Ski/Board Lessons - Week 2

Last Saturday was our second ski day, and we had a new challenge for the lessons this week. C.J.'s group was promoted to the intermediate ski area. If you remember the ski area geography lesson from last post, this translated to 2 lesson drop-offs, located a half mile or so apart, starting at the same time. We opted to start with the youngest and dropped Brendan and Abbie in with their instructors a bit early. We began to understand the check-in "window" of 15 minutes as we waved goodbye and hopped in the car with C.J. to speed him up the street to his lesson group. C.J. joined his group to cheers of "C.J.'s here!" We also noted that C.J.'s instructor's name is Martin. Apparently Martins are good snowboarders, as it was John's cousin Martin who was C.J.'s first snowboard instructor.

The ski area was a bit busier this week and we had to *gasp* stand in line to buy tickets. John brought his ski-watch with him. It has a chip where the resort loads the "ticket" and you can then load the lifts hands-free. If you recall the "employee reduction plan" from last post, you'll note that there are none to one employees at the lifts. To make sure that you are ticketed to ride the lift, you have to pass through an automatic ticket gate. You can either insert your paper ticket much like you would insert a train ticket for BART at home, or you can wave your watch or other chip-device by the reader. I say "other chip-device" as I was able to purchase a plastic hands-free card for 5 CHF to use for the day. I have a special pocket for if on my jacket sleeve and I can just wave my ticket, saving me the step of digging for the paper ticket. (Paper tickets weren't an issues the first week, since we only had to use them for the 2 lift rides, but we were hoping for more runs this week.)

This week, we had blue skies. Instead of only seeing the chair in front of us on the ride up, we could see white peaks, trails, other lifts, and a scattering of restaurants, houses, farms, etc. It was beautiful! These were the views we anticipated when we thought of skiing the Swiss Alps. One quick about this resort is that the lift is across a road from the ski area. The first week, we couldn't figure out how we were going to ski across the road to get back to the parking area. We never should have wondered -- being Switzerland, there is a tunnel! they pack it with snow, and you simply ski under the road and continue on your way.

Once again, we had to take the T-bar. We will never complain about poor lift layout at Heavenly again. This T-Bar is at the top of a hill. In order to get there, you have to ski very fast (our choice the first week) or side-step your way up the hill (our only choice this week as there were mobs of people doing the same thing). We were exhausted once we got to the top. Plus, there is no concept of waiting turns in Switzerland, so everyone is trying to side-step the fastest to push their way to the front of the mob/line. Our first attempt to load the bar resulted in a near-miss head collision for me, an almost fall, and a decision to take the next bar. Fortunately, we caught the next bar and had a smooth ride to the top. It was a lot less nerve-racking than the prior week. We could see the trails and could also clearly see where to get off. The first week we weren't entirely sure how we would know when to get off. After a long ride, I spied a sign and at the very bottom was a phrase in English (you know, after the 3 official languages of the country), "Exit lift now." I yelled, "Let go, let go!" right before we would have been pulled into a mountain of snow. We had actually been debating how to exit the lift the entire ride up and were beginning to wonder where we would exit. Of course, like at the bottom, there isn't any employee around to direct you. Anyway, this week we could see people getting off and the trail to the left of the lift. Feeling bettter about the tow but still not feeling the rope-tow love (where's the relaxing ride to give you a break?), we decided to head to a new ski area on the map which indicated it had *gasp* 3 chairs.

As we approached the area, we spotted a cute chalet restaurant and stopped for a soda and fries. To make this lunch a tad healthier, we added a garden salad. They have great salads over here with lots of extras like beets, carrots, peppers, etc. mixed in. You don't get a choice of dressing, but the dressing is almost always homemade and is delicious. Mmm. We sat outside as the sun was shining and it was relatively warm. The people next to us had the exact same lunch -- garden salads followed by a plate of fries, so it isn't as strange a lunch choice as you might think. Oh, we also saw 4 dogs during lunch. We're still not sure how the dogs get on the mountain. We've been told that they can ride a chair, but we just can't picture it.

After lunch, we mosied on over to the 6 person chair. This chair was an experience. After passing the ticket patrol gates, you make your way to another set of gates. When it is your turn to load, the gates open and you push yourself onto a people mover. The people mover moves all 6 people forward and pushes you off where you come to stop right before the chair comes up behind you. Sit down, pull the guard rail down, and you're provided with footrests. Now, this was the relaxing chair experience I remembered! Of course, as much as I love the people mover concept and can see how it can -- yes, reduce employee needs -- and falls, I still think some of the money invested in it could have gone to replace the T-bar with a chairlift. Then again, I'm a spoiled American. The top of the lift ends with another unique experience -- right before exiting, the chair makes a 90 degree left turn and then you get off. Unlike lifts at home, the exits are flat, and you need to use your poles to push you away from the chair and start skiing. It seems to work.

We skied a few trails in this area, and all 3 chairs were nice. The other 2 chairs are 4 person chairs with the same gate systems, but no people movers or sharp turns. This area of the resort is wide open, so there is a lot of possibility to go off trail into powder. There's a snow park area with a few jumps. We stuck to the trails. We finally realized that we needed to make our way back to get the kids. The trail back was interesting as it isn't entirely downhill. There are a few inclines, so you always have to watch your speed. At one point, I had to side-step up a hill again. This trail wasn't all that unique -- many of the trails are "rolling" hills, so you do need to always watch your speed to make sure that you can make it up the inclines. It also means that you can't always see the entire trail in front of you, as parts will be over the hill, so to speak.

We ran into a bit of a snag on this final run. We missed the turn to get to the parking lot, and we ended up back at the T-bar. We were running late to reclaim the kids, so we had to decide whether it would be faster to take the T-bar up to the top of the mountain again or walk about a 100 yards to the trail that would take us to the bottom. It seemed like a short, easy walk, so we popped off our skis and and started the trek. Ha! I just about died. After hiking through 3 feet of snow and crossing a small, mostly frozen, river, I was ready to pass out. Of course, I had no time to collapse in the snow, panting, and I had to get up and race to the bottom to get the kids.

We could tell that we were almost back at the bottom when you could once again smell the cows. That's Switzerland for you! After all, some of the hills we were skiing were in fact the summer pastures for these cows. John took me to the beginner area, dropped me so that I could get Brendan and Abbie, and then headed back to the intermediate area to get C.J.. We're still not sure about the start/ending times being the same for both locations, but it seemed to work well enough. Fortunately, we know enough parents that they kept an eye out for our kids for us.

The kids reported that they had a great day. C.J. got to visit a "training" park where he practiced going on a rail with his board. Brendan and Abbie had stayed on the bunny hill, but they worked on turns and stopping, which we agreed were very good skills to have. Oh, they had all had pasta and "syrup" (a kind of fruit juice drink) for lunch. Once again, there were complaints that the ski day had ended and we couldn't continue skiing/boarding until the resort closed.

And once again, we had fondue for dinner. It's actually a very quick, easy meal to make. C.J. crashed around 7pm, so you could tell he had a good day boarding.