Today I returned my rented ski equipment to Intersport (which for future reference isn't open at lunch time, those slack French). The skis have really served me well this season - Val Thorens, La Faucille, Crozet, Crozet x 2, Avoriaz, Morzine, Beatenberg, Grindelwald, Contamines, Morzine x 2, Avoriaz x 2, Argentière. Twelve outings! And that's not including the six days of skiing I did on the Engelberg ski camp using borrowed equipment. That's eighteen skiing days over the winter! Not bad for my first season... I'm quite happy about my progress over that time as well, I reckon I could now probably safely make my way down any groomed slope... Note I say safely, not elegantly... I'm nowhere near an expert skier and still freak out when faced with a steep or bumpy slope.
The ski gear definitely paid off the 112 euros I paid to rent it all. (For my piece of mind, I'm not going to add up all the money I've spent on skiing over the past few months since I know it's defintely in the vicinity of 1-2k). I was quite worried when I forked out that first set of money for the gear and the clothes at the end of October since I had only ever skiied once before a few years ago (in California of all places!) and it was only for a couple of hours. My fears weren't alleviated by my first outing to Val Thorens back in November, which was quite a painful adventure. But things improved from there and I've really come to enjoy the sport and already miss it and the beauty of all the mountain resorts, though I'm quite happy about the arrival of spring and all that it brings with it... warm weather, leaves and blossoms on trees, flowers in the fields, more of my research group at CERN (though this last one has mean I had to give up the CERN van and am now riding into work)...
Here's hoping that I'll be back for the end of winter next year, preferably in time for ski camp... (I don't want to come back any earlier than March since winter in Geneva really is miserable with skiing being its only redeeming factor and I don't know if I'll have the time for it next year with the LHC actually being on and needing to write my thesis and all.)
Showing posts with label Skiing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skiing. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Argentière
Although I had planed for last week to be my last skiing for the season, I thought I would go one last time this weekend, and spent a fair bit of the week looking up ski buses and conditions at resorts. Skiing this late in the season is fraught with issues as it is getting warm, meaning snow conditions aren't very good, particularly at the lower resorts. And some smaller resorts, like the ones on the nearby Jura are closed completely, while the larger resorts have closed their lower areas.
Anyway, I had planned to take the ski bus to Flaine, but got talked into going to the Grand Montets area of the Chamonix valley, in particular to do the run from the top down, which runs along the Argentière glacier. I was told that the black slope, adaptly named Point de Vue was just a very long and wide red slope where only the first 50m was really steep.
So we go to Argentiere, which is near the end of the Chamonix valley, meaning the drive there, past Mont Blanc, the Bossons glacier and the Aiguille du Midi, is absolutely breathtaking. I have to go back later in the year for some hiking/sightseeing.
After some minor skiing, we waited in line for 45 minutes for the cable car to the Aiguille des Grands Montets. The system can supposedly carry 650 people per hour, so you can imagine how popular the ski run is. This a photo from the bottom of the lift.
Some people only go for the view though, and what a view it is! Here is a photo from the stairs walking down from the look out to the beginning of the slope. The views up there were really amazing, though the altitude made it hard to breathe and the metal grilled platforms and stairs were a little unnerving, particuarly in ski boots, which aren't all that comfortable for walking in.
For reference, the Aiguille des Grands Montets cable car station is at an altitude of 3275m, the Titlis station where I was last week is at 3000m and Jungfraujoch rail station where I went last year is at 3454m and the Mönchsjoch Hut which I hiked to from there is at 3650m. High up!
Anyway, after some photos, it was time to start the 4000m long, 1165m high slope down, which from the numbers has an average slope of 30degrees, but of course, it isn't the same steepness all the way down.
The first part, in the above photo, was the steepest, and definitely the hardest, due it being fairly narrow, and bumpy. You can just make out the bumps on the slope in the photo, but I really don't think it captures the steepness of it. I did a couple of turns on the top where it was a little flatter, but then freaked out and just slid down sideways, a trick I'd only learnt in the past month.
It then widened out, and got much easier, as most people headed off the ski run. When I say much easier, I don't mean it was easy. It was still very steep and still bumpy, but at least it was wide and clear of people, as you can see in the following photo.
I took ages getting down that first part of the slope to my two friends in the bottom left of the photo, but then one of them led the way for me to follow her and things went much faster from there. As I learnt in Engelberg last week, I have fairly good control of my skis now, I am just scared of speed and am not good at making my own way down a slope, so left alone on a steepish slope, I will stop at almost every turn.
We got to a good spot to have a break, and sat an a rock for while, waiting for the rest of the group to join us, where I took the next photo.
Glaciers are really beautiful, with all the undulations and ice, some of which seems blue from the light reflections within it. I am going to to miss beauty of the mountains and lakes and country side when I go back home...
Anyway, I had planned to take the ski bus to Flaine, but got talked into going to the Grand Montets area of the Chamonix valley, in particular to do the run from the top down, which runs along the Argentière glacier. I was told that the black slope, adaptly named Point de Vue was just a very long and wide red slope where only the first 50m was really steep.
So we go to Argentiere, which is near the end of the Chamonix valley, meaning the drive there, past Mont Blanc, the Bossons glacier and the Aiguille du Midi, is absolutely breathtaking. I have to go back later in the year for some hiking/sightseeing.
After some minor skiing, we waited in line for 45 minutes for the cable car to the Aiguille des Grands Montets. The system can supposedly carry 650 people per hour, so you can imagine how popular the ski run is. This a photo from the bottom of the lift.
Some people only go for the view though, and what a view it is! Here is a photo from the stairs walking down from the look out to the beginning of the slope. The views up there were really amazing, though the altitude made it hard to breathe and the metal grilled platforms and stairs were a little unnerving, particuarly in ski boots, which aren't all that comfortable for walking in.
For reference, the Aiguille des Grands Montets cable car station is at an altitude of 3275m, the Titlis station where I was last week is at 3000m and Jungfraujoch rail station where I went last year is at 3454m and the Mönchsjoch Hut which I hiked to from there is at 3650m. High up!
Anyway, after some photos, it was time to start the 4000m long, 1165m high slope down, which from the numbers has an average slope of 30degrees, but of course, it isn't the same steepness all the way down.
