Speechless

Written: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 2:30am

I just finished my first day in Zermatt. I arrived here last night (even thought it's Tuesday right now, I still think it's Monday because I haven't gone to bed yet, so the day's still going on), but it was really late, I was tired, and it was so dark that I couldn't really get my bearings or anything. I just went to the hotel, settled in and then went to bed. It didn't help that the plan was to wake up early today. Like, eat breakfast at 8:30am and then head out to the slopes. I'm not a breakfast eater, but I figure that if I'm going to be out all day, I should force myself to eat something. For me to be able to eat in the morning, I need to wake up really early so my body is awake enough to digest the food (or else I get really bad stomach aches). I slept SO comfortably, and unfortunately my wake up call had to ruin it. It was still pretty dark outside as well. Whatever, it was going to be a good day. When I went down for breakfast, I got my first look of outside. I can't even describe it. Directly in front of me (just a little below our hotel) was a town of wooden chalets. In the distance was the alps. Snow covered and fabulous. The sun was shining down on them. I started laughing. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was tearing because of the sheer "oh my goodness" of it all. I really can't describe how incredible it is here.
The plan of the day was to ski to Italy. Is my life for real?!? (If you know nothing of Zermatt, I would have hoped by now you would do a little research on the net or something, but it's in Switzerland.) But yeah, we were going to ski into Italy. I couldn't believe it. And part of the reason that we had to leave so early in the morning was because it takes about an hour to get to the top of the mountain. An hour by high speed gondolas and lifts. Baby, this ain't Mount St. Louis Moonstone, that's for sure.
I rented my equipment, and we were off. The whole way up (which consisted of three different lifts - all gondolas/space pod looking things) we had to carry out skis. There were so many people, by the end of the hour, I was getting a little sick of going in those gondolas. I couldn't wait to actually DO something. Oh yeah, and in Canada they have dinky tags you hang from your zipper flap right? Here, they give you a card (credit card sized) which has a bar code that you have to scan to go on lifts and stuff. Hi-tech. I had the top of the line "International" pass, so I basically had free reign over everything available to me. We finally get to the top (thank goodness, I was feeling a little ill in the last gondola because we were standing up for what seemed like forever, and the thing was so ridiculously packed. We put our stuff on (I'm skiing).
I'm actually pretty nervous. I skied every year up to high school, but didn't really go since then. While you can't really forget how to ski, it still takes a little while to get the feeling back into your legs, and yet again, I must say "this ain't Mount St. Louis Moonstone". This was the friggin alps! Anyway, I was already in complete awe. I took pictures, we really really giddy, and the people I was with we getting a little bored of my enthusiasm and itching to start skiing. I had to put my camera away for fear that they would leave without me, and I would be stuff on the top of the alps, not knowing where to go. Oh yeah, walking towards the ski shop to rent my stuff, I got my first look at the Matterhorn. It was QUITE spectacular. I didn't loose sight of it for the whole day.
We started going down, me feeling a little awkward on my skis, but still doing pretty well, I thought. We only gone for a bit, and everyone stopped for a little breather. (Also to make sure I was still alive. They'd skied the day before, so they had their skiing legs already, and they didn't really know where my skiing level was.) I asked where Italy was, and was told that we were already there. Darn, there were no flags or anything at the border. I was expecting something cooler. Oh well. I also thing it would be so much more exciting if we had to show our passports at the border. Ha ha ha. Could you imagine?
The conditions were wonderful. Some powder (which I actually don't like too much, because I find it slows you down really suddenly, and throws you off a bit - I think I'm the only person who doesn't like powder), but good. The sun was really really warm as well. Sometimes the wind was really cold though. It really bit into your cheeks. It was so nippy that the plastic on my earmuffs got really brittle, and sadly, just a little bit into the skiing day, they broke. Argh. Oh well, good thing I had my kitty ears hoody. I love that hoody.
I kept my camera in my coat pocket all day so that I could whip it out for quick snaps. I was also skiing with my small MEC pack which had some extra layers, (I actually had to take one off soon after we started,) water, snacks, money, you know, all the necessities. It was fine carrying it around. No problems.
Partway down, we took my lifts up a little bit more, and then skied down and took different lifts up again. It was such a wide range. You could go to so many runs. Each of the lifts takes so long to get to the end. Not because they're slow (they're probably actually faster than anything I've been on), they're just sooo much longer. It was pretty crazy.
I had some freak out moments on some steep parts, and areas that were narrow and crowded, but I'm pretty proud of myself for lasting the whole day of skiing, after not skiing for a long time. And I was skiing on the alps, with wasn't exactly flat. I didn't really have any wipe outs either. Pretty good eh?
One thing I forgot to do was bring Euros with me. So I got a little ripped off in Italy when we stopped for hot chocolate and once again for lunch and I had to pay in Swiss Francs. Oh well. Whatever.
Skiing in areas of shade (where the shadows from the alps fell) was pretty crappy, because it was SO much colder, and because it was so dark. Who knew it made so much of a difference?
My quads and knees were also getting pretty yucked out soon after we started. I'm getting old and creaky. Sigh.
We basically skied from 10am (the time we got off the last gondola going up) to 5pm. By the end I was ready to be done. You know where you get to that point where you're starting to get tired so you know a really bad fall could be in the midst? It's the same with skating too. And I don't think I've ever skied for that long either. And on these kinds of "hills".
After sitting for just a bit in the hotel, we head out again to explore. Zermatt's a pretty cute place. I mean, it's a completely functional little city. Supermarket, stores, post office, churches, schools, the works. It seems pretty cool. I definitely want to explore some more. There was a really chill bar that we went to. Couches, artsy, trendy - you know, the vibe I like. After dinner, we went out again to check out the nightlife (hence me writing this at the time listed above). It was pretty fun. I miss going out. It's fun to do it every so often. It was snowing a little bit when we started coming back to the hotel. I wonder what it'll look like when I look out the window tomorrow morning.
I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe my life. This can only be a dream. A dream come true. I've written so much, but I still don't feel like I've explained the actual affect that being here has made on me. The impact. The "wow factor".
WOW.