Switzerland so far has been incredible. Our clients for the past week have been Leo Dugdale, Henry Tuggey and Stephanie Harlow, all competent skiers / boarders and looking to further their basic snowkiting experiences. For the first couple of days the Simplon Pass was choked in a thick fog reducing visibility down to around 20 metres so we headed over to Bel-Alp on the other side of the valley for fun times on the slopes. We haven’t had a fresh dump of snow for over a week now but the piesting machines have kept the slopes in good nick.
Another day found us taking on a mountain (on foot) in order to reach the coffee bar at the top. Some may ask why we didn’t catch the t-bar to the top and ski to it and I would have agreed with these people when my lungs and calves were burning. However the coffee was well earnt and the walk down the mountain was great fun as we realised that we could cut out sections of the winding lane out by throwing ourselves through the deep untouched snow in the middle. Essentially rolling down the hill!
With very strong winds now whistling through the Simplon, we spent a couple of days braving the elements and pushing ourselves on the snowkiting front. Sadly the local cafe has shut for January which is good for the waistline because they serve around 5 different fruit pies in rather large portions. We have thought ahead and have cooking facilities in the van to provide fresh coffee a la Big Blue. Also can anyone tell me why bread rolls with the simplest of fillings, usually without butter taste soo good when you are away on holiday or really really cold and standing on top of a mountain?
On Thursday evening we caught an early cable car up to one of the restaurants where we had booked a meat fondue. Amazing!! Strangely, the Swiss serve the meal with tinned pineapple, peach and a cherry. Not to mention about 12 different sauces, chips and rice. Washed down with plenty of soft drink we hit the 45 minute toboggan run down the ski-out. I have tobogganed this track many a time before but this time was pretty fast. Lack of fresh snow, high day time temperatures followed by low night time temperatures meant only one thing…hard, compact, slightly frozen and very very fast. Of course you can go as fast as you like but with Stephanie proving a speed demon on the toboggan (I think she had waxed her runners) the race was on all the way back to the door of the hotel.
We have snow forecast for the weekend and a few people turning up next week so if you fancy coming to join us have a look at the website www.thebigblueexperience.com or give Oli a call on 07816 169359.
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