The first part, in the above photo, was the steepest, and definitely the hardest, due it being fairly narrow, and bumpy. You can just make out the bumps on the slope in the photo, but I really don't think it captures the steepness of it. I did a couple of turns on the top where it was a little flatter, but then freaked out and just slid down sideways, a trick I'd only learnt in the past month.
It then widened out, and got much easier, as most people headed off the ski run. When I say much easier, I don't mean it was easy. It was still very steep and still bumpy, but at least it was wide and clear of people, as you can see in the following photo.
I took ages getting down that first part of the slope to my two friends in the bottom left of the photo, but then one of them led the way for me to follow her and things went much faster from there. As I learnt in Engelberg last week, I have fairly good control of my skis now, I am just scared of speed and am not good at making my own way down a slope, so left alone on a steepish slope, I will stop at almost every turn.
We got to a good spot to have a break, and sat an a rock for while, waiting for the rest of the group to join us, where I took the next photo.
Glaciers are really beautiful, with all the undulations and ice, some of which seems blue from the light reflections within it. I am going to to miss beauty of the mountains and lakes and country side when I go back home...
Friday, March 27, 2009
Titlis
The weather held out for our last day of skiing, which was great, but I was a little skiied out. I have improved immensely this week, but in the end, I need to work on the same things I did before. Small things, like to lean forward in my boots more, use my poles properly, having a rhythm to my turns, unweight my skis before turning, keeping my skis parallel and close together, and facing down the mountain and so on. But the major hurdle is still my confidence on skis and fear of speed and falling. I can ski beautifully (if I do say so myself) on shallow smooth slopes, but put me on a steeper or bumpy slope, and I ski like I did back in December, particularly if there is nobody around my level to follow down the slope.
Anyway, we tried some deep snow skiing today, where I really think it would help if I wasn't so scared of going fast. As soon as I got any speed, I would try to turn and stop, which usually ended up with one of my skis under the snow, which meant sometimes meant falling over and having to dig my way out. Luckily, the snow was soft, though it was getting heavy the second time we tried it. It was still heaps of fun though.
What was more fun though, was the planned camp activity after lunch, which was a short ski race. The camp director asked the resort to prepare a short slope for us, and the instructors set up a salom course on it with red and blue markers. We all were timed going down it with varous handicaps depending on our skill level. The first group were allowed to go down normally, with both skis and poles. The second group weren't allowed poles. The third group had to go without poles and through the first gate backwards before turning around and doing the rest of the course normally. The last group then had to go down on one ski and with one pole. Here is a photo of the group after the race at the bottom of the slope.
After this (and a group snow fight and photo) we had a free snow afternoon without instructors, but I decided, with the guys I had been skiing with all week to back up to the top of the mountain again for some photo taking since it was a lovely day. When we got up there, there were clouds swirling around the station, and so we moved from side to side of the viewing area, taking photos while it was clear and moving when it got cloudy in that direction.
I have now been on the top of quite a few peaks, but I don't think I will ever become immune to the beauty of the views. It's times like these that I'm glad I have a camera that I can put into my pocket and safely ski with. Though no camera can really capture the experience of being at 3000m, above the clouds, and looking down 2000m metres to the valley below. The glimpses of the blue glacier ice through the snow as we were heading up in the cable car was also amazing.
Oh, the floor of round cable car you see in the above photo roates during ascent and descent, and was supposedly the first one to do so. I think it's a little unneccessary as we spent the rides sitting in the centre, though I guess if it was really packed it would be nice to get a chance to see the glacier. It is a little strange going up actually, with the mix of tourists and skiiers. It must be very disappointing to have the mountain day of your holiday tour be cloudy and snowy, though I guess there is always the ice grotto inside the glacier to see, as well as movenpick icecream to eat and Swatch watches to buy and staged photos to take at the station. But still, to miss out on the view must be a little devastating. At least we got the chance to see it.
Anyway, we tried some deep snow skiing today, where I really think it would help if I wasn't so scared of going fast. As soon as I got any speed, I would try to turn and stop, which usually ended up with one of my skis under the snow, which meant sometimes meant falling over and having to dig my way out. Luckily, the snow was soft, though it was getting heavy the second time we tried it. It was still heaps of fun though.
What was more fun though, was the planned camp activity after lunch, which was a short ski race. The camp director asked the resort to prepare a short slope for us, and the instructors set up a salom course on it with red and blue markers. We all were timed going down it with varous handicaps depending on our skill level. The first group were allowed to go down normally, with both skis and poles. The second group weren't allowed poles. The third group had to go without poles and through the first gate backwards before turning around and doing the rest of the course normally. The last group then had to go down on one ski and with one pole. Here is a photo of the group after the race at the bottom of the slope.
After this (and a group snow fight and photo) we had a free snow afternoon without instructors, but I decided, with the guys I had been skiing with all week to back up to the top of the mountain again for some photo taking since it was a lovely day. When we got up there, there were clouds swirling around the station, and so we moved from side to side of the viewing area, taking photos while it was clear and moving when it got cloudy in that direction.
I have now been on the top of quite a few peaks, but I don't think I will ever become immune to the beauty of the views. It's times like these that I'm glad I have a camera that I can put into my pocket and safely ski with. Though no camera can really capture the experience of being at 3000m, above the clouds, and looking down 2000m metres to the valley below. The glimpses of the blue glacier ice through the snow as we were heading up in the cable car was also amazing.
Oh, the floor of round cable car you see in the above photo roates during ascent and descent, and was supposedly the first one to do so. I think it's a little unneccessary as we spent the rides sitting in the centre, though I guess if it was really packed it would be nice to get a chance to see the glacier. It is a little strange going up actually, with the mix of tourists and skiiers. It must be very disappointing to have the mountain day of your holiday tour be cloudy and snowy, though I guess there is always the ice grotto inside the glacier to see, as well as movenpick icecream to eat and Swatch watches to buy and staged photos to take at the station. But still, to miss out on the view must be a little devastating. At least we got the chance to see it.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Brunni
Today didn't start out too well, with the camp director telling us that most of the resort was closed today for skiing due to very high avalanche danger. Actually, one of the other camp partipants was telling me about his avalanche experience yesterday when he and the instructor were going off piste. They were resting and heard a rumbling sound and saw two avalanches approaching them, one on the left and the other on the right, at which point the instructor said that it might be a good time to head on down.
