J's First Post: Ski Season!

J here. Usually (i.e. always) M has written our blog posts to keep everyone updated with our expat adventures, but as winter and my first ski season in Europe come to an end, I wanted to take this opportunity to write a blog entry about the ski season. I will start out by saying that when we moved to Geneva last Summer I was slightly more advanced than a beginner at skiing. I had a great time skiing Jackson Hole last season with 3 of M's brothers, which gave me enough exposure to know this was something I wanted to continue doing and improve as much as I could. With this in mind I purchased my first set of skis not long after moving to Geneva and was really excited for the coming ski season.

Unfortunately there weren't many places where you could ski in August, so we planned an early December trip to Zermatt, which is deep in the Swiss Alps, knowing there would likely be good snow even early in the season. I was certainly a little rusty for my 2 days and I stuck to the blue and red slopes (moderate difficulty) and didn't get to explore too much of the vast ski area Zermatt has to offer, but we had a great family trip with M and S getting to enjoy the town and a nice indoor kids pool at the hotel while the views of the Matterhorn were breathtaking. I made it out one more time before heading back to the U.S. for the holidays to a smaller resort in France which gave me a good chance to practice but a comical first experience with the télésiège ("T" or "J" bar). 

The first weekend in January I headed to Chamonix, France for the first time with one of M's coworkers and had a great time (this would be my first of 10 ski days at Chamonix for the season). With beautiful views of Mont Blanc, great snow and trails I can definitely see why Chamonix was chosen to host the first Winter Olympics in 1924. Through the season, I made it to all three of the major ski areas in Chamonix with each area being very unique even though they are in the same valley (La Valle Blanche). My favorite area is Brevant-Flegere, which sits directly above the city of Chamonix and directly across from Mont Blanc, because of the beautiful views, it is usually sunny and has wide-open ski areas with easily accessible off-piste skiing. 

When M's brother G came to visit we were able to spend 3 full days skiing in Chamonix (1 day in each area). It was great skiing with an experienced skier because we were able to find a lot of good off-piste skiing and fresh powder that was surprisingly untouched as it seems like many European skiers prefer to ski on the groomed trails. Highlights from our 3 days were taking the tram to the top of Les Grand Montets and skiing next to the Argentiere Glacier and getting a little over-zealous chasing fresh powder in Balme and winding up in Switzerland requiring us stop a few locals to finally find our way to a train station to get back to the lift in France. 

In between trips to Chamonix we were able to take two other family trips, one to Val Thorens, France to meet up with a friend and one trip to Veysonnaz, Switzerland just the three of us. Val Thorens was a nice resort with a huge ski area, but not a lot of great off-piste (at least from what I could tell). Aside from seeing my friend, the highlight was the really cool hotel that we stayed at that was literally right on the slope. S and M really enjoyed the pool where you could swim from inside to outside. At Veysonnaz we had great views overlooking the city of Sion and the Swiss Alps. I had fun exploring the ski area including some nice runs through the forest and some very long black (more-difficult) runs.

With one or two days of skiing left for me this season, I have been really fortunate to get 15 days of skiing in at some of the best resorts in Europe (thanks mostly to an understanding wife), I have found something to love about Winter (a season I used to dread) and found a really enjoyable way to take in some of the most beautiful views that this planet has to offer. In this season, I have gone from someone who preferred to ski on the blue and red trails to someone who seeks out the black trails and then goes off-piste from there to make it more-challenging. For next season, I would love to return to Zermatt to see how much better I've gotten and see more of the ski area.  I would also love to ski in Italy and hire a guide to ski down the Mer de Glace Glacier in Chamonix. But for now, I am looking forward to the great trips my wife has planned for spring and summer.