Ski Europe Now

Poopy Weather Part II.

I woke up yesterday morning to rain (again) but thought, gee, maybe it'll lift like it did yesterday.  Boy, was I wrong.  I got an early start and was on the Plaun gondola by 9 am but the fog was so thick I couldn't make out the car ahead of me on the line.  Rain spattered on the glass and made me nervous.  I took the second gondola up to Nagens and then down to the six pack, up that and by the time I got to the top it had cleared enough that going over to the high-speed triple made sense.  So off I went.  But, it was only a sucker hole and the weather rolled back in with a vengence by the time I made the top of the triple.  I decided to get out of there while the getting was good and went all the way down on number 10, skiing by braille for most of the way.  near the bottom of number 10 the fog was so thick I couldn't see trees twenty meters away.  It was bad.  Thank god the resort is fanatical about grooming so at least it was a smooth surface underneath otherwise I would have ended up in the hospital. I did want a hot lunch so back up the Plaun and Nagens gondolas to Nagens for lunch.  It was an excellent (but spendy= 36.60 swiss francs) lunch and then down number 18 to the hotel.  Not the best skiing by any stretch of the imagination.

Flims-Laax Rocks!

After sitting around the room Thursday for three hours writing postcards and going for a walk in the damp weather, I was initially not looking forward to today.  How things change.  I woke up Friday around 4 am to the sound of rain and thought "Shit.  Here we go again."  I got up and hit breakfast at 8 am (and apparently was the first person there), then got my poop in a group for a day of soggy skiing.  The entire village of Flims was in fog, so thick I could barely see the main street.  It didn't look good, and I thought, "Well, I'll head up and see how things look up higher."  It was like riding inside cloud from the base area going up the Plaun gondola, but low and behold, when we got to Plaun, the fog actually started to lift.  I kept skiing and as the day progressed the fog was gone and we would have intermittant clouds roll through (occasionally blanketing a ski run but this was very temporary) and then sun.  You could actually see and it never really got worse.  So, all in all a fine day and the weather continues to improve.  I shared a gondola ride with a French family and the father assured me he had it on an impeccable source (he wouldn't say who) that tomorrow would be even better (but Sunday would be horrible).  Good news for me; I don't care if Sunday sucks balls because that is a travel day for me. 

I finally got to the last part of the mountain I had not yet skied.  I went up the drag lifts on the Vorab glacier and over a saddle overlooking another valley.  I arrived just before a patroller got there to close the piste.  He didn't say why but I think it was a combination of foggy conditions, the difficulty of the piste (it was a black), and the sloppy conditions at the bottom of this piste.  He let me and several other folks ski the piste before he closed it and it was pretty fun.  Certainly not a black to me (it was no steeper than Elk) but it certainly was a long sucker, maybe two miles long and the last bit was dead flat with six inches of slush so it made for a slog to skate ski through.  I saw more than one snowboarder walking along dejectedly.

Few photos from the day:

Looking down ski run number 33 (inventive name, that.)

Looking back up black 35.  Not that difficult.

The lack of direct sun was deceiving because that evening I was cooked.  Remember, sunscreen is yur fren'.

Day Off Skis Today.

Well, spring skiing being what it is, it was bound to happen sooner or later: rain.  Yeah, it's pouring rain today in Flims and I hate skiing in the rain, especially with ski clothes that aren't really waterproof anymore, much less water resistant.  So, postcard writing day and perhaps a walk around town for some photos.  It hasn't gotten cold in the valley in a few nights so the snow continues to disappear down low, and I suspect that by next week (monday say) the one run to the bottom (no. 10) will be closed and skiers will have to download on the gondola.  The one ski run down to Falera was closed last week so I never got the chance to check out the town.  I did get the chance to ski down to Laax and did that all day on Tuesday.  Supposedly the weather is going to improve tomorrow so I am praying for sun but would take overcast with no fog.  Couple photos from the last few days:

Riding one of the chairs on Tuesday.

Looking back up piste number 18 on Wednesday.  Funny how here in Flims-Laax they only number their pistes, and don't give them names.

It's YOUR Lucky Day!

Why, you might ask, is it your lucky day?  Because for the second day in a row, you get two posts: one about last year's trip and an accompaning video, and a post about Flims.

I made it to my hotel in Flim by about 3:30 pm and got checked in with no issues.  The nice bus driver dropped me off in central Flims at the main bus stop (basically a wide spot in the road) and showed me my hotel.  Th  This is a very quiet hotel just forty yards from the main road through town but you wouldn't be able to tell.  I have a nice single room (and it appears to be the larger of the two on this floor so next time you are in Fims at the Arena Guesthouse as a single person, ask for room 390.  I went for a quick walk around to orient myself and I had to remind myself of the scale of living in foreign countries, especially Switzerland.  What looked like a 30 to 40 minute walk from my hotel to the nearest food store (for beer, natch) on the map was actually only 3 or 4 minutes away.  Really close.  So, quick walk for more beer, couple more sausages, a coke, and a bottle of rose wine.  This time I had the good sense to bring one bottle of bourbon along for bourbon and cokes, and thus far it has been an excellent idea.  Almost as good an idea as mayo in a squeeze tube.  No shit, I bought one yesterday and it is fantastic: squeeze some out like toothpaste on a roll, add a cube of cheese (gruyere), some excellent Swiss cold cuts, take a bite of the roll, and hey presto instant sandwich.  I luv progress.

My hotel room.

View from hotel room balcony.

As I type the local wildlife (ie: birds) are really twisting off: quite loud birdsong.  Almost as loud as all the sirens and other shit in Zurich last night.

 

Counting Down.

Two weeks and counting before I leave.  I sure don't feel ready.  Photo to go with the post:

I thought I had a few photos from the Flims area.  I was wrong; the train never passed near the lifts so I was near Disentis.  I believe this is part of Falera which is near Laax and Flims.

More Snow in Flims-Laax.

45 cm of new snow recently at Flims-Laax.  Good year to go.  Saas Fee hasn't had much snow this year it appears.  Too late now.

Pulling the Trigger.

After talking to Philthy about Flims-Laax, I figured out that regardless of what some reviews say, the only sure way to find out what the resort is like is to go there and ski it, and if the ski resort closes most of the area in the interest of "skier safety" when it is patently bullshit, well, so be it.  If so, expect lots and lots of bitching in all caps.