As a side note, both the participant (from Austria) and instructor (from Switzerland) learnt how to ski when they were kids, and had school ski camps every couple of years, even if they lived in a city. My Swiss housemate told me that the camps were even paid for if you were from an underprivledged family. I guess it's like swimming, we all had to have swimming lessons at school back home. Although, I happen to think that swimming is a slightly more important skill to have than skiing. Having said that, I do know people in Melbourne who don't know how to swim at all. So there must be some rare Swiss people who can't ski, right?
Anyway, yesterday, the risk of avalanches was at four on a scale which goes up to five and where it is usually two or three, so some of the lifts weren't running, mostly the higher ones since skiers can trigger avalanches, but some of the lower ones also weren't running since they are in avalanche paths. Today, the risk must have been five, so they decided it was safer to close the whole north side of the valley and spend the day artificially setting off avalanches by helicopter bombing. We could hear the explosions all day long and saw a few in a evening on the way to the pub.
So skiing today was confined to the south facing slope, where there is only one lift and run, and it didn't start out too promising, as it was snowing and fairly windy and there were heaps of people. But the sun came out mid-morning and it was lovely, particularly since we hadn't seen any sunshine since Monday morning. All the more experienced skiiers went playing in the deep snow, leaving the slope fairly empty.
Another side note here, I still find it strange that the sun sits to the south of the sky in the northern hemisphere, meaning the south facing slopes get more sun and are thus less snow and aren't as good to ski on. This is where the brand The North Face gets its name from. I wonder if people learn directions here by facing south and then knowing west is right and east is left.
Speaking of things which are different from back home, I did not realise that we have different world maps at home. I can't remember what we were discussing, but somebody was drawing the continents to illustrate a point, at which point they confused me because of the order they were drawing them in. Supposedly, most world maps have America on the left, then Europe, Asia and Australia is in the bottom right corner and this is how most people see the world. I'm used to seeing Australia near the center, with Europe and Asia to the left and America to the right.
Anyway, here is a photo of Engelberg taken on the cable car on the way down from the slopes. The building to the right with the tower is the Benedictine Monastery, now a school. According to the resort's winter brochure, the founder of the monastery heard an angel's voice telling him to build a "place dedicated to God" and when it was finished, while they were thinking of a name for the monastery, they heard angel's voices and looking up, saw a choir of angels and that is where the name Engelberg, mountain of the angel, comes from.
As a side note, both the participant (from Austria) and instructor (from Switzerland) learnt how to ski when they were kids, and had school ski camps every couple of years, even if they lived in a city. My Swiss housemate told me that the camps were even paid for if you were from an underprivledged family. I guess it's like swimming, we all had to have swimming lessons at school back home. Although, I happen to think that swimming is a slightly more important skill to have than skiing. Having said that, I do know people in Melbourne who don't know how to swim at all. So there must be some rare Swiss people who can't ski, right?
Anyway, yesterday, the risk of avalanches was at four on a scale which goes up to five and where it is usually two or three, so some of the lifts weren't running, mostly the higher ones since skiers can trigger avalanches, but some of the lower ones also weren't running since they are in avalanche paths. Today, the risk must have been five, so they decided it was safer to close the whole north side of the valley and spend the day artificially setting off avalanches by helicopter bombing. We could hear the explosions all day long and saw a few in a evening on the way to the pub.
So skiing today was confined to the south facing slope, where there is only one lift and run, and it didn't start out too promising, as it was snowing and fairly windy and there were heaps of people. But the sun came out mid-morning and it was lovely, particularly since we hadn't seen any sunshine since Monday morning. All the more experienced skiiers went playing in the deep snow, leaving the slope fairly empty.
Another side note here, I still find it strange that the sun sits to the south of the sky in the northern hemisphere, meaning the south facing slopes get more sun and are thus less snow and aren't as good to ski on. This is where the brand The North Face gets its name from. I wonder if people learn directions here by facing south and then knowing west is right and east is left.
Speaking of things which are different from back home, I did not realise that we have different world maps at home. I can't remember what we were discussing, but somebody was drawing the continents to illustrate a point, at which point they confused me because of the order they were drawing them in. Supposedly, most world maps have America on the left, then Europe, Asia and Australia is in the bottom right corner and this is how most people see the world. I'm used to seeing Australia near the center, with Europe and Asia to the left and America to the right.
Anyway, here is a photo of Engelberg taken on the cable car on the way down from the slopes. The building to the right with the tower is the Benedictine Monastery, now a school. According to the resort's winter brochure, the founder of the monastery heard an angel's voice telling him to build a "place dedicated to God" and when it was finished, while they were thinking of a name for the monastery, they heard angel's voices and looking up, saw a choir of angels and that is where the name Engelberg, mountain of the angel, comes from.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Jochpass
Just a quick post before I go and take a nap before dinner. Today's conditions weren't the same as yesterday, they were at the same time worse and better. The snow was much better, has it didn't snow as much overnight, but it was really windy, which made visibility a huge issue as it blew snow off the mountains and swirled it around the open areas, which most of the time, happen to be where the ski slopes are. Luckily, I now have adequate ski gear that being able to see is the only problem when it's windy. I remember the first time it was windy when I was skiing, I was so cold after taking the chair lift. Actually, it probably wasn't the gear which saved me from freezing today, it was the fact that the chair lift we were using had a canopy, which made the ride quite pleasant. It was the wind that finally caused us to leave the slopes early though, it is quite unnerving not being able to see the snow you're going to ski on or more than a couple of metres in front of you.
If anybody is wondering about the strange names of my past few posts from Engelberg, I'm naming them after the main chairlift/ski slope of the day. They can all be seen in the piste map of the resort:
People tell me that the slopes at Engelberg are generally marked harder than at other resorts due to the topology of the valley. Meaning what is makred red here might be marked black at another resort. It is supposedly also the only resort where there is a yellow slope, which they tell me is a steep ungroomed run. I don't think I'm going to be doing it any time soon...
