Geneva & Verbier, Switzerland, Jan 29th - Feb 1st, 2010

Piste, vin chaud, boit askis, apres-ski. These are some of the terms we became familiar with on our first European ski adventure. We knew that this would likely be our last winter living in Europe and we didn't want to leave without skiing in the Alps. The British frequently fly or train to Switzerland, Austria, France, and Italy to ski, but usually it's for a week, with a big group or family in a chalet. We had to make due with a weekend, so on Friday morning at 7am, Erin and I caught a Swiss Air flight to Geneva.  We walked around town for a few hours, took a ride on a sea-saw and had a quick lunch before boarding the train to Verbier.

View of Le Chable on the way to Verbier

The clouds were low so we couldn't enjoy the Swiss scenery in its full glory. After 1 1/2 hours we changed trains in Martingny to board the St. Bernard Express which would take us up to Le Chable. Normally at Le Chable you would walk across the street from the train station to board a cable car up to go straight up to Verbier. For the Wilsons Le Chable was our home base. As I mentioned before the traditional ski holiday consists of a Saturday to Saturday stay in a chalet so the hotel options were limited. We couldn't find a room that didn't require more than a few nights stay in Verbier, at least nothing for less than $300 per night. So instead we stayed in the very humble, yet totally sufficient Hotel Gietroz in Le Chable. It was less than a five minute walk to the base of the cable car from there so it suited our needs. After dropping our bags in our room, we took the cable car up to Verbier. It was about a 15 minute ride in a 4-person enclosed box. Since we were only two, we were able to spread out. It was snowing hard though so the visibility was limited.

Once we arrived, our first priority was to sort our ski rentals for the week. Our friend Kathleen had highly recommended Boit'askis (The Ski Box?) and for good reason. It was about 4pm, but they kitted us out with skis, boots and poles so we could just pick them up quickly the next morning. Also, during the day they let you leave your walking boots and a small bag at the rental place. It was a nice convenience so we didn't have to walk around/in town carrying our ski boots and skis. Well done Boit'askis!

Main strip in town

We hadn't yet completed a single run, but considering the hour we were ready for some pre-skiing apres-ski. First though we took a long walk around town (of course!) After wandering for 20-30 minutes, we realized that we were the only walkers. Everyone must already be hitting the apres-ski, or resting up at home before dinner.

Christmas tree still up in Feb....WT.

We wandered into a bar called L'Atelier for a drink and a piping hot basket of shoe-string french fries with garlic mayo. We haven't lived here so long that we've forgone ketchup with our fries, but this stuff was delish! Having fattened up a bit and put on our alcohol coats, we wandered around Verbier a little more, searching for a good place for dinner. We settled on Chez Martin for pizza and pasta. We were with the early-bird crowd at around 7pm. The last cable car back to Le Chable runs at 6:45 so we tried to sort out the bus schedule. After waiting about 20 minutes in the 2 feet of snow, we gave up and hailed a taxi back down the mountain. There was a little confusion about the price as the driver had quoted me sixteen francs before we climbed in and sixty as we were getting out. I guess when he initially said "soixant," my brain could not comprehend that a 10 minute cab ride, even in Verbier, could possibly run north of 30 francs. Lesson learned.

View from our hotel room

We had one last drink at the bar in Le Gietroz before heading to bed. Saturday morning we were up bright and early (actually is was cloudy and snowy...and it was definitely after 8:00!) for a breakfast of bread rolls, butter, jam, and coffee at the hotel. The Swiss women who ran the hotel and the restaurant were very friendly - they didn't laugh too hard at my crappy French. We then picked up our skis at Boit and made our way to the top of the main Verbier lift (a six-person cable car) called Medran. There were very few people on the lift and we soon learned why. At mid mountain, it was nearly impossible to see a thing. Since this was our first time on this mountain and also because trail markings are limited, we struggled severely to make our way down. Erin is always pretty nervous on her first run (and 2nd and 3rd...) even in ideal conditions so this was truly challenging. Along the way down the winding blue trail (blue trails are the easiest ones in Europe...or at least in Switzerland) we added a few other hopelessly lost skiers to our group. There was a French man and two Slovenian women who shared our predicament so the five of us slowly made our way down together. I lead most of the way so it was definitely blind leading the blind. It wasn't possible to see more than 5 feet so I joked that they should "stay close, but leave enough distance to stop yourself if I vanish off a cliff...I'll try to yell." Everyone laughed awkwardly.

As we approached the bottom the visibility gradually improved which helped everyone to relax. By the time we got back to the top of Medran, the clouds had lifted and the rest of the day was incredible. The poor viz had kept most people off the mountain so it felt like we had it to ourselves. We ate lunch at Cafe Ruinettes and were happy to have packed our cheese, salami, and bread as the $10 soup and $20 spaghetti bolognese seemed a bit steep. In the afternoon, Erin and I went our separate ways, me to explore some new (not just blue) runs and Erin to ski at her own pace without worrying about me getting bored (her words). Over dinner that night we both agreed that our favorite runs of the day were the ones spent apart.

