Welcome To Switzerland

It's Ski Season!

Which means it is time to grab my skis, get out of London, and head to the Alps for the week.

Can you tell I am a little excited?

I have been skiing since I was young, and every year head off to the snow-covered mountains for a ski session. There are so many different resorts to chose from, but this year I am heading back to Switzerland, to one I haven't been to yet but heard great things about!

A quick flight later the group touched down at Geneva, said 'Bonjour' to the passport control guy, and jumped onto a train direct to the resort. The spiralling roads around the mountain means that a car would take 5 hours, whereas the train takes half the time.

Plus, we were able to see the views of Lake Geneva and the Swiss countryside whirl past us.

Soon, the snow started to appear and we made our way up into the mountains.

Until we reached the resort late afternoon, and the train came to a halt at it's final destination.

Welcome to Zermatt! Right in the heart of the Swiss alps, covered in snow and a chilly -10 degrees!

The first thing you notice here is that there are no cars. None. At. All.

Zermatt is a green-resort, so all their energy is renewable and pollution is kept to a minimum so the views of the mountains, especially the Matterhorn, are not affected. If you travelled by car from the airport, you would have to leave the car at Tasch, the village before Zermatt, and get the electric train into the resort.

Instead, everyone travels around in these little things…

Basically a milk float! Most of them are taxis or hotel shuttle busses, as everyone walks or cycles around the town. 

They are pretty cool, until you realise one is right behind you because they are so quiet! 

It also makes you feel like you are cut off from the rest of the world, in a tiny town in the middle of the mountains with nothing more than snow, Swiss chocolate and a lot of ski shops.
Perfect!

With a few hours until dinner, we decided to have a wander around Zermatt to see our home for the next 7 days.

Once the sun moves round the mountains, it gets dark pretty quick and the temperature gets even colder.
Although the locals don't seem to notice, my ears felt like they were turning to ice cubes!

As the evening went on, fresh snow started to fall whilst the town started to fall with skiers returning from their day on the slopes.

Perfect timing for dinner and drinks back at the hotel!

I am like a kid at Christmas. Snow, snow, and more snow! 

Roll on tomorrow, the slopes are waiting for us all!