If anybody is wondering about the strange names of my past few posts from Engelberg, I'm naming them after the main chairlift/ski slope of the day. They can all be seen in the piste map of the resort:
People tell me that the slopes at Engelberg are generally marked harder than at other resorts due to the topology of the valley. Meaning what is makred red here might be marked black at another resort. It is supposedly also the only resort where there is a yellow slope, which they tell me is a steep ungroomed run. I don't think I'm going to be doing it any time soon...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Engstienalp
An entry while waiting for dessert tonight. It promises to be good, with leftover chocolate cake from yesterday and some Austrian cake with a name I can't pronounce. After the weekend, each of the dinner at the camp will/have been cooked by participants showcasing specialities from their home countries. On Monday we had French food cooked by the camp director as not enough participants volunteered to cook and tonight, it was Austrian. Tomorrow will be Polish, Thursday Columbian and Friday, Swiss. Should be interesting, to say the least.
Today's skiing was hard work, as we had a heap of snow last night, which made for some very pretty scenery. We spent the day on blues and reds. (For those who don't know, the run grading system in France/Switzerland goes green, blue, red, black, yellow from easiest to hardest.) The conditions meant that the usual slope categories didn't really matter, since all the runs we went on were fairly wide. All the fresh powder means a different skiing technique than on groomed pistes, which took getting used to, and which uses different leg muscles. This means I'm sore in all different places today, though at least I can take solace in the fact that I will look good for summer. *winks* I don't mind the fresh snow though, since it's so much softer to fall in, which is fortunate, since I did fall down a fair few times today. It does make for harder skiing in the afternoon though, after people have been skiing all morning and creating bumps on the slopes.
Tomorrow's conditions should be the same, so I'll get more opportunity to practice what I learnt today. I'm actually a little worried about how much I'm getting to like this skiing business. I won't get much chance to do any after this season. Unless I catch a few days at the end of season at home in August. Or come back to CERN during ski season next year. Anyway, I'll make the most of it here while I can...
Today's skiing was hard work, as we had a heap of snow last night, which made for some very pretty scenery. We spent the day on blues and reds. (For those who don't know, the run grading system in France/Switzerland goes green, blue, red, black, yellow from easiest to hardest.) The conditions meant that the usual slope categories didn't really matter, since all the runs we went on were fairly wide. All the fresh powder means a different skiing technique than on groomed pistes, which took getting used to, and which uses different leg muscles. This means I'm sore in all different places today, though at least I can take solace in the fact that I will look good for summer. *winks* I don't mind the fresh snow though, since it's so much softer to fall in, which is fortunate, since I did fall down a fair few times today. It does make for harder skiing in the afternoon though, after people have been skiing all morning and creating bumps on the slopes.
Tomorrow's conditions should be the same, so I'll get more opportunity to practice what I learnt today. I'm actually a little worried about how much I'm getting to like this skiing business. I won't get much chance to do any after this season. Unless I catch a few days at the end of season at home in August. Or come back to CERN during ski season next year. Anyway, I'll make the most of it here while I can...
Monday, March 23, 2009
Gerschnialp
Just a quick entry before bed tonight. Today we spent the morning on blue slopes higher up in the resort and went up to the Titlis look out point for lunch and the afternoon before heading back down and skiing the last run into town to catch happy hour (again) at the pub.
It was quite a good morning, I feel like I'm really improving my skiing, but it was a fairly disappointing afternoon, as it took us ages to get to the top, and when we got there, the clouds had come in and we couldn't see anything in the snow. It was kind of interesting up there though, with all the tourists and the ice grotto carved out of the glacier.
Happy hour was also better this time, since I now know the people at the camp better, and there was much less people there as it was a weekday, meaning we were the largest group there and had a set of tables to ourselves and made a mini dance floor out of some empty space. I must admit that I think I expended more energy dancing in my ski clothes and boots than I did on the slopes.
Overall, a good day, though more skiing would have been great. I kind of wish I had the stamina for all the partying that everybody else seems to have. The walls in the chalet are currently vibrating from music downtstairs. It was also the same last night when I got to bed. I guess it's a good thing that I'm so tired I can get to bed with the noise.
It was quite a good morning, I feel like I'm really improving my skiing, but it was a fairly disappointing afternoon, as it took us ages to get to the top, and when we got there, the clouds had come in and we couldn't see anything in the snow. It was kind of interesting up there though, with all the tourists and the ice grotto carved out of the glacier.
Happy hour was also better this time, since I now know the people at the camp better, and there was much less people there as it was a weekday, meaning we were the largest group there and had a set of tables to ourselves and made a mini dance floor out of some empty space. I must admit that I think I expended more energy dancing in my ski clothes and boots than I did on the slopes.
Overall, a good day, though more skiing would have been great. I kind of wish I had the stamina for all the partying that everybody else seems to have. The walls in the chalet are currently vibrating from music downtstairs. It was also the same last night when I got to bed. I guess it's a good thing that I'm so tired I can get to bed with the noise.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Kloster
It's currently rest time at Camp Engelberg, between skiing and dinner, where people are either relaxing after a day of skiing, or enjoying half price drinks during happy hour at the pub opposite the train station. As you can probably guess, I'm doing the former, because I'm not too sure my ears can take another happy hour, or my sense of self a few drinks before dinner.
So I've been in Engelberg now for about a day, and it's been good. The people at camp are nice and friendly, I love the fact I don't have to cook (though I do have to help clean up), and I get to ski all week. *grins* The accommodation isn't too bad, I'm in a 6 bed room, which is currently only half full. It was very warm last night, and has a sink in it, which is very convenient, though it started making strange noises at 5am this morning.
My borrowed set of skis and boots are okay, I actually like the boots much better than the pair I rented for the season, but the skis are much heavier. Which is quite annoying, since we have a walk a fair way with them to either the close by slopes or the bus stop to the other side.
Yesterday, after arriving and going to the common area, I went with the group of people already there to the happy hour at the pub. Which was very full, and the only spot we could find to hang was under the speakers. Which was very loud. And somewhat awkward, since we didn't know each other, and we couldn't talk.
It was then dinner time, which was soup, pasta, then ice cream. Not bad at all. We also had the welcome by the organiser and an explanation of the rules and whatnot. The camp is run by volunteers, and isn't associated with any Swiss university, though it is advertised at all of them. The participants are a combination of previous participants, some taking time off work and flying here for the week, and others, like me, are students at a Swiss university.
We then were given our equipment and put into groups for skiing based on our experience and it was time to get some rest before our first day on the slopes.
