Laowai

The ski scene here in Switzerland is a big thing. Since the girls will have school ski trips in the future we feel the need to dip our toes in and help them learn to ski. I’m still gathering all their ski gear so we just went for a snowy hike last weekend. Many of the ski areas have nice winter hiking paths. The paths are groomed so the snow is packed and easy to walk on. We went to one of the areas that is really popular for people from Zurich called Flumserberg. It’s really easy to get there – only about an hour on the train and then a ride up to the snow on a gondola. When you get there it is a sea of people in their bright ski gear and they are all clomping around in their ski boots and lugging their gear. And in the distance you can see all sorts people zooming up and down the mountain. They come down the mountain on skis and sleds and snowboards and they go up the mountain on chair lifts and t-bars and gondolas and little magic carpets for the littlest skiers. There are also beautiful cross-country skiing trails that made me wish my dad was with us. There is buzzing activity against the backdrop of white everywhere you look. Everyone seems to know where to go. We felt really new to the whole area but it was a beautiful sunny day – and there was snow! So we did our little hike with our sleds and made plans to come back soon.