Swiss Winter Moments

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The Swiss winter has also changed over the decades due to the global climatic changes. The winters are generally warmer and the snow when it comes does not last as long in the valleys as it did during Nenad's childhood days. This year was no exception. Yes, the snowfall mid January, prior to our arrival from Africa, was spectacular and the amount and quality of snow was not seen in decades in the valleys, turning villages and cities into something from a movie. Responsible for creating such a cold winter wonderland atmosphere are the cold winds blowing from the Arctic North. This weather pattern however is not stable and can change quickly to a Westerly or even worse, South Westerly wind. Temperatures will then dramatically rise, bringing warm and wet weather, which means rain !!! And so it was this year. We saw all that white winter cover melting away and being replaced by a grey in grey landscape. Fog, clouds and rain dominated for 10 days the scene. Snow retreated to over 1000m altitude making life in the city sad, even depressive. Not for Nui, who seems to enjoy any weather here. Having endured this two weeks spell of lousiness, the weather turned and it became colder. Snow started to fall finally again. North Easterly, cold winds cleared the sky and temperatures dropped to well below zero. We were ready to escape the valley winter life and head to the mountains for the snow. After our warm up skiing day in Wildhaus in the valley of Toggenburg (Nenad's 'home reef' for skiing only 60km away from Wil), we did right after our arrival from Namibia, it was time now to pack the big bag and stay for several days in a skiing resort.

We chose Parpan, a small village on 1'500m altitude in the vicinity of the the famous tourist place Lenzerheide, where Roger Federer has his chalet as well. We did not meet him on the slopes, and could not check if his parallel swing is as good as his forehand. Parpan is first mentioned in 1208, but no references to skiing back then. In Romansh, the fourth national language of Switzerland, after German, French and Italian, it was known as ParpaunIn. In this idyllic village, the nature experience is a top priority. In summer Parpan is an ideal starting point for various hiking and mountain bike tours in the Arosa-Lenzerheide region. In winter, Parpan is well integrated into the 225 kilometer snow sports arena of the said Arosa-Lenzerheide skiing set up. The Proschieri ski lift and the Heimberg chairlift (bringing skiers to both sides of the mountain ranges surrounding the valley of Churwalden, where Parpan lies) are close to the village center and can be reached in minutes without a car. As a matter of fact we had to walk 5 minutes with our skies from the accommodation, ski for another 5 minutes through a forest path circumventing snowed in pine trees, to get to the chairlifts. The extensive ski trail network of this holiday region makes skiing versatile with several off-piste possibilities as well. Slopes are marked blue for easy, red for advanced and black for expert ski levels. Yellow marked descents are off-piste, meaning non-groomed paths, which were checked for avalanche danger by the ski patrol. Nevertheless caution is required when descending there. A natural ice rink offers the opportunity to ice skate, do curling or play ice hockey. Unfortunately ice skating was shut down due to Covid, as were all restaurants and pubs. Après ski was limited to a quick take away drink outside in the cold, or getting senselessly drunk in the room of your accommodation. Food you could only get in the hotel where you resided, or one could grab a take away pizza or a kebab and munch it in the room. Not quite the atmosphere one desires when in a mountain resort. However, the skiing was spectacular, with plenty of powder snow and blue skies. The restrictions meant that skiing was the main focus and not drinking "Kaffee Fertig" or "Jaagertee" or "Gluehwein", popular warm alcoholic drinks available everywhere along the slopes in the mountain huts. Temperatures dropped to -15C, especially during the morning hours, making one missing that hot booze. The crowds were considerably less than in normal years in February, another anomaly curtesy of Covid. Nenad could not stop admiring Nui's progress in skiing. Any red slope, no matter how difficult, she could already safely and speedily master. Bravo my Isaan princess !!! After four splendid days of winter sport we headed for our Base Camp to relax the burning legs in the sauna of Nenad's parents house.

Besides skiing, three things were occupying us in this winter period. We started preparing our trip to Thailand. The process is quite straight forward, but requires time to complete all documents. We received eventually our COE (certificate of entry into the Kingdom) and will be travelling March 18. The quarantine we organised in the Bandara Suites in Silom, Bangkok. Nenad insisted to have a two room arrangement, one room being set up as a gym, with bicycle, cross trainer, weights yoga mat etc etc. Our chance to get fit again. Secondly Carmen, Nenad's daughter, relocated to New York City with her husband Markus. An appropriate farewell was needed. And thirdly the year of the Ox in the Chinese calendar had to be welcomed. Unfortunately no fire crackers, no long life noodle lunches, no gambei toasts. We nevertheless thought of our friends in Asia with a glass in our hands.

