Sam's spring break is a full two weeks at the beginning of April. We decided to take this time for our first European ski trip. Given it is late in the ski season, I googled "best late season skiing in Europe" and Zermatt, Switzerland kept coming up. With that intense and sophisticated research, we decided to go to Zermatt, which is in the Swiss Alps. It also gave us an opportunity to visit a country we haven't been to. We spent 3 days skiing and then went to Lausanne to explore another area by Lake Geneva (separate blog for Lake Geneva).
More Zermatt photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q6wfH4FzvEeyp7pW7
March 29: We had discussed trying the Nightjet train and that is what we booked for this trip. That means departing Amsterdam and around 8:30 pm and then arriving in Switzerland at around 6:30 am for a connection to another train (and more trains after that). This is a super risky adventure given the likelihood of limited sleep in a room this size with an excitable 9 year old:
As expected, Sam loved the experience and Ryan and I did not get a lot of sleep. I am including a picture of the pillow we each had with Ryan's hand for comparison of size. Besides it being small, I think it was filled with air. That is a lesson learned (BYO-pillow!). Also my ear plugs were not sufficient and I should have worn an eye mask. With all that, it was a challenging night's sleep but we had nothing else planned once we arrived in Zermatt so we could take it easy.
March 30: We arrived in Zermatt in the morning, dropped our luggage, explored the city, had lunch and grabbed our ski equipment.
March 31: Today (Easter) we had family ski lessons planned in the afternoon. We made our way to the mountain early to check it out and do a ski run or 2 before our lesson. It was a rough start given the effort it took to get from the hotel to the bottom of the funicular to get us up the mountain to the start of the ski runs. We went down a blue run (equivalent to green, or "easy" run, in the US). Sam and I both fell and there was some crying (this time it was Sam only). The "easy" runs in Europe are definitely not equivalent to the "easy" runs in the US. The weather was also not great in the morning which didn't help.
After lunch we did the lesson with our instructor Peter and things improved. It always helps to have an outside person instruct Sam as he has no interest in listening to us. The instructor also gave us tips on the mountain in addition to helping us all get comfortable skiing the more challenging runs. The weather had cleared up in the afternoon and we could see the mountains and we were skiing among. Here is us with Peter:
April 1: Peter recommended we take the train the Gornergrat which is another area of the same mountain. He liked it because the blue runs were wider and in theory less crowded. We decided to try it out and with that decision came a series of events that will lead me to conclude this was not my favorite day of the trip.
First, to get to Gornergrat, we took a train that specifically took people to this area (highest open-air railway in Europe). First we had to get through a turnstile using our ski lift passes. Ryan got through but Sam and I did not. Apparently they track how many people go through and determine when to cut off entry based on volume. So this caused a slight panic which escalated to significant panic as a random lady next to us kept saying "that's how it is - they don't make exceptions" and me saying that we have been separated and her saying "it doesn't matter, they don't care". These things were not true and they let Ryan back with us but this lady succeeded in riling me up. As we were discussing our plan she kept meddling in our conversation and I finally informed her that we were not talking to her. My tone may not have been overly friendly and Sam was not pleased with my attitude. I promised to try not to be annoyed with anyone for the rest of the day, which was a very difficult promise to keep.
We waited to find out when the next train was to see if we should wait or forgo this plan. While we were waiting and discussing this, they opened up the turnstiles for us to move to the area to wait for the next train which happened quickly and unexpectedly. We gathered our things (skis, poles, etc) and while we were doing that multiple people were trying to get in front of us. That was an interesting choice given Sam and I were literally inside the turnstile so it was impossible for anyone to get by us. A lady reached her arm around to swipe in which allowed Sam to go in but not her due to the fact that she could not physically be in the same place as us.
As Ryan was collecting his things, including his and Sam's skis, and also taking up the space in front of the turnstile another lady tried to push through, again not understanding that she could not be in the same place as Ryan + 2 pairs of skis. Not to mention that the 2 ladies in question were part of a huge group of people that were not skiing, just heading to the portion of the mountain for views. Of course they have every right to do that but they were taking up SO much space on the train, the restaurants and even standing and blocking areas that skiers needed to use to get to the lifts in order to take pictures. 😒
After the turnstile incident we went into a waiting area before getting on the train. In typical European fashion, this was not a line but a mass of people. Once the doors opened it was chaotic. I was pushed causing me to fall against someone else who seemed unfazed (maybe they've experienced this before). Once we got settled on the train and I reflected what happened I had a ULIT (Uncontrollable Laughter at Inappropriate Times). I could not stop laughing at the ridiculousness of what had just happened. This picture was taken during a pause in the ULIT (see Sam's disappointment in his face - mostly directed at me):
The blue run we did was in fact less crowded and wider, but it was not well-groomed which is not ideal for non-advanced skiers like me and Sam. We struggled a bit to get down and then proceeded to have lunch. That's right - we accomplished a train ride, a ski lift and one ski run before needing to take a break. After lunch we braved the ski lift line again to attempt another run. The weather had shifted and the visibility was very bad, along with wind and snow in our faces. So also not a great run. Back to the train and to the hotel. So 2 runs and A LOT of annoying people.
Also on this day there was an avalanche (unplanned) in the region of the mountain we were skiing. This was in an off-piste slope of the mountain, which basically means it was not part of the prepared ski runs where we were skiing. Something we learned is that they do planned avalanches as part of the strategy to control and predict avalanches. Every morning we woke up to the sound of explosions which was disconcerting but helpful to know they were on purpose to help control avalanches. Unfortunately they still do happen and the snow and wind on this day created conditions for an avalanche.
A positive end to the day was having classic Swiss fondue - Sam's first time having fondue!
April 2: Today we went back to the area we were on the first day with the ski instructor. The weather was great and more of the mountain was open which meant it was not very crowded as people were more spread out. We skied in a couple areas and had a lovely lunch on the mountain. This day compared to yesterday was an extreme difference. This was our best ski day ever!
End of skiing reward:
April 3: Leaving today by train for Lausanne. See separate blog for details on the rest of the trip.
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