Time To Ski

I remember going to Austria for my first ski trip, and having to learn the complete basics of skiing.

Starting with snow ploughs, our instructor would have us slowly moving down the nursery slope until we reached the bottom, falling over a couple of times on the way, and then side step back up to the top.

It was tedious to start with, because all you wanted to do was ski down the mountain and not stop.

Then, after a couple of times of trying, it clicks into place and you can start to say ‘I’m doing it!’ As your experience grows, so does your ability and it becomes second nature to ski.

Nothing beats waking up in the morning, throwing on your salopettes and jacket, and heading up the mountain to start skiing!

We hopped on the ski train and made our way up from Zermatt to the slopes.

The views from the train are absolutely amazing, and the train has been around since Victorian times. You can still see the old fashioned cogs that are used to go higher and higher until you reach Gornergrat Bahn, at 3100m. 
At that point, it's time to get off, clip into the skis and start heading down the slopes.

Zermatt has over 250 km's of slopes, ranging from blues to blacks, and kilometers of off-piste too. With ski schools running in the morning, you can learn on the nursery slopes, or head out onto the reds and blacks to better your skills!
Personally, I like to get straight out onto the reds and blacks, find my ski legs and get going on the fresh snow that had fallen the night before.

This week, I am using a clever little mobile App called SkiLine.

It is a really useful app which tells you how many ski lifts you use on each day, records the changes in altitude and most of all, tells you how many Kilometres you skied each day.

It covers the majority of resorts across Europe, and you can use previous ski passes to find out how far you skied if you went a couple of seasons ago! 

We started to head off up and down the slopes, exploring the mountains and runs. 

The weather can change instantly! One minute you are skiing down the mountain in sunshine, the next you are at the top of a chair lift in the middle of the clouds.

Goggles are a must, so you can see where you are going without the sun or snow making you squint your eyes!

One thing I have noticed this year is the amount of people wearing helmets! I was reluctant at first because I have never worn one, but after wearing it for the day I am keeping it on for the week! They are so lightweight that it feels like your wearing a hat, and it doesn't affect your vision.
Literally, 9 out of 10 people were wearing helmets. You feel more out of place for not wearing one.

Better to be safe.

As the day went on, we went across to Gant and Sunegga (I kept checking my app to see how far we had skied so far - it is really addictive!), before heading back over towards Furi, and skiing back down into the village.

This is one of my favourite things about a good resort; being able to ski to your hotel from the slopes without having to take a chair down.

46km later, it's time for Après Ski at one of the bars in town...

I will tell you all about that tomorrow!