Weekend off

We had a great weekend off. The sun was out and the slopes were empty due to it being change over day. Most people on holiday book Saturday to Saturday, so that day is when everyone is arriving or leaving. The slopes are fairly empty during this time. The rest of this month will be very crowded due to the half term break for the European countries. It is the equivalent to spring break where students and families vacation for the week. Last week, the Swiss had their half term and the Brits are here this week.

We spent a leasurely Saturday free riding the slopes. I spent most of the day working on my switch riding and 180s. Sunday was an easy day. The group organized hockey and ice skating. It was not the best idea if you wanted to stay healthy, but it was so much fun. After nearly 25 years off skates, the feeling came back pretty quick. This next week will be very tough. We are assisting the Swiss Snowboard School for the next three days and traing the rest of the week. Our next break is will be Wednesday ( we'll need a break for sure).

Pics are are from the easy Saturday and Sunday Hockey.

Don't play air guitar in a dance club!

There is a univeral rule which applies world wide and across every age group.



DO NOT PLAY AIR GUITAR IN A DANCE CLUB!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!

There is an excerpt from teh book "Love Is A Mix Tape." It talks about bitch power.
The theory is always keep the girls happy in a club. When the girls are happy, the boys are happy. When both boys and girls are happy, everyone is happy. No one, and I mean NO ONE wants to see a bunch of chops on the dance floor playing air guitar to AC/DC.

Rescue dogs are bad ass

We completed our two day back country overview today. The course was not a comprehensive avalanch rescue class. We just went over the basics for using the beepers, probes, and shovels. We also went over the different types of snow layers one would fine when cutting a cross-section from the base. The instructors were Swiss mountain guides whose job was to keep us paranoid at all times of avalanches. The good thing was that we got to ride some good off piste powder with some steeps. The instructors seemed to tell us about pulling out avalanche victims at every stop on the mountain. Today, we buried Mark in the snow and watched a guard dog try to find him. The dog was awesome. She found Mark in about 1 minute. Note to self, carry some sausage when skiing in the back-country. The dog will find you faster if you have cured meats with you.

On a side note, I was told that I shouldn't have my haircut at the resort since the Swiss don't know how to cut Asian hair. It should be long enough by March to sculpt a nice mullet. I'll take pics if it happens.

Pablo watch - After about a ten minute lecture on snow blindness during the search and rescue class, Pablo waited about 30 minutes before grabing his goggles. After getting his goggles, he kept them on his forehead the entire day.

Pictures are of Gina finding Mark, Ollie buried in the snow cave and being probed, Checking out different snow layers, and Jonas (guide) with Gina (rescue dog).

These Days

Maybe it is the snow or that I've been away for a while.I can't get the first two songs from the Royal Tenenbaums out of my head.


"111 Arthur Avenue" by Mark Mothersbaugh
"These Days" by Nico


I imagine myself moving in slow motion through the streets of Zermatt on my way to the bakery. Those of you who know Wes Anderson will know what I'm talking about.

We completed the two day first aid training today. Tomorrow is the start of backcountry/avalanch training. looking forward to charging some off piste runs.

Pablo watch 1/6- He missed the first day of instructor shadowing (all of us are supposed to shadow classes for 70 hours). Sunday night, he went to the schnee Wittchen and had the viking (a boat of six shots). Some of the guys found him outside the apartment (yes. that's out in the snow) with his pants down around his ankles. We think that he thought he was back in his room. Good thing someone found him and put him to bed. This morning, he managed to run into Emma causing her to crash and lose a ski. Emma is 5'1" and about 95 pounds. She is okay and everyone is taking my advice to stay away from Pablo.

Air Zermatt

We had a tour of the Air Zermatt heli-pad today. It was awesome. For the past three weeks, I have been seeing the helicopters all over the mountain. We even see them land on the piste to take people away. Our tour guide worked on a careflight helicopter in Houston and Corpus before returning to Switzerland. I think car crash trauma would be a lot worse in Texas than ski accidents in Zermatt.

Air Zermatt is used for a number of different purposes. The main purpose is mountain rescue (rate is 90 francs per minute, yup that's about $2700 for a 30 minute rescue). They also run sight seeing, heli-skiing, shuttle service, avalanch maintenence, deliveries to high mountain facilities, etc. The hanger had about three different types of helicopters. The heli-pad is the highest in europe and they have a special light weight heli for rescues on the Matterhorn. All of the helis are smaller stripped down versions due to the altitude. Like most tours, the guide showed a 15 minute movie about Air Zermatt which was the PBS version. Afterward, he showed a real life movie where they recovered 2 bodies out of a crevase and recovered a body of a climber who fell off the Matterhorn. Out of the 1500 rescue missions per year, about 40 are just body recoveries. Today, there were five rescue missions (last of which was grounded due to winds, so rescue was on snowmobiles). Overall it was a very fascinating tour although I would have liked to hear more stories of stupid things people do to get in trouble.

Our tour guide elaborated more about the dead guy they found this week. The skiier was with friends, but he wasn't wearing a beeper. The heli rescue guys found him by following tracks in the snow. One of the tracks stopped in a big hole in the glacier. It was the fall that killed the skiier, not exposure.

Pictures are from the tour and one day when the helicopter landed on the piste.

My gear is falling apart!

I just realized how poorly most of the ski/snowboarding clothing is made. I have had good luck with most of my gear over the years. However, I'm noticing that many of the other students are having issues with their stuff falling apart. From what I've seen, ski clothes only need to last for three weeks. Three weeks equals about three years for non-mountain residents. Although you have only three weeks of use, you mentally think the gear has lasted you three years.
Okay, let's list all of the items which need to be replaced.

1. Helmet (already replaced after cracking it during the first week).

2. Bindings - My 10 year old Burton Customs are finally beginning to fall appart. Right gas pedal is breaking off.

3. Jacket - My old North Face shell has a nice slice in the back from one of the guys running into me. Zipper seals are starting to show wear.

4. Pants - Old snowboarding pants are showing a ton of wear ont he knees and rear. More so recently due to the lessons where we are either sitting or on our knees.



Here is the bad news. As I already found out, bindings are about 50% more expensive here than in the states. High end waterproof jackets are >$850 and pants are >$500. Even the Euro brands such as Schoffel and Mammut are just as expensive. Unfortunately since no one plans to visit, I'm going to rely on high speed shipping so that Swiss customs doesn't tax me. I found a great North Face jacket that I tried on at the resort. The same jacket was found online in the US for ~$550. Normally I wouldn't pay that much for a jacket, but it seems like such a bargain with the prices here. Looks like the wear and tear of the season is going to put a good dent in the bank account.

All of the Brits and Scotts want me to buy things for them once I get back home!

It started to snow this weekend. We need it.

I am now BASI Level 1 Certified

After a very friggin' cold morning on the mountain, we finally completed the week long certification exam. I passed with flying colors. So now, I'm able to teach on indoor and dry slopes. The BASI level 2 exam will start in week 8 so there is plenty of time to work on the technique some more. We celebrated the end of the exam with a trip to Nelly's which is a wild game restaraunt run by some Aussies. We had our pick from antelope, croccodile, and ostritch. You could also order kangaroo and zebra as well. The meal was good, but for 30 francs we expected more. After that, it was party time in the Schnee Wittchen.

Next week will be the first aid and avalanch training, so there will be little time on the snowboard. It is supposed to dump this weekend and the temp is supposed to get to -17 deg C. Looking forward to some cold smoke powder runs.

Pictures are from Nelly's