A day on the slopes
You can ski all year round thanks to the presence of glacier ski areas and summer ski areas. For most winter sports enthusiasts, however, the ski season simply starts in the fall. The vast majority of ski resorts open their doors in November and December. This is perfect for all the skiers and snowboarders that want to experience the first snowfall.
I learned to ski when I was little. Spring break, which is in February in the Netherlands, was spent in the mountains. I don’t like the cold, but for skiing, I make an exception. Every year I bundle up in thermal clothes and a 100 other layers so I don’t freeze to death. The mountain scenery, the feeling of speeding down the slopes and the lunch stop among the clouds make up for all the cold hands and toes.
Skiing in Switzerland
In the past, me and my family would spend the holiday in France. Last two years, I got to know the mountains of the area 4Vallees in Switzerland. This area has been visited by my partner (Maarten), his parents and grandparents for some years. The area is close to Sion, has 410 km of piste and connects the resorts; Verbier, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, Thyon, La Tzoumaz and Bruson. In most resorts, you have a choice between self-catering apartments, catered chalets or chalet hotels. We always stay in a self-catering apartment since this is cheaper if you travel in a group.
A day on the slopes – how do we holiday?
Our day starts with getting ready and eating breakfast in the apartment. I wake up around 8:00 AM. Then I take a shower, do my hair, rub my face with sunscreen and put on my sexy thermal underwear. We eat breakfast with the family and discuss which slopes we would like to ski on that day. After breakfast, we dress up in the rest of the ski outfit and are ready to go. We pick up the skis from the locker and walk to the ski lift approximately 50 meters further.
Our apartment is in Siviez and here you have three ski lifts before the apartment complex. All of them lead to other towns, so we choose the one that brings us to the right area. We ski until lunchtime, which is around 13:00 for us and eat on the mountain at one of the restaurants. This is a warm, big meal so that we do not have to cook in the evening. After lunch, we will ski some more and maybe stop to get some hot chocolate in the afternoon. This totally depends on our mood and the weather. Around 16:00 or 17:00 we will ski back to the apartment to relax. Around 19:00 we will eat some bread, eggs or soup as dinner. We relax some more until bedtime to do it all over again the next day.
In the middle of a snowstorm on the slopes
This year we also took the time to go sledging! Maarten and I stopped a little bit earlier. We kicked off our ski shoes and changed into moon boots to enjoy a ride on the slopes made to sledge. The ski rental located on the first floor of the apartment complex also rents out sledges, so we just had to make use of this service. We also used one afternoon to take a walk in the surrounding forest and took some awesome pictures.
