Verbier-Skiing, Sledding, Snow and Crazy Swiss!
Trip Start
Oct 18, 2006
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10
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Trip End
Oct 19, 2007
Verbier, Switzerland
Saturday, January 6, 2007
I spent Christmas and New Years there, and it would have had to have been the most eventful New Years l have ever had! Fireworks went of for days before hand, day and night and l cant count the number of times l nearly stepped on one or was nearly hit by the shooting rockets! I will never forget eating dinner with the girls and sitting with our chairs lined up by the window watching the display take place right above our chalet! And of course having my first White Noel....a dream come true!
Verbier has been my slice of paradise! I had never seen snow fall until l woke up New Years day and opened my curtains to see snow falling...and lam not talking little snowflakes...these were huge! It continued to snow for the next few days..but that is almost as much snow as the Alps have received this year. Luckily for me it has been a very warm winter...so lam not truly experiencing a Swiss winter...thank goodness, shoveling snow once was quite enough for one lifetime!! Its not easy work!
Verbier has allowed me to see a side of life and people l never have really seen before...the rich and famous, movie stars, royalty the list goes on! James Blunt now lives there and l passed Hugh Grant on the street...if that gives you an idea of the place! Verbier is beautiful...especially the old town which is only a 5 minute walk down the valley from the main township...but it makes you feel as though you have walked into another century. The chalets here are over 100 years old and the old town has numerous working farms and vege patches scattered among its narrow walkways. You feel like you will suddenly bump into Heidi or her grumpy grandfather at any moment as you walk through its tiny street!
I am learning to Ski in Verbier....l only just graduated from the bunny slope! But the other sport lam learning and loving up here is tobogganing. Back home we have tiny toboggan runs, here they have a whole 7km run dedicated to only toboggans....its the most fun l have had in years!!! And the views are sensational! The only problem was that l had had done my neck in skiing the day before Sarah (an aupair friend) and myself went down the run. But l must admit l didn't care how much pain l felt...l was having too much fun! We went down the run three times screaming and laughing the whole way down....l was laughing so much at one stage when l hit a mound of snow and it went flying into my open mouth!! We spent our time going up and down the run, eating our picnic on the top of the mountain admiring the views (both and ski instructors and the Alps of course!!! :)) and then l did probably the craziest thing l have ever done and suggested! Instead of catching the cable car back down we decided to tobaggon down....a red slope!!! We soon realized that we may soon die if we continued down the steepest slope l have ever been on, losing control we both fell off our tobaggons and holding onto them we started sliding uncontrollably down the side of the mountain! We finally managed to stop and Sarah suggested that we keep sliding down on our bums as it created more friction then the tobaggons. So we spent the next half an hour sliding down the Swiss Alps on our bums!!! It was crazy, fun and unforgettable! Of course l it created a massive hole in my ski pants and was covered in snow and wet through...but it was the most fun l have had in so long!!! The next day l will never forget the bruise on my behind, my very swollen neck which l couldn't move for two days and the cold l had developed!
My other memorable sledding experiences include sledding for the first time down the bunny slope with Jaz at a snails pace, and of course how will l ever forget the most terrifying yet thrilling night of my life...night sledding! It was Laurence's (my employers) birthday and we caught a ski do (like a jet ski but for the snow) up to a remote Chalet Auburge in the middle of nowhere in the Alps. The ride was magical as you zoomed up the Alp watching the lights of Verbier twinkle below. And the dinner was amazing...my first fondue experience, amazing whine and tiramusi cake! Parfait! And then came the unforgettable part---sledding back down the Alp in the pitch dark with only a cliff face and rocky ledge keeping me from sledding to my death! It was terrifying...and as l was going so slowly compared to the rest of the family zooming to their death..l was left with no light to guide my way down the mountain! So there l was zooming down the Swiss Alp in the pitch dark thinking l was going to die at any moment! I finally came down the last slope to the applause of the whole family (who l say had been waiting for me for a good 10 minutes!) yelling as l arrived "You crazy Swiss!!!!!" which has become my catch phrase here in Switzerland with the family! Just a tip if you ever want to attempt night sledding...do not drink wine before hand!!! do not eat fondue (which l did not know contained high levels of alcohol), and do not eat tiramsu on top of it all (which also contains a rather high level of alcohol for a dessert) ohh and of course take a head flashlight with you! You have been warned!!!
Other highlights and unforgettable moments in Verbier include frequenting the Mont Fort Pub (too many memories there...though l wont miss the icy hill you have to climb to get there and the funny Swedish DJ who only plays music he is in the mood for) spending New Years day sliding down the main street of Verbier and walking through a blizzard, the unforgettable nights at the farm club where you end up covered in 1000CF champagne and where what happens there stays there! And of course Apres ski at the Fahrenheit and secret knocks and doorways at the Casbah and simply sitting on the Chalet balcony watching the majestic Swiss Vallais Alps! Fitting 5 Aupairs into my studio one night was also a unforgettable memory, entertaining ourselves playing French Cluedo and perfecting making Fondue in a saucepan!
Ohh yes so many memories are in Verbier...some which will stay only in Verbier....as you can hear l have fallen in love with Verbier and have tried to capture every angle and memory in my photos as lam pretty sure l will never be able to afford to return as a guest here- it is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world. So enjoy- l know l did!
Comments
Amazing photos
Wow Em! Those black and white photos with a little bit of color are AMAZING! You should seriously make a calendar out of them! Looks like you are having a specatcular time- i'm very jealous :(
Lots of love,
Emma