Zermatt

I know that you are all wanting to see the NZ/Japan/China entry - but that came after we went skiing for a weekend. So this come first - I didn't make the rules. OK, I did make the rules and Craig is always the person to promptly break them.

So, now that Craig is addicted to skiing, he decided we needed to do a weekend in Europe in the middle of winter. He also decided that the country had to be Switzerland as this is one of the only Western European countries on the Alps we haven't skied before (but we still haven't been to Andorra or Luxembourg). So a quick rating on the Time Out Guide to skiing 2005 revealed that Zermatt was the best choice for us. For those that don't know, Zermatt is probably short for Zer Matterhorn, for which the region is famous., or at least to me, who has romantic notions of the mountain pictured in a Disney book from when I was a kid.

Now for the last couple of years, trying to get to Europe for a weekends skiing on a budget have just narrowly fallen short of being disastrous. (Say expensive flights, long transfers and no reasonably priced hotel booking you for less than 7 days). So Craig and I bit the bullet and took two days off work and booked through a ski weekend website which organised all of the flights, transfers and accommodation for us. Much better and not too badly priced at £350 pp.

So it turned out that because we booked through a tour company the hotel expected us to eat with the other guests in that tour. This was actually a good thing as we met two other nice couples all living reasonably near to us. It seems that whenever we go somewhere snowy, we will always meet people who live in the neighbouring suburbs - which goes to prove that all people in Clapham/Brixton and SW London must ski. Natural really.

After a 3-4 hour transfer from Geneva airport to the resort, we made it to our hotel which was actually in the next village below Zermatt. This is because accommodation at the luxurious and posh resort is at a premium. Our hotel was basic but the folks running the place were friendly, albeit a little strict - everything is CASH only please and we must pay for our drinks immediately after dinner in the money jar. No tab available here.

The ski hire had to be the most funniest ski hire we ever came across. We went down to the basement where the owner, an elderly ex-pro skier, had a whole heap of boots and skis of different sizes laid out on the floor and against the wall. We sat on old sofas to try on our scratched and used equipment. (We usually hire premium class brand new equipment). Turns out that the gear was actually the best we had come across. This dude did in fact know what he was talking about.

So the next morning, we went for our first day skiing. After almost passing out from the cost of the ski passes - I think almost £140 for three days when it is normally something like 70 Euros - we popped across the road to catch the train up to the village. The trains are actually very frequent and very flash. These are actually required pretty much to get to the village, as the village is pedestrian only, with services from electric carts, buses and for the posh, horse-drawn carriages. When we got to the start of the one of the lifts up to the mountain (these are dotted around the valley), we discovered just why the lift passes are so expensive. The first lift starts as a fernicular within the mountain. These are followed by large numbers of fast gondolas, chairlifts and even elevators in some parts. I think top of the range transportation is a must for this resort as it spans 313km marked ski runs including Cervinia/Italy on the other side.

So as we reached the top of the first lifts, I had to be touristy, and take a "souvenir" photo with Paulutz, the Saint Bernard, in front of the Matterhorn. Cheesy we know, but it was just as well we did it then as the weather got a little worse the next couple of days and the dogs weren't up there.



The first day was a pretty standard day for skiing, where we just cruised around. We had been warned to stay mid to low level on the first day as the massive altitude can cause people to get sick if they are not used to it.

The next day, we started to attempt the ski safari which is apparently 10,000 or 12,500 vertical metres in one day. We started out OK - on a black run (always good to warm up on) - but I don't know what drugs the person who dreamt up this idea was on when they invented this route as it is vritually impossible to get up the mountains that fast and ski that fast to do the whole tour.

We did manage to get to the top of the glacier at 3883m above ski level and down a little way to Italy for a small ski before lunch at 2pm. But given that one has to be on the lifts back from Italy to Switzerland before 3pm, or else you are staying the night in a snow cave over there, meant that we didn't even get half the route done. Never mind, it was worth a try anyway.

Every evening, we did manage to get back up to Zermatt village for loads of drinks such as Gluhwein and Jagertee (some strong concoction made with Jagermeister to sooth the pains away). It was disappointing to find that real hot chocolate was not really available as they are in Geneva - so we made do with the chocolates from the various chocolate shops scattered about. At least Craig was happy as we didn't do the same with the outrageously expensive watch and jewellery shops.

So we had one final day of skiing, which was non-eventful - just pottered around with some of the others in our group and stopping at the quaint little herders huts dotted around the mountain for lunch (at this point we ran out of battery power on our camera so you have to believe us :( )...although this is close.

Anyway, all in all, another great ski trip. Could quite easily go back as there is so much mountain to explore. The only thing is that the more difficult runs are off-piste which is tricky for us - but we may be more keen after our jaunt with powder in Niseko (story to come).