5:45 AM. This is when we had to get up to catch the train. Now, some of you may be thinking "wow, that’s cool they’re making the most of their time in Europe". Most of you, though, are probably saying to yourselves "they’re lying – we know those two, and they simply are not capable of getting up that early". Unfortunately, this appears to be the price of skiing, as we’ve had to get up before the sunrise a couple of times now, much to my chagrin. However, since this was going to be our first true "Swiss" skiing experience (the other times we’ve technically gone to France), it was worth the crippling pain of getting out of bed that early.
Anyway, Verbier is known as one of the top ski destinations in the world, by those in the know. At least, that’s what their website says, and as we’ve established the fact that the Swiss are light years behind in Marketing, then I think it probably has some truth behind it. Unfortunately for Soph and I, we were forced to start the skiing by going down a truly insane hill, and while she had the good sense to walk down it, I figured that going about halfway, doing a backflip, not sticking the landing, and then sliding down the rest with one leg bent under my head would be a better idea. Sometimes I wonder how I’ve made it this far…but once the initial hill of death was over, we were able to find a good spot to practice the rest of the day, which happened to also have a nice little restaurant next to it.
What is also great about Verbier is that it’s a true "ski-t
own"; that is, it has a pretty decent restaurant and nightlife. In truth, it puts Geneva’s nightlife to shame – but so does just about any city with a population of 5000 (Geneva, while it has a terrible nightlife, does have a thriving expat community, which makes up for that shortcoming). So after a long day of skiing, all of us met up together for some apres-ski, which is another great Swiss or French custom that needs to be brought to America (it’s basically just hanging out on a deck in your ski gear with a view of the mountains, but it makes it that much more fun when you use a semi-translatable phrase to describe it).
Now that we’ve gone skiing a couple of times, I think we’re prepared to give some opinions on it.
The good? Well, first of all, the scenery is fantastic at all the resorts here – really impressive stuff. Then there’s the fresh mountain air, and of course the actual act of skiing in and of itself. Soph’s favorite part is the chair lift, because she can just sit and look around at everything, and I see her point. The bad? Definitely the act of carrying your skis back and forth, and just organizing everything. That part is really annoying. The ugly? Pretty much any of our falls, of which there have been quite a few. In my defense, I’ve seriously reduced how often I fall, but unfortunately now my falls are monumental in scope, and involve being airborne for some measurable amount of time, and often landing on my head – sort of like a reverse cat or something.
Next weekend: Sleeping in!
Anyway, Verbier is known as one of the top ski destinations in the world, by those in the know. At least, that’s what their website says, and as we’ve established the fact that the Swiss are light years behind in Marketing, then I think it probably has some truth behind it. Unfortunately for Soph and I, we were forced to start the skiing by going down a truly insane hill, and while she had the good sense to walk down it, I figured that going about halfway, doing a backflip, not sticking the landing, and then sliding down the rest with one leg bent under my head would be a better idea. Sometimes I wonder how I’ve made it this far…but once the initial hill of death was over, we were able to find a good spot to practice the rest of the day, which happened to also have a nice little restaurant next to it.
What is also great about Verbier is that it’s a true "ski-t
own"; that is, it has a pretty decent restaurant and nightlife. In truth, it puts Geneva’s nightlife to shame – but so does just about any city with a population of 5000 (Geneva, while it has a terrible nightlife, does have a thriving expat community, which makes up for that shortcoming). So after a long day of skiing, all of us met up together for some apres-ski, which is another great Swiss or French custom that needs to be brought to America (it’s basically just hanging out on a deck in your ski gear with a view of the mountains, but it makes it that much more fun when you use a semi-translatable phrase to describe it). Now that we’ve gone skiing a couple of times, I think we’re prepared to give some opinions on it.
The good? Well, first of all, the scenery is fantastic at all the resorts here – really impressive stuff. Then there’s the fresh mountain air, and of course the actual act of skiing in and of itself. Soph’s favorite part is the chair lift, because she can just sit and look around at everything, and I see her point. The bad? Definitely the act of carrying your skis back and forth, and just organizing everything. That part is really annoying. The ugly? Pretty much any of our falls, of which there have been quite a few. In my defense, I’ve seriously reduced how often I fall, but unfortunately now my falls are monumental in scope, and involve being airborne for some measurable amount of time, and often landing on my head – sort of like a reverse cat or something. Next weekend: Sleeping in!