This was the view from the slopes near the chalet, which we went to to avoid the weekend skiers. I was put into the beginners group as I said I wasn't comfortable on reds yet. This meant that instead of heading up the mountain, we just stayed on the blue slopes at the bottom. As you can see, the view wasn't half bad, but the slope was icy in the morning and slushy in the afternoon since it was on the south face of the mountain. I'm looking forward to the snow which is expected at the resort later this week.
So I've been in Engelberg now for about a day, and it's been good. The people at camp are nice and friendly, I love the fact I don't have to cook (though I do have to help clean up), and I get to ski all week. *grins* The accommodation isn't too bad, I'm in a 6 bed room, which is currently only half full. It was very warm last night, and has a sink in it, which is very convenient, though it started making strange noises at 5am this morning.
My borrowed set of skis and boots are okay, I actually like the boots much better than the pair I rented for the season, but the skis are much heavier. Which is quite annoying, since we have a walk a fair way with them to either the close by slopes or the bus stop to the other side.
Yesterday, after arriving and going to the common area, I went with the group of people already there to the happy hour at the pub. Which was very full, and the only spot we could find to hang was under the speakers. Which was very loud. And somewhat awkward, since we didn't know each other, and we couldn't talk.
It was then dinner time, which was soup, pasta, then ice cream. Not bad at all. We also had the welcome by the organiser and an explanation of the rules and whatnot. The camp is run by volunteers, and isn't associated with any Swiss university, though it is advertised at all of them. The participants are a combination of previous participants, some taking time off work and flying here for the week, and others, like me, are students at a Swiss university.
We then were given our equipment and put into groups for skiing based on our experience and it was time to get some rest before our first day on the slopes.
This was the view from the slopes near the chalet, which we went to to avoid the weekend skiers. I was put into the beginners group as I said I wasn't comfortable on reds yet. This meant that instead of heading up the mountain, we just stayed on the blue slopes at the bottom. As you can see, the view wasn't half bad, but the slope was icy in the morning and slushy in the afternoon since it was on the south face of the mountain. I'm looking forward to the snow which is expected at the resort later this week.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Avoriaz Again
Today I again went skiing with the Université de Genève Sports Universitaire. I was worried about setting back the healing process of my finger and hip, but it was the last week that they were running their Samedis de Ski, and I didn't want to miss another skiing day. They returned to Avoriaz, the first resort we went to in January, and with my finger in mind, I went back to the beginner class, as I didn't want to fall and put pressure on my hand.
It was a lovely day, warm and summy; the first time I wasn't cold while skiing, I even saw a few people skiing without jackets on. This meant the snow conditions weren't so great though - hard and icy in the morning, and softer in the afternoon as it was melted by the sun.
The resort was also very busy, which wasn't so pleasant. It took us about an hour between the bus arriving and getting our skis on. Firstly because the instructors were very unorganised, they split the skiers into beginner and intermediate groups, and then figured out who of the six instructors where going to take which level. Secondly because there was only two cable cars from the car park to the ski resort, which were very slow, and very busy, with people leaving the resort, as well as people arriving with a weeks worth of luggage. There were a couple of chair lifts which could have been taken instead, which the snowboarding classes cleverly took, but we didn't for some strange reason.
We spent the morning doing drills on a green slope. I finally learnt how to stop without using snow plough. I'm not very good at it though, because I think I don't distribute my weight in my boots properly. In the afternoon, it was time to hit the big slopes. It was hard going, since there were so many people at the resort, all of whom had been skiing all morning, they had created moguls on almost all the the runs.
Luckily, I am a better skiier than I was the first time we went to the resort, and with an instructor giving us suggestions all the time, I really felt like I was improving, moving on from parallel turns to a little bit of carving down blue runs, since that's the easier thing to do on moguls. *grins* I think I am going to be sore tomorrow though...
It was a lovely day, warm and summy; the first time I wasn't cold while skiing, I even saw a few people skiing without jackets on. This meant the snow conditions weren't so great though - hard and icy in the morning, and softer in the afternoon as it was melted by the sun.
The resort was also very busy, which wasn't so pleasant. It took us about an hour between the bus arriving and getting our skis on. Firstly because the instructors were very unorganised, they split the skiers into beginner and intermediate groups, and then figured out who of the six instructors where going to take which level. Secondly because there was only two cable cars from the car park to the ski resort, which were very slow, and very busy, with people leaving the resort, as well as people arriving with a weeks worth of luggage. There were a couple of chair lifts which could have been taken instead, which the snowboarding classes cleverly took, but we didn't for some strange reason.
We spent the morning doing drills on a green slope. I finally learnt how to stop without using snow plough. I'm not very good at it though, because I think I don't distribute my weight in my boots properly. In the afternoon, it was time to hit the big slopes. It was hard going, since there were so many people at the resort, all of whom had been skiing all morning, they had created moguls on almost all the the runs.
Luckily, I am a better skiier than I was the first time we went to the resort, and with an instructor giving us suggestions all the time, I really felt like I was improving, moving on from parallel turns to a little bit of carving down blue runs, since that's the easier thing to do on moguls. *grins* I think I am going to be sore tomorrow though...
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Saint Cergue
Today I didn't go skiing since I didn't want to set back the healing process of my finger and my hip. Instead I went snow shoeing, which is essentially hiking in the snow with what look like tennis raquets on your feet. These are needed to spread your weight so you don't sink into the newly fallen snow.
We went to Saint Cergue, which is in the Swiss part of the Jura and reachable by train, hired the snow shoes and set off. It turns out that snow shoeing is more tiring than skiing, since you still end up sinking a little with the snow shoes on, and you can really feel the undulations of the terrain. But it is much more scenic, particularly on a sunny day after night snow, which were the conditions today.
The fields of sparking white snow were gorgeous, as were the pines and other trees covered with piles of white. And the glimpses of the Alps in the distance were magnificent. And we had the time to enjoy it properly, rather than being rushed to ski.
Having said though, I'm looking forward to skiing next weekend, much less work and I miss the flying feeling...
We went to Saint Cergue, which is in the Swiss part of the Jura and reachable by train, hired the snow shoes and set off. It turns out that snow shoeing is more tiring than skiing, since you still end up sinking a little with the snow shoes on, and you can really feel the undulations of the terrain. But it is much more scenic, particularly on a sunny day after night snow, which were the conditions today.