Our hotel is just across the bridge

That evening we went for apres-ski at Garbo's, a bar that reminded me a little bit of Lloyd's dream sequence in Dumb And Dumber when Aspen's rich folks are sitting around an indoor fire in turtle necks and Christmas sweaters drinking vin chaud and hot cocoa. It was definitely up-scale, but representative of Verbier. I generally think of ski vacations as sport and adventure first, everything else a distant second. In Verbier, the food, fashion, and "scene "seemed almost on equal footing to the skiing. My view of past skiing experiences is largely shaped by my Wilson family tradition. I'm sure there are places in the U.S. that are similar to Verbier and places elsewhere in Switzerland that are more like Mt. Hood and Bend, OR. Anyway, it was fun and stereotypical, but we left after one drink.

We tried to find another restaurant in Le Chable for dinner, but ended up at Restaurant Gietroz for steak-frites before hitting the hay. Sunday was another slow start and Erin was sore from top to tail. Her nerves make her really tense on the slopes so everything from her calves to her fingers (gripping poles for dear life) were tight. It was sunny and the crowds were heaving at the base of Medran. Erin and I split up again for a few runs and it was only then that I realized how much more there was to Verbier than we had seen the previous day. The conditions were amazing. The terrain varied from wide, gentle groomed runs at Le Chaux to cliffs, powder, and moguls (in addition to groomed runs) off Attelas.

Finally some nice weather to accompany the GREAT skiing.

Erin's favourite area quickly became Le Chaux so I left her there and headed for the top of the mountain.  First, from the base of Le Chaux I took Le Jumbo, a 150-person cable car to Col des Gentianes, followed by a smaller cable car to the top of Mont Fort at 3,300 meters. It's the highest point in Verbier, a bit lower than the top of Mt. Hood in Oregon, but a few thousand feet higher than the highest lifts there will take you. On a clear day, the 360 degree view of the surrounding Alps must be incredible. The warnings about glaciers, crevasses, and NOT LEAVING THE PISTE WITHOUT A GUIDE!! were enough to keep me focused. It had taken me about 30 minutes to get up that far so I knew the ride down would be worth while. The terrain was challenging at the top, but eventually gave way to long, sweeping reds (intermediate) before dropping me back at the bottom of Le Chaux. It became immediately apparent that Verbier was not all about just the apres-ski, but there was plenty of room for good, serious skiing as well.

The top of Mont Fort in the clouds

After a quick lunch (and being scoffed at for eating our grocery-store lunch in the cafe...Non!) we went back to Le Chaux. To reach that area, you can either ride a "red" run down to the lower, easier pistes, or you can ride the cable car all the way down. I gently encouraged Erin to give the reds a try, me being confident in her abilities and all. She said "no thanks" until another Swiss dude sharing our cable car told her she could do it. To him, she said cheerily, "ok!" and popped out of the lift...incredible.

On the last run of our last day, Erin and I stuck together. Mistake! I took her to the top of a red that was admittedly quite steep. The water works began as the corners of her lips started to aim downward. "I'm not happy with you right now," she says, failing to hold back tears. Great way to end the trip, dummy, (me, not her) I thought. Where was that confidence-building Swiss dude, now? I took my skis off and offered to carry hers the 100 feet back up to the lift so she could ride it down. I knew that would be enough to get her to give the run a try, albeit reluctantly. She may not like to charge down the mountain at high speed, but she's not one to give up that easily either. Eventually she started down, probably out of spite for me since I had started walking back up to the lift. She (of course!) made it down fine. And (of course!) was happy to have conquered the challenging run once she was down.

Verbier in the background during a break in the clouds

As the lifts closed down, we hung around at the base of Medran to listen to a Rolling Stones cover band. We then went to Les Chamois for a huge fondue dinner (meat in oil, not bread in cheese). It was nice and rustic and there was a large crackling fire to complete the scene. We slept hard on Sunday night before waking at 5:50 the next morning to catch an early train back to Geneva. Erin flew home in time to work half a day in London on Monday while I stayed for a bunch of client meetings that week.

Jason came out for the client meetings as well and on Thursday morning (from Zurich) we took a train to Flumserberg to go sledding. Trent's sister Larssyn lives just outside Zurich and they had both visited us in London a few weeks earlier. She mapped out the closest good place for us to go. It was a long journey for a short stint on the mountain, but it was well worth the effort. Jason and I raced down the 3km slope three times, nearly taking out the other sledders (yes, mostly children and teenagers) in a bid to reach the bottom first. It was hilarious. We almost missed the train back to Zurich - missing it would have caused us to miss our afternoon client meeting. That wouldn't have been an easy one to explain.

All in all it was a successful trip both personally and professionally. Thanks Uncle Morgan for helping to sponsor one of our weekend getaways.

Pictures here: