Doglotion.com - Freeskiing Community - switzerland

ericberger1

J Dogg — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 19:46:33 -0400

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Europe Stop #4 - Lost In Translation

J Dogg — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

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The great thing about gravity is that no matter which way you point your skis; you'll always slide downhill. Without such fundamentals of nature, we'd still be skiing in erratic circles to nowhere, lost in the unrestrained alpine terrain that makes up Davos/Klosters Mountains, Switzerland.

It was the only resort on our European tour that we knew nothing about, and it became glaringly obvious as we slid aimlessly downhill into the foggy oblivion. Without a cult following of ski bums in town we had no friends to show us around, no overheard treasure-hunt stories of powder stashes, and with that, no expectations. We had come on a whim, but had a sneaking suspicion we wouldn't be disappointed.

Day 1 found us unfolding the resort map and playing eenee meenee minee moe to choose 1 of 5 mountains apparently hiding in the clouds above us. Jakobshorn was the closest, so up we went. While a big oaf led a whaling German sing-along for his literally 'captive' gondola audience, we peered out the window to scope invisible lines. Back on the snow, we did what we do best and pointed our skis downhill in hope. After a dizzying day of fog skiing and wondering, we were finally spat out on the valley floor, calling it quits for the day.

Day 2 saw much the same, or should we say didn't see. Eyeing up the map we noticed steep lines in the Parsenn resort area (Davos & Klosters), and the sound of its 'Weissfluhgipfel' peak had us sold. With a name like that we couldn't go wrong, or so we thought. Loading the Parsenbahn mountain railway, our alpine express ride landed us atop the mountain in what seemed like a misplaced metro station, with a matrix of lifts and hallways in every direction. When we surfaced on the snow, things didn't get any clearer.

Gravity once again had us sliding downhill, and we continued exploring the endless resort before being spat out once again in the valley floor, but not the same town. Try after try, we shredded long foggy laps of the resort, only to continue popping up in Wolfgang or Klosters, a full 30 minutes by train from where we'd started. It was like skiing in Whistler, and ending your run in Pemberton, but with an efficient and frequent train to whisk us back to where we started.

Luckily our visit ended nothing like how it started. We woke on Day 3 to bluebird skies and fluffy new snow, and immediately headed back to Weissfluhgipfel for redemption. The lack of local shredders that had plagued our last 2 days was a blessing in disguise, as we now had the off-piste almost exclusively to ourselves. Leapfrogging with one other group of strong skiers and their camera crew, we scored lap after powdery lap on the Weissfluhgipfel, linking it with the natural half pipe features alongside the Haupertali T-bar below.

Taking our sweet time on the empty faces, our only threats were the late spring sun and our train departure time that would surely be on time. Under bluebird skies we finally skied successfully back to Davos, jumped onto the first train we saw, and crossed our fingers that muffled Swiss-German announcement said something about Andermatt; our next stop on the tour...

DETAILS

Davos & Klosters Mountains are located in eastern Switzerland, close to the Austrian border, but like anything in Switzerland they are not far from Zurich. The huge resort area is made up of 5 mountains; Parsenn (Davos and Klosters), Jakpbshorn, Rinerhorn, Pischa, and Madrisa. The one group of locals

we did meet said we weren't even close to the best terrain stashes. Mind you, they were skiing right beside us. For more info visit www.davosklosters.ch

ACCOMMODATIONS

For something quick and easy, the Best Western Banhoff Terminus is right in front of the train station. Good rates, andthey've got a pimpin' sauna room for rainy afternoons.

The Hotel Strela is another good 3 star hotel up the hill, with tasty breakfast buffets, a lounge and free internet.

If you're reading this, odds are you're looking for budget accommodation. There's a variety of hostel options in town, the main choice is the Schweizer Jugendherberge Youthpalace. Search the web for other choices, it's a big town so there should be plenty of options.

New Swiss Freeski Event

J Dogg — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0400

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Laax, the leading freestyle resort in Europe, and the freeski clothing label Orage combined to establish freeskiing in the heart of Europe: realizing it with an unique event, the Orage European Freeski Open Laax.

The aim of the event is to bring together the worlds best freeskiers, both professionals and amateurs, to offer them perfect conditions and to establish the sport in Europe through the annually recurring event. High demands of qualitiy, longtime experience for hosting international on-snow events and the ongoing commitment to freestyle skiing of the organizing wintersport resort Laax, are guarantors for a professional execution of the event. Being involved in the arrangement of the Orage Freeski Masters in North America, the partner Orage is bringing competence and know-how, intensified by successful international team riders and terrain park shapers.

