After 2 full weekends with no skiing, we were thrilled to hit the slopes again.  Even better, though, was getting to do so with friends – both old and new.

We have been to a lot of places and met a lot of people along the way, but one aspect of the world that continues to amaze us is the human connection.  During The Yacht Week, our skipper, Henrik, was one of those people with whom we just “clicked.”  In all honesty, we are unlikely friends.  He is German, we are Americans.  He is 23, we are 30.  He is a university student writing a thesis and studying for exams, we are working adults with careers and a mortgage payment.  However different we may be, pals we are, and at the risk of sounding corny, friendship has the power to transcend age, language, and culture.

Having learned that Henrik’s family owns a chalet in Grindelwald, Switzerland (one of our favorite ski areas), we quickly set about planning for another SAS reunion.  Life got in the way for most of our group members (babies, jobs, moves, inability to ski, etc.), but we were able to convince Emily to make the trip from New York.  A big thanks to her for traveling 4,000 miles for a 5-day trip!  Though few in numbers, our adventure and fun were large in sum.

The skiing, per usual, was fantastic.  We had a full 4 days of great weather and despite a few late starts, were able to get in over 65 miles of skiing.  But enough about skiing [note: we’re going again this weekend so there will be more to come], this past weekend was about so much more.

 

New Friends:  This was a trip where worlds collided.  Henrik brought 3 of his friends from university.  We brought 2 friends from Basel and 1 friend all the way from NYC.  Maybe Henrik and his friends are mature for their age (probably).  Maybe we are just immature for ours (definitely).  Whatever the reasoning, it didn’t matter because we became instant friends – sharing stories, our favorite drinking games, and family dinners.  We taught them our (better) version of hammerschlagen/stump.  They taught us the “Mexican Drinking Game.”  They presented us with delicious kasespaetzle for dinner, and we opened their eyes to the world of taco night.  Together, we all stayed up (too) late, danced in ways explained only by liquid courage, and relished in laughter and good company.

Inspiration:  Henrik’s mom, Heidi, is quite possibly the most interesting and inspirational woman we have ever met (obviously no offense to our moms who we hold in the highest regard).  Heidi is a busy woman – she’s a mother of 3 children and a grandmother of 1 new baby, a successful artist, a coach/motivational speaker, and a mountaineering “junkie” (her words, not ours).  Despite her busy schedule, she offered to give us a short presentation on her life and accomplishments.   She explained to us that in order to understand her highs, we had to also understand her lows; and so, she began by describing her not-so-distant battle with cancer and subsequent depression.  She admitted that she has always been drawn to the mountains, and so, when faced with surgeries and chemotherapy, she made a promise to herself: if she recovered, she would climb to the top of the world.  And she did … quite literally.  A mere 2-years later (and hundreds of hours of training), she was on the top of Mount Everest.  She walked us through her journey to the top of the world, and along the way, she taught us that she wouldn’t have made it were it not for two things: her goals and her team.  She stressed the importance of always setting goals, and she urged us to never stop reaching for the next thing.  She also helped us to see teamwork through a new lens.  We often jokingly say that “teamwork makes the dream work,” but more often than not, we are both of the “I can do it all by myself” mindset.  Heidi’s presentation, however, made us more aware of the importance of trusting our team, be that friends, family, or coworkers.  We may not be going out to climb 8,000-meter mountains anytime soon [read: ever], but we definitely left this weekend feeling inspired to continue growing and lucky to have gained such an amazing team of friends.  In the end, this weekend was a good reminder to embrace every opportunity and to live the biggest and fullest life possible.

Should you be interested in Heidi’s story, check out her website.  She is truly an incredible woman.

 

It may be turning to spring back stateside, but we are still in the full-swing of ski season here.  This past weekend, we met up with some friends in Davos, Switzerland for … yup, you guessed it … more skiing adventures.  By now, we’re sure you are tired of our “ski porn,” so we will keep it short by sticking to the highlights:

1. Friends – we met Cori and Bennett on The Yacht Week back in July and immediately hit it off.  We have only known them for less than a year, but after a few shenanigan-filled weekends, we feel that they have become good friends.  We shared a lot of laughs, a few good bottles of wine, and an infinite love for being silly. 
2. PIZZA! – For the most part, the skiing abilities of everyone in our group were equally matched.  When we wanted to athlete our way down the mountain with proper form, we did so; however, we had a blast goofing-off and pretending to “pizza” our way down the pistes like a little kid on skis for the first time.  When will we grow up?  Never.  Ironically enough, the only “fall” we had during the whole trip was when Cori pizza-ed into Sarah.  The moment was outrageous, and luckily, Chris caught it all on video.
3. Apres-Ski – one of the reasons we wanted to visit Davos again was for its superb apres-ski scene, and this last trip didn’t disappoint.  On day 1, we enjoyed a quick stop at the top of the mountain to warm our bones with an Irish coffee before skiing all the way back into town, where we were once again greeted with adult beverages and a looming half-pipe.  None of us were confident, nay stupid, enough to try the half-pipe on skis, but we all agreed that sledding down on our butts would be great fun … and it was.
4. Blue Chip Sunday – Day 2 was a beautiful ski day.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the ski conditions were absolutely perfect. We decided to pack up a little early and head one town over to Klosters to explore an area of the Rhaetian Alps we had not seen before. After heading up the mountain from Klosters Platz, we discovered an amazing expanse of ski runs which kept us entertained for the full day. The highlight of the day was when Bennet spotted from the lift a red run that appeared to have barely been touched that day. We made our way over to where we thought the piste began but ran into a fence blocking the path. It turned out that the beginning of this piste was cordoned off for a ski race (in retrospect, this is why the latter part of the piste had barely been touched). Many folks would turn back, accept defeat, and take another piste down… I think you know how this story ends – we went around the barrier and shot off down the side of the race course (comically, just as a group went off the blocks).  It is inconclusive based on the video who won the race, but regardless, it was a ton of fun exploring this new ski area with our pals.
5. Home at last – After all of this great fun and a three-hour train back to Basel, we were absolutely pooped – all we wanted was a quiet evening back in the apartment with our feet up on the couch. We were not granted such pleasures. While on the tram from the main train station in Basel back to our apartment, we realized that we would be getting off halfway home and walking the remainder of the distance – the streets were slammed with people all watching the bands of Fasnacht perform. Unlike regular Fasnacht, the bands were all in plain clothes (as is the tradition for the three Sundays following the main festival). This made for an interesting walk home, as we were laden down with all of our ski gear, trying to make our way through the throngs of people between us and a comfy couch. We were playfully heckled and at times became part of the parade as we made our way back. Ultimately, we got back to the apartment and took a “when in Rome” approach – we got changed and hit the streets for another taste of the Fasnacht magic.  We did finally get our feet up that evening, as we crawled into bed for some of the hardest sleep we had enjoyed in a long time.