#39 Boston - Whiteout - March 3 2007

That´s what vou get for being cocky- boasting last week about my skiing skills to you and the world, and now I have to take it all back. My head is hanging down in utter shame over my performance on the slopes this weekend. Actually I am kidding to a certain degree and I am not taking back my accomplishments from last week. I did do very well up in New Hampshire, and I still am ready to hit the blue trails as soon as I return.
However, I am and was not ready to ski the Swiss Alps just yet – as for my next step up from Waterville Valley,NH, skiing up at close to 9000 feet, on fresh, deep powder for the first time in the middle of a whiteout may have not been the best choice. Add altitude sickness to that and you can imagine the fun I had. My brother Martin, his partner Marion and her sister Andrea had grabbed me this past weekend and we headed to Switzerland – to be exact to the Belalp (http://www.belalp.ch/service/languages.php) Ski Area near Brig, in the Wallis (Valais) canton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valais). The Ober Wallis (Upper Valais) is located in the southwestern part of the country and features some of the highest mountain peaks, as well as tons of snow. We rented the most charming cottage in the vacation village of Tschuggen (http://www.fedo-tschuggen.ch/), a gondola ride up from the small town of Blatten. The vacation village, mind you, is located on a steep mountain side, and since it had snowed there during the previous week, we had no choice but to leave the car in Blatten, lug all our stuff onto the gondola, and then lug it from the "Mittelstation" to Cottage #31, which contrary to all the signs posted is not just a five-minute walk, in particular if you are dragging suitcases, ski boots, food supplies (including wine) and whatnot.



The Swiss Alps are simply stunning, that is all I can say. We headed there this past Friday afternoon, and it would not be an overstatement to say I drove everyone crazy in the car as soon as I got sight of the mountains. For God sakes, I grew up in the area, but I had forgotten how breathtaking it was, and the images from this weekend will certainly stay with me for quite some time.
We had been a bit worried about having snow at all to ski with, since Europe, just like New England, had experienced a sorry and soggy excuse for a winter, and only once we were up on the mountain were our fears assuaged. The weather gods did their best, and dumped a whole lot of snow on us Friday night, and as a matter of fact, a bit too much.
Marion and Andrea had decided to go snowshoeing, and Martin and I opted for downhill skiing. We knew right away that we were in trouble seeing the amount of snow that was still coming down – but headed for the first small lift up to the Schoenbeil at about 2300 feet. We skied down a blue trail (which is the equivalent of a green trail in the US I believe) and my brother, who is a very good skier, took his time to accompany my first steps in powder snow. This, amigos, is drastically different from skiing on New England´s icy slopes, to issue a big understatement. I did fairly decent, and so my brother decided to get me up onto a bigger lift which will took us to Hohbiel at 2620 meters (8595 feet). The lift was pretty cool since it had a protective window shield on it, but little did it matter since going up we could see nothing, nada, zilch. Total whiteout. Snow everywhere (I know, I know, we were in the Alps after all....), a wind that just about knocked you over, and at times we had to stop and wait for the wind to die down, so that we could see the blue trail markers again. It was pretty nasty, even my brother had to admit that, and we gingerly made our way down. The whole experience was getting more difficult the minute altitude sickness kicked in with me, just as I had experienced in Wyoming last year, only it was worse this time. My brother, bless his soul, was phenomenal and coaxed me down the mountain, and ignored the spills I took along the way.
Bottomline was that this may have not been an ideal day for me to learn skiing on moderately deep powder snow, but I did learn a few tricks, and know that during more optimal conditions, I might have done better. I will have to figure out what to do about the altitude problem though – not being able to head all the way up my beloved mountains is tough – maybe some Diamox will help, and as to the skiing, a few lessons in powder snow at lower altitudes would be in order as well.
Marion and Andrea had a similar experience with their snowshoes, at times not knowing where the heck they were, trails were not visible, and we discovered them quite exhausted in one of the restaurants at the bottom of the lift. I went straight for a 2-hour nap, and then was ready to resume activities with the gang.
In a drastic turnaround the weather today was what it should have been yesterday – clear blue skies, fantastic visibility, and the Alpine peaks appeared so close as if we could have touched them. We had to leave in the early afternoon, so were not able to get any skiing in, but enjoyed the phenomenal views on lounge chairs in front of the chalet, and even got a little tan. At one point a butterfly sat on my lower leg, and I thought, how much more beautiful can life be?


It was certainly a lot of fun to go on a trip with my family, the evenings were filled with good food (there is only one restaurant in Tschuggen, but it does have very delectable regional cuisine) and game nights. We did play a German version of Trivial Pursuit, which featured a fairly uneven combination of easy, kindergarten-level questions, and some stuff none of us had never heard of, and I doubt anyone else would have. At times very spirited discussions arose, in particular when my brother doubted that Roger Moore ("the old guy with the warts" – according to Marion) was older than Sean Connery (we will look it up tonight, I´ll keep you posted). Last night also provided additional oohing and aahing in the shape of a lunar eclipse, and I do have an exquisite picture to proof it (it looks more like a white dot on a black background, but you just have to trust me on this one - I have three witnesses...)
We are back at home in Southern Germany and tomorrow I will meet up with some girls from the Schoki Club (my old childhood friends) to head over to France, and explore Alsace Lorraine, drive along the Alsacian wine trail and stop in the charming town of Colmar.
Wednesday I will hop on a train heading to Amsterdam for work – attending the International Symposium on Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT for short) – a very intimate meeting of about 500 cancer researchers and clinicians, but one of my favorites to attend. Sunday the 11th will see me return to Boston.
I hope my write-up finds you all in good spirits, I will send pictures after my return.
Auf Wiedersehn!
Pet:)