A good week after Prapan we were heading again into the mountains. This time to an even more famous place called Flims/Laax, the snow board Mecca of Switzerland. Parpan/Lenzerheide and Flims/Laax lie in the South East of Switzerland in the famous canton of Graubuenden, also called Grison or Grischa, which has many of the Swiss top ski resorts in its territory. Grisha is also famous as it is home to the forth national language of Switzerland, Romansch. Our accommodation called the Hillside Hotel in Flims, was situated right next to one of the gondola stations. We could see from our bed the lower part of the ski slopes and observe late afternoon the last skiers descending. In contrast to Parpan the weather warmed up. A rare wind for this time of the year, coming from the Sahara, was bringing not only warm temperatures, but also fine sand, compromising the usually spectacular, clear views from the mountain tops, with a milky veil. So the skiing felt more like spring skiing end of March, than a normal end February outing. Spring skiing means relatively hard tracks in the morning allowing aggressive, fast carving style descents and a soft, almost slushy snow around lunchtime needing a slower approach in the curves. So Nenad and Nui got up early and took the first gondola up the mountain around 8:30AM. This allowed us plenty of skiing and sun. Nui mastered her first black run !!! The après skiing socializing was substituted with après skiing walks in the village, grabbing a take away Gluehwein along the way. Another wonderful stay will stay in our memories.

One week later we headed from Wil to our last, but definitively not least skiing destination. We decided to go back to the Engadin. For those of you who have followed our blog from the beginning, you may remember our hiking story last July in the village of Sils-Maria in the Engadin. This time we went back in winter, to try out, yes skiing, but also cross country skiing. The Engadin is the main area for cross country skiing in Switzerland. The wide valley with its long stretched plateau and its high altitude (1'700-1'800m) creates the perfect conditions for this sport. A total of 230 glorious kilometers of top-quality trails with unrivalled scenery make cross-country ski enthusiasts from all over the world come here. Every year in March the international Engadin ski marathon is being performed. The 42km are being contested between Maloja and Pontresina, two towns neighboring St. Moritz. This race debuted in 1969 and is part of Worldloppet world series. The Worldloppet Ski Federation, founded in 1978 in Uppsala, Sweden, promotes long distance cross-country skiing events around the world. The Engadin Ski Marathon is undoubtedly the major cross-country skiing event in the Alps. St. Moritz is famous for its jetsetter skiing environment. British aristocrats, Italian industrial magnates and new, Russian oligarchs meet & greet here. The valley has an international airport, besides Aspen in Colorado, the only skiing resort reachable by private jets. A fact many folks with cash appreciate, creating quite a 'special' atmosphere. The origins of the winter sports (and summer) in the Upper-Engadin (Oberengadin, where St. Moritz lies) date back 150 years, when British aristocrats discovered this valley for their pleasures. The first European Ice-Skating Championships were held at St. Moritz in 1882 and the first golf tournament in the Alps held in 1889. The first bob race was held in 1890. By 1896, St. Moritz became the first village in the Alps to install electric trams and opened the Palace Hotel, one of the leading hotels outside the major cities at the time. A horse race was started on the frozen lake of St. Moritz in 1907 and is still being held annually, adding to the extravagant image. The first ski school in Switzerland was established in St. Moritz in 1929. The area of St. Moritz hosted the 1928 and in 1948 Winter Olympics and over 20 World Championships, in all Alpine Skiing disciplines. A snow polo tournament held every year in January started in 1985 and Cricket on Ice began its tradition in 1989. Besides bobsledding, "skeleton racing" has become the towns trade mark, raced on a specially prepared ice canal, called "The Cresta Run". If you are interested to know more about this unique and a bit mad sport, watch this video clip (https://vimeo.com/434851444), or go on www.cresta-run.com/home/. Since the early 1980's St. Moritz is also promoted as the "Top of the World" destination. This expression was registered as a trademark by the tourist office in 1987. Some Himalayan resorts may disagree, but the trade mark is registered !

So here we were, lodging in the town of Samedan, in the heart of the Engadin valley, skiing mountains on both sides of the valley, one dominated by the Piz Corvatsch the other by Piz Nair. Both mountains exceeding 3000m in altitude, offering a vast choice of slopes. Between skiing days we switched to cross country to give our legs and muscles a different feel. The Covid restrictions for restaurants were still in place. Lucky for us our accommodation had a bakery and a lovely restaurant with outstanding food we could use. The weather was again nice, the blue skies giving us a wonderful view of the surrounding Alps. Nui mastered all slopes Nenad wanted her to descent and her speed improved markedly, making it for Nenad real fun to ski with her. Her first cross country skiing experience however was a bit rusty and her enthusiasm shaky. A few motivational 'speeches' of Nenad fixed this problem and we could add with a positive nod one more winter discipline to the bucket. Despite the late winter timing, the ice on the lake of St. Moritz was still solid enough allowing us to have late afternoon walks on the frozen water. Observing the sun disappearing behind the mountain ranges, feeling the drop in temperature on our cheeks, once the sun was gone, made these walks special moments. We were aware that the Engadin will be our last winter outing for this season. Soon it will be: "get ready for Thailand, get ready for the heat" !!!

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Photos

Parpan
Grischa

Rothorn Mountain
impressions

on 2800m altitude
it can be chilly

après ski walk
in snow and ice

après-ski
of a different kind

feeling homesick ?
open fire BBQ like Namibia