The fields of sparking white snow were gorgeous, as were the pines and other trees covered with piles of white. And the glimpses of the Alps in the distance were magnificent. And we had the time to enjoy it properly, rather than being rushed to ski.
Having said though, I'm looking forward to skiing next weekend, much less work and I miss the flying feeling...
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Morzine Again
Today, I again went skiing with the Université de Genève Sports Universitaire. I again signed up for the intermediate class, and again there where too many beginneers and all the people in the intermedate and advanced classes had to find people to ski with.
So yeah, found other people to ski with, but in the end only ended up skiing with one other guy, who was nice enough to stay with me. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the views were magnificant.
Skiing wise, it had snowed in the week before, so the snow wasn't too icy and there weren't that many people around, but I didn't do so well. We were doing reds in the morning, and the snow was much faster than the last two weeks, since it wasn't snowing. This made it hard for me to control my speed and I fell down a few times, that last of which was the worse fall I've had so far, since it was at speed. I lost a ski and a pole up the slope about ten meters above where I finally stopped. Luckily, somebody was nice enough to bring them down to me and help me get my skis back on. However after that, I was a little rattled and just stuck to blues.
So yeah, found other people to ski with, but in the end only ended up skiing with one other guy, who was nice enough to stay with me. It was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the views were magnificant.
Skiing wise, it had snowed in the week before, so the snow wasn't too icy and there weren't that many people around, but I didn't do so well. We were doing reds in the morning, and the snow was much faster than the last two weeks, since it wasn't snowing. This made it hard for me to control my speed and I fell down a few times, that last of which was the worse fall I've had so far, since it was at speed. I lost a ski and a pole up the slope about ten meters above where I finally stopped. Luckily, somebody was nice enough to bring them down to me and help me get my skis back on. However after that, I was a little rattled and just stuck to blues.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Les Contamines
Today, I again went skiing with the Université de Genève Sports Universitaire. I again signed up for the intermediate class, but this time, since so many beginneers had signed up, all the skiing instructors had to take them, and we had to find people to ski with.
Luckily I recognised a couple of people on the bus who were also left hanging by the lack of classes, and we orgnised to ski together. We ended up getting split up, as was bound to happen with random people skiing together who had different levels. We also were able to take a shorter lunch break, which was nice, but also got back to the bus too early as we were worried that we were going to miss it since we didn't know the ski out of the resort.
The day was very cold, with continual snow on the lower slopes of the resort, but we were able to catch some sun at the top, where the view was amazing. The upper areas of the resort were above the tree line, where everything was just covered in snow, and the pistes were wide and well groomed, which made for lovely conditions, particularly with the fresh snow.
It was so cold though, that my hands and feet would freeze on the chair lifts, and we were able to see the six sided shapes of snowflakes as they fell on the empty seats and didn't melt. The fog at times made it hard to see far into the distance.
Skiing-wise, I think I'm getting better, but I really need to learn how to stop confidently without using snow plough. This would make me much more comfortable about going fast and using more parallel turns. I understand the theory - do a parallel turn, but with more force, however have never been able to do it consistently. Something to practise next trip... as well a heap of other things, but I think this one shold take precedence over all the others...
Luckily I recognised a couple of people on the bus who were also left hanging by the lack of classes, and we orgnised to ski together. We ended up getting split up, as was bound to happen with random people skiing together who had different levels. We also were able to take a shorter lunch break, which was nice, but also got back to the bus too early as we were worried that we were going to miss it since we didn't know the ski out of the resort.
The day was very cold, with continual snow on the lower slopes of the resort, but we were able to catch some sun at the top, where the view was amazing. The upper areas of the resort were above the tree line, where everything was just covered in snow, and the pistes were wide and well groomed, which made for lovely conditions, particularly with the fresh snow.
It was so cold though, that my hands and feet would freeze on the chair lifts, and we were able to see the six sided shapes of snowflakes as they fell on the empty seats and didn't melt. The fog at times made it hard to see far into the distance.
Skiing-wise, I think I'm getting better, but I really need to learn how to stop confidently without using snow plough. This would make me much more comfortable about going fast and using more parallel turns. I understand the theory - do a parallel turn, but with more force, however have never been able to do it consistently. Something to practise next trip... as well a heap of other things, but I think this one shold take precedence over all the others...
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Grindelwald
Today was the hardest of skiing I've had since the very first time I tried skiing back in November. This was due to two reasons.
The first of these was the conditions. It hadn't snowed over in this part of the mountains for over a week as well, except last night and today. This meant that while there was a nice thick layer of fluffy powder on the slopes, it was covering a layer of solid ice. It was also snowing the whole day, which made visibility on the slopes an issue. Which really was a pity, because I know this area is amazingly pretty, having spent a weekend here on my first CERN trip. The area we were skiing, while fairly high ranging from 1500m to 2500m, would be dwarfed by the mountains above us, the highest of which is above 4000m.
It wasn't awful, as we could always see the snow under us and the slope immediately front of us, but sometimes it would be hard to see further away. The falling snow on the trees was very pretty though, and in the afternoon, we had fun trying to make the snow fall off the branches in mini avalanches.
The second reason was the difficulty of the slopes we were skiing. The aim of the morning was to get from the gondola stop to the FIS World Cup Lauberhorn downhill and salom slopes on the other side of the plateau.
All of these traversing slopes were red, of which I had only done a couple before, and never in such conditions. They were also traversing runs, which meant they had lots of flat and even some uphill sections, which involve a lot more effort to get across, particularly since I can't ski skate very well.
That was nothing compared to the difficulty with the Lauberhorn slopes themselves which according to the FIS website: the steepness of the run varies from 33% to an incredible 93% and some sections have become legendary like the Hundschopf, a jump of 40 meters in between two rocks, and the Wasserstation tunnel, a passage under a small viaduct of the local railway line. We didn't ski all 4455 meters of the downhill slope, particularly not the jump or the tunnel, and we definitely didn't do it in world cup time, but it was hard enough as it was, I was actually crying out of fear at the top of one of the steeper slopes.
