UnFacconable
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- Jan 22, 2007
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Sounds like an amazing trip aside from the vid.Developed COVID on the tail end of the switzerland trip, but didn't know it (didn't seem like covid to me, and I couldn't get a test in the small town) so the skiing kind of deteriorated as I got sicker. Still it was pretty awesome despite non-ideal conditions. Fun mix of people in the group.
- 2 days of glorious spring conditions with excellent corn off piste.
- 1 day kinda hard nasty stuff, but we Train+Trammed over to Grindelwald-Wengen for a day of exploration which was awesome. Skied the most glorious neverending groomer from the top down to Grindelwald--something like 4600' of vert over 6.5mi without just being a cat track. Ended the day skiing the Lauberhorn DH course with stops to point out the highlights/nuances of the racing line. Hit 109kmh on a little radar-gun speed trap they have set up midway.
- 1 day with enough fresh snow for a bit of off piste fun.
- 1 more firm day that might have started to soften up nicely in the sun but I had to call it quits early as I was too fatigued to feel safe skiing in harder conditions.
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So much melted cheese everywhere. On mountain dining was insane compared to the dreck that US resorts serve.
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Because it is all out of bounds/uncontrolled, the off-piste stuff simply doesn't get skied that much...doesn't turn into mogul fields and seems to stay good for a long time, even the lower-angle stuff with little avvy danger. There were acres of this fun rolling "playground" terrain with lots of stuff to pop off--great in afternoon corn, but apparently last year the same area was holding soft pow days after the last storm because the locals on their 72mm Stöckli carving skis don't touch it. View attachment 2134873
Plus tons of really good food, learned curling, went rodeling down the mountain in the dark after a fondue dinner, caught some Carnival festivities in Lucerne on the final night..
@UnFacconable, if you can ever find the time, I bet you'd fit right in on one of these Party Beach euro trips.
I had a blast skiing pow with the kids today. It was heavy stuff and we didn't get a ton of runs in because of the weather, but still a great day off-trail.
I felt the same way a few years ago, but I still think I'll have their number for a few more years before they blow right by me. I'm looking forward to the day in the not too distant future where the kids complain about having to wait for me - will be divine justice.I’ve already caught glimpses of this. When I sent him down his first blue last season (at five!), he straight-lined it.
Hard to explain in a way that doesn't make me sound like a bad parent, but this is the first season (ages 7 and 9) where my primary enjoyment of skiing with them isn't because I'm happy to see them improving. They are actually at a point where they can mostly keep up and they experience joy on a mountain the way in their uniquely child-like fashion.
It probably took my kids ~75 days on skis to get there, but almost entirely half days with lots of 3-6 run days. A lot of the improvement just comes with age of course so I'm not sure they would be that much different with half or twice as many days. Some of the kids are absolute monsters in their groups. There are a lot of different factors that go into it, like with any athletic pursuit. What I think makes skiing somewhat unique is that someone with average or below-average talent cane become an extremely competent skier just through instruction and time on mountain. That's what I'm seeing with my kids.