In 2006 the Orage European Freeski Open Laax is taking place from March 22nd to the 26th. In the area of the Crap Sogn Gion the contests in the superpipe and the slopestyle are held at an elevation of 2200m. It's an absolutely cool set-up and 200 riders are expected to come from all over the world. The qualification runs are open to all skiers. In the finals the best riders compete for a total prize money of US 50.000. Stars of the scene like Michelle Parker/USA, TJ Schiller/CAN, Craig Coker/USA, Luke van Valin/CAN and Corey Vanular/CAN have already confirmed their participation. By popular request, Laax, in tandem with Orage, is granting the long awaited freeski event in Europe. Both sportive action in the mountains as well as matching side-events in the valley at its best will be provided.

Visit: www.laax.com & www.orageski.com

Europe Stop #6 - Verbier, Switzerland

J Dogg — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0400

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When pigs can fly, will all the crazy statements people have made over the years come true? More importantly, if billy goats could fly, would they all migrate to Verbier, Switzerland for the winter to join the lucky ones already there?

Fortunately, since the invention of airplanes skiers can fly, and anyone with a sense of adventure should be headed to Verbier as soon as possible, to hone their billygoating skills in one of the gnarliest mountain playgrounds on earth.

With Verbier scheduled as the third to last stop on our tour, nobody told us it would evolve into our last. Spending the first few days covering as much terrain as we could, it became obvious we wouldn't touch even a fraction of the terrain in the resort, not to mention the backcountry potential stretching as far as we could see. With the same tropical spring conditions that hit most of Europe, our choices were at least made easier by sticking to the highest and most northerly terrain we could find, of which there was no shortage.

Topping out the resort, the Mont-Fort tram spat us out at 3330m where a short traverse led to a maze of steep North and East facing ridges and chutes to session for the days to come. And in true big mountain Euro-style, the long laps finished with a descent to Lac de Cluesen, the impending traverse around it, sliding the side of a huge damn, and tucking through single track trees towards a chairlift in another village below. And every afternoon we pushed our luck further, trying to squeeze in yet another lap before the lifts closed. The fear was not of being stranded in another ski town, but of missing our daily 2 for 1 happy hour at the Pub Mont Fort.

When the beer started flowing so did the stories, and soon enough the drunken rumors of a huge spring storm had made it's way through the fervent crowd. If pigs could fly I might have believed that a 3-foot snowstorm was on it's way in mid April, aimed to burry sundecks, spring flowers, unsuspecting pedestrians in flip-flops, and anything else in its path. Luckily though, we were at least curious enough to stick around for the outcome... scoring more snowy bounty than any drunkard could have anticipated.

After 2 days of merciless snowfall, the balmy streets of Verbier in April had swung full circle back into the wintery playground we'd been looking for. With over 3 feet of freshies in the alpine and clearing skies in sight, we were in no hurry to leave. The new snow had opened up a whole new realm of tempting terrain, so we frantically skied as many easy-access laps as we could before returning to the real goods; the north face off the Mont-Fort, for unrelenting steep powder from top to bottom.

But it wouldn't be Verbier without a little billygoating, so to wrap the trip we climbed and skied the nearby Bec de Rosses to sample the steep venue of the annual O'Neil Extreme Freeride contest. A true billygoater's paradise, the Bec de Rosses' 45-55 face is scattered with cliffs and doglegging chutes to give any competitor or aspiring billygoater a run for their money.

As we milked every bit of the vacant, knee-deep bowl below, our fast-approaching flight to Canada was a dismal thought to contend with. After all, it's hard to look forward to sharing a plane seat with a pig.

DETAILS

Resort
Located in South-West Switzerland, Verbier is best accessed from Geneva. For more info about the resort, visit the resort site at www.verbier.ch.

Events
Verbier is home to a few high caliber big mountain events. Find out more about the Verbier Ride and the O'Neil Extreme Freeriding contest.

Accommodation
If you're looking for nice accommodation to impress the girlfriend/boyfriend, be sure to try the 'Aux Vieux Valais' chalet & restaurant right in the heart of town, with incredible views of the Grand Combin across the valley.

For cheap accommodation, the local bomb shelter doubles as an underground hostel, 'The Bunker'. Yes you read that correctly, and hey, at least you'll be safe. Find out more at www.thebunker.ch/