But I made it down in one piece, and didn't even have any bad falls. *grins* It was kind of cool to see the blue painted lines of the race on ice under the new snow, and I now have a new found respect for those who can do what we did in 2 and a half minutes with maximum speeds of up to 160km/h. Which is just crazy fast. I don't even like to drive that quickly, let alone travel that fast with just two planks of wood bound to my feet.
The afternoon was much easier, just slowly doing down the mountain to our cars, and was so easier compared to what we did in the morning. All in all, it was a good day of skiing, despite the weather, but I'm very happy to be back in my apartment in Geneva and am looking forward to a lazy Sunday in my room.
The first of these was the conditions. It hadn't snowed over in this part of the mountains for over a week as well, except last night and today. This meant that while there was a nice thick layer of fluffy powder on the slopes, it was covering a layer of solid ice. It was also snowing the whole day, which made visibility on the slopes an issue. Which really was a pity, because I know this area is amazingly pretty, having spent a weekend here on my first CERN trip. The area we were skiing, while fairly high ranging from 1500m to 2500m, would be dwarfed by the mountains above us, the highest of which is above 4000m.
It wasn't awful, as we could always see the snow under us and the slope immediately front of us, but sometimes it would be hard to see further away. The falling snow on the trees was very pretty though, and in the afternoon, we had fun trying to make the snow fall off the branches in mini avalanches.
The second reason was the difficulty of the slopes we were skiing. The aim of the morning was to get from the gondola stop to the FIS World Cup Lauberhorn downhill and salom slopes on the other side of the plateau.
All of these traversing slopes were red, of which I had only done a couple before, and never in such conditions. They were also traversing runs, which meant they had lots of flat and even some uphill sections, which involve a lot more effort to get across, particularly since I can't ski skate very well.
That was nothing compared to the difficulty with the Lauberhorn slopes themselves which according to the FIS website: the steepness of the run varies from 33% to an incredible 93% and some sections have become legendary like the Hundschopf, a jump of 40 meters in between two rocks, and the Wasserstation tunnel, a passage under a small viaduct of the local railway line. We didn't ski all 4455 meters of the downhill slope, particularly not the jump or the tunnel, and we definitely didn't do it in world cup time, but it was hard enough as it was, I was actually crying out of fear at the top of one of the steeper slopes.
But I made it down in one piece, and didn't even have any bad falls. *grins* It was kind of cool to see the blue painted lines of the race on ice under the new snow, and I now have a new found respect for those who can do what we did in 2 and a half minutes with maximum speeds of up to 160km/h. Which is just crazy fast. I don't even like to drive that quickly, let alone travel that fast with just two planks of wood bound to my feet.
The afternoon was much easier, just slowly doing down the mountain to our cars, and was so easier compared to what we did in the morning. All in all, it was a good day of skiing, despite the weather, but I'm very happy to be back in my apartment in Geneva and am looking forward to a lazy Sunday in my room.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Beatenberg
As I mentioned at the start of the week, a group of us have planned to stay an extra night in the region and get some skiing in before heading back to Geneva. The skiing started almost as soon as the Workshop ended, as the four of us ate our last hotel buffet meal and headed to the nearby slopes.
The resort had one chair lift, one red run and two blue runs as far as I can tell and while it was nice to be on the slopes, it was icy and hard going as it still hadn't snowed. I spent most of the time in awe of the person I was skiing with, he had been skiing since he was four and made it look so graceful and easy. It was also nice to see the view from the top during the day, it really wasn't as impressive the other night.
Tonight we will be staying on the other side of Interlaken to go skiing in the Jungfrau region.
The resort had one chair lift, one red run and two blue runs as far as I can tell and while it was nice to be on the slopes, it was icy and hard going as it still hadn't snowed. I spent most of the time in awe of the person I was skiing with, he had been skiing since he was four and made it look so graceful and easy. It was also nice to see the view from the top during the day, it really wasn't as impressive the other night.
Tonight we will be staying on the other side of Interlaken to go skiing in the Jungfrau region.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Morzine
Just got back from my second outing with the Université de Genève Sports Universitaires. This one was much more enjoyable than the previous one, basically due to the group of people I was skiing with, as most of them spoke English, as did the instructor, but I'm getting ahead of myself...
This time, I signed up with the intermediate class, since I was bored last time in the beginner class. When the seventeen of us started out, I was worried that this was a really bad idea, as we went on a blue slope to warm up and to get to the bottom of a ski lift for a red slope which looked quite difficult from the chairlift. We then had to go down one by one so they could judge our abilities. Luckily I got put into the beginner intermediate group, which was where I wanted to be, since steep slopes frighten me and I have issues stopping still.
So we spent the morning on blues, practising technique. Lesson one was about leaning forward for stability. Lesson two was about always keeping your upper body facing downhill all the time, as if you were checking out a skier in front of you. Lesson three was about changing body weight while turning, unweighting the skis before a turn, then weighting them afterwards, like turning in a car, decelerating beforehand and accelerating afterwards. Lesson four was about using our poles effectively, planting the inside one forward before the start of a turn.
Then it was lunch, which was by far, the lowest point of the day. Firstly, it took the restaurant around 40 minutes to get us our food, and I couldn't eat much of mine as it was smothered with cheese and made me feel sick. And secondly, one of the middle aged French men on the table behind us were bothering me. Trying to get my attention by flicking my pigtails and saying they were pretty, or touching my shoulders after I was massaging them. Urgh. And when I got up from the table to go to the bathroom, asking if the little dog under the table was mine. This one I did not understand, are Japanese girls known in France to have cute little dogs with them when they go skiing? And then when we were leaving, he offered one of the guys on my table a drink said that his Japanese friend at the table was very attractive and that he was offering private ski lessons if she was interested. Shudder. I wish I knew enough French to be able to put him in his place and not just ignore it. I wish I was somewhere I don't stand out because of the way I look... Sigh.
Anyway, we skied the rest of the afternoon, going down one red and then practising parrallel turns on blues, skiing all the way one to the car park instead of taking the cable car, which was pretty cool. I think I'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow though...
This is the view from the top of the first red run we went down in the morning. Very scenic, except for the fact that we were stuck in traffic for way too long in that fog on the way home. The runs at the resort were quite romantic actually, winding their way through the pine trees and with mountain peaks in almost all directions.
