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Published: March 2nd 2020
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Finally back amongst the pow. Its been years since we have been snowboarding and so heading over to England for Christmas was the perfect opportunity to tack on a week in the Swiss Alps. Having been to the Three Valleys back in 2005 for New Years when we first got together, we were pumped to get to a new country and see what the Four Valleys had in store.
When we landed in Geneva we picked up our hire car and stayed about half way on the lake to break up the journey a bit as we had been travelling for almost twenty-four hours. When we arrived the view was spectacular from our balcony, we settled in and scoured the area looking for somewhere to get some food/wine/beers for the night. We set off the next morning bound for the snow which was only about an hour away but stopped into a town on the way called Vevey.
Vevey is perched right on Lake Geneva and is where Charlie Chaplin lived out the rest of his years after being denied re-entry back into the USA after being branded a communist. His statue can be found right next to the
largest piece of silverware perched in Lake Geneva, The Fork of Vevey. The Fork of Vevey is an 8 metre tall structure and is part of the Alimentarium, a Vevey-based museum with a permanent exhibition on food & Nestle’s history. We never made it to the museum, just walked by the lake in some of the most extreme cold weather and winds imaginable, bought some snow gloves and thermals for me in a local department store and grabbed some food for the trip onto the Alps.
We managed to find a three bed apartment with a fireplace and a view of the Alps only metres from the gondola in a small snowy village called La tzoumaz which is perched right next to the very famous (and very expensive) Verbier snow village. For less than two hundred Australian a night we had our own place for a total of seven nights. The season hadn’t officially started but we got an unusual amount of snow dump prior to arriving and for the first couple of days, it was bliss! The first day we just settled into our Alps ‘Penthouse’ as we called it being on the top floor, picked up our
snow passes and Sam’s board and boots for our pow adventures. La tzoumaz was pretty quiet as it was just the start of the season so there were times when we had the runs and most of the mountain completely to ourselves which was good as it had been so long since both of us had been boarding – the less people to run into the better! We didn’t venture over to Verbier on the first day and took it pretty easy, needless to say there was a fair bit of soreness but so good to be back on the slopes and the powder was a plenty from the recent dumpings. On the second day we took an eight minute ride from the top of La tzoumaz down to the bottom (we could of risked it and gone off piste but didn’t want to get stuck somewhere) jumped on a free bus and mad our way over to the ritzy village of Verbier. The streets lined with shops like Rolex, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel…you get the drift, oh and every second place a real estate – pretty saturated market I would think.
After two days of boarding we had
a day off and Sam found a place only about twenty minutes away that was the best find ever, Barryland – Saint Bernard Boarding Kennels. Since 2005, the foundation has been responsible for breeding and the dogs work as hiking/draft dogs or social visit animals. Each year, around twenty puppies with pedigree are born into their breeding program and we missed out by a day getting to cuddle a pup but I at least got to have a smooch with one of the big girls residing there. The kennels were immaculately clean, the dogs were so well looked after and the staff ensure all requirements and needs are met – welfare of the dogs here are their top priority and they have won awards in doing so, so good to get a doggy fix and especially from a breed I have never had any interaction with before.
We spend the next couple of days on the slopes, getting less sore and a bit faster and more confident every day. Its amazing how quickly you pick it all back up though even after a few years break and we plan to not leave our next snowy trip not too far
away this time (fingers crossed the next trip will be back in Canada not too far away). The Swiss Alps definitely didn't disappoint, although expensive it was worth every cent. Our accommodation was cosy, close to everything and we enjoyed some great days of boarding - no broken bones or injuries it was a very successful venture and we are counting down to be back amongst the pow again.
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