatic exposed rock of the Dolomites, but rather a sinewy romp through the snow-laden pines, with impossibly quaint chalets peeking out here and there from under an almost unbearable amount of snow.  The overcast weather didn’t matter: there was enough visibility to make it feel like a winter wonderland rather than a dangerous whiteout.  And it didn’t seem to end!

A very quick break at the Wallegg-Mülkerblatten station

Of course, it had to end eventually.  But the weather cleared from time to time and we had the even rarer experience of deep powder, on-piste skiing under brilliant sunshine!   While we weren’t able to make any more “first tracks”, we still found stashes of untracked snow on all of the pistes for the rest of the day.   I was so caught up in the skiing that I didn’t really take very many pictures either.

Back at the hotel after a long day: view from my balcony

“Epic” is an overused word in the ski world.  But that really is the most concise way to describe March 7, 2018 at Betelberg.  Although generally considered more of a family-oriented ski area and less challenging than the pistes high above Adelboden, the unique circumstances of that day ensured that I will always look back fondly on it as an absolute skiing highlight.