This time, I signed up with the intermediate class, since I was bored last time in the beginner class. When the seventeen of us started out, I was worried that this was a really bad idea, as we went on a blue slope to warm up and to get to the bottom of a ski lift for a red slope which looked quite difficult from the chairlift. We then had to go down one by one so they could judge our abilities. Luckily I got put into the beginner intermediate group, which was where I wanted to be, since steep slopes frighten me and I have issues stopping still.
So we spent the morning on blues, practising technique. Lesson one was about leaning forward for stability. Lesson two was about always keeping your upper body facing downhill all the time, as if you were checking out a skier in front of you. Lesson three was about changing body weight while turning, unweighting the skis before a turn, then weighting them afterwards, like turning in a car, decelerating beforehand and accelerating afterwards. Lesson four was about using our poles effectively, planting the inside one forward before the start of a turn.
Then it was lunch, which was by far, the lowest point of the day. Firstly, it took the restaurant around 40 minutes to get us our food, and I couldn't eat much of mine as it was smothered with cheese and made me feel sick. And secondly, one of the middle aged French men on the table behind us were bothering me. Trying to get my attention by flicking my pigtails and saying they were pretty, or touching my shoulders after I was massaging them. Urgh. And when I got up from the table to go to the bathroom, asking if the little dog under the table was mine. This one I did not understand, are Japanese girls known in France to have cute little dogs with them when they go skiing? And then when we were leaving, he offered one of the guys on my table a drink said that his Japanese friend at the table was very attractive and that he was offering private ski lessons if she was interested. Shudder. I wish I knew enough French to be able to put him in his place and not just ignore it. I wish I was somewhere I don't stand out because of the way I look... Sigh.
Anyway, we skied the rest of the afternoon, going down one red and then practising parrallel turns on blues, skiing all the way one to the car park instead of taking the cable car, which was pretty cool. I think I'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow though...
This is the view from the top of the first red run we went down in the morning. Very scenic, except for the fact that we were stuck in traffic for way too long in that fog on the way home. The runs at the resort were quite romantic actually, winding their way through the pine trees and with mountain peaks in almost all directions.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Cancelled skiing...
Just got an email from the University saying that tomorrow's ski outing will be cancelled due bad weather... *pouts* I'll have to find something else to do to fill the day, maybe some shopping... *smiles*
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Avoriaz
Today I went to the snow with the Université de Genève Sports Universitaires. Every Saturday from mid-January to mid-March they have a program where they go to a ski resort with an all inclusive price that includes the bus there and back, the lift ticket and classes if you want to take them. I signed myself up for the intermediate beginner's class for beginners who had skied before. We spent the day snow ploughing down all the blue runs at the resort. Which got quite boring by the end of the day. Having said that though, it was nice to have a class and get corrections and doing exercises to improve my technique, though it was in French.
The resort itself was quite interesting, we were dropped off at a car park and had to take a cable car to the slopes, which I thought was going to be like Crozet and just be lifts and runs, but there was a whole little village up there, with some interesting, distinctive architecture, which probably would have blended in with the cliffs from far away.
The resort itself was quite interesting, we were dropped off at a car park and had to take a cable car to the slopes, which I thought was going to be like Crozet and just be lifts and runs, but there was a whole little village up there, with some interesting, distinctive architecture, which probably would have blended in with the cliffs from far away.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
And Even More Skiing and Cheese!
Today a group of us went to Crozet for the day (so convenient!) and then afterwards I hosted a fondue in the Australian apartment (as I found a set there the other day).
I did my first red run, though accidentally (it was scary!) and this time regulated the amount of cheese I ate (and drank more wine)...
By the way, the run you can see in this photo under the lift is a blue one. Not very steep and fairly wide and smooth.
I did my first red run, though accidentally (it was scary!) and this time regulated the amount of cheese I ate (and drank more wine)...
By the way, the run you can see in this photo under the lift is a blue one. Not very steep and fairly wide and smooth.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Even More Skiing!
This afternoon we went skiing at Crozet, the nearest ski resort on the Jura, of which the car park of the lift to the slopes is only a 10 minute drive from CERN! So close! And look at that view! I'd never seen it so clear before, being able to see all the way across the valley and to The Saleve and The Alps from the top was amazing.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
More Skiing!
After last week's adventure, I was a little wary about going skiing this weekend, particularly since the weather looked like it could be questionable. But luckily for me, the lifts on nearby Jura at La Faucille were open, and so one of the CERN fellows was willing to organise a trip up there and also teach me how to ski.
So we meet up for half a day on the slopes at 11am at CERN. There are five of us all together, three experienced skiers, one beginning snowboarder and me. We pile into two cars and head on up there, taking the back roads through the Swiss and French villages along the way to avoid the Saturday morning traffic.
It's a small resort, and low by European standards at around 1300m, but it has the advantages of being really close, like we were able to get up there by noon, and has a magnificent view of the Alps, which I was unable photograph as I was worried about dropping my camera on the ski lift and then at the top, the safety barriers were in the way. Not to mention, since I can't really ski, all I need is a green or blue slope to practise on, and there was a fairly easy blue slope open, of which this is the start of:
So I learnt how to parallel turn, which was so much easier than snow plough turns, but am still not very good at controlling my speed, and tend to fall down randomly, though I've since figured out that that is because I have my skis too far apart and my weight backwards. But yeah, it was great fun and I want to go again soon! Thanks heaps to those who were so patient in teaching me! You know who you are. *smiles*
So we meet up for half a day on the slopes at 11am at CERN. There are five of us all together, three experienced skiers, one beginning snowboarder and me. We pile into two cars and head on up there, taking the back roads through the Swiss and French villages along the way to avoid the Saturday morning traffic.
It's a small resort, and low by European standards at around 1300m, but it has the advantages of being really close, like we were able to get up there by noon, and has a magnificent view of the Alps, which I was unable photograph as I was worried about dropping my camera on the ski lift and then at the top, the safety barriers were in the way. Not to mention, since I can't really ski, all I need is a green or blue slope to practise on, and there was a fairly easy blue slope open, of which this is the start of:
So I learnt how to parallel turn, which was so much easier than snow plough turns, but am still not very good at controlling my speed, and tend to fall down randomly, though I've since figured out that that is because I have my skis too far apart and my weight backwards. But yeah, it was great fun and I want to go again soon! Thanks heaps to those who were so patient in teaching me! You know who you are. *smiles*
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