“The Edge...
...there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.” - Hunter S. Thompson
What a great vacation I had learning to snowboard the on the Alps. I went with my friends Katie and Jim. Katie is a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer in my group and Jim is an Ex-Pat working and living in Baku. Katie has been snowboarding for 13 years and it had been a life long dream for her to snowboard the Alps. So I decided to go with her and learn to snowboard. We began our journey on Valentines Day at 2am when we were off to the airport. We flew to Istanbul, we only had an hour layover and our plane arrived late so we literally ran threw the airport with the fear that we were going to miss our flight. This was a real “amazing race” moment. On top of that Jim left his ski boots on the plane and had to go back on the plane to get them and then run to the gate that Katie and I promised to do our best to hold for him if we made it there on time. Luckily, we all made the flight to Zurich, Switzerland. When we got to Zurich we had a taxi driver waiting for us. It was a 3 hour drive through the mountains to a small ski village called Ischgl on the Austrian side of the mountains.
We arrived to our hotel which had more of a bed and breakfast feel to it. It was midday so we put our stuff in the room and went walking through the town, looking for a place to have lunch. The town was quaint, even though every building was a hotel. All looked like houses/bed and breakfasts with restaurants at the ground floor. The Alps surrounded us and there were ski paths that came right into town. After lunch we went to rent our equipment. I needed snowboard boots and a board, Katie helped make sure I had the right fit. We then went back to the hotel to relax, shower, and get ready to explore Ischgls’ night scene. There were many bars that were packed with a great diversity of nationalities. The music was also in all languages and it made the whole experience so much more fun. I have several songs that I still can’t get outta my head that are completely in German.
Ok to the first day ok snowboarding. We got up to the lift really early as our jetlag made us 4 hours ahead of everyone else which was very nice. I went to go sign up for classes, wanting morning classes, but they were all pre-booked. I was able to get a 3 day package of classes from 1:00-3:15. So with time on our hands Katie decided to try and teach me the basics. Walking around with a snowboard is incredibly frustrating as you have one foot locked in at an angle and a large board trying to slide which ever way is down. The other foot is on whichever side of the snowboard feels better to you and you walk like this very slowly wobbling like an oversized penguin and well for me falling a lot. So we looked at the maps and Katie decided to take me on “B1” which is a beginners’ run, not a bunny slope. We got to the top, strapped in my other foot, and I began to try and stand on my board. Needless to say, I fell, I rolled, and I tumbled down the mountain. I figured out how to get up on my board by rolling over and getting up from behind. A few times I actually slid down the mountain while standing but `that was purely accidental and ended in me crashing into the snow fast and hard. Katie stayed with me for a while cheering me on, but I felt bad after about 30 minutes having only gone down the first slope. I told her to go enjoy the morning and I would get down this run take a break and go to my class. It took me about an hour and a half to get down B1.
There were a ton of people waiting at the snowboard class flag at 1:00 and I was worried that there would be so many people that I would really not get the attention I needed. However, about 5 snowboard instructors showed up and separated us by language into groups of 8. I had the sweetest British instructor that was sooo cute and a really great teacher. I’m not going to explain the basics of snowboarding but he was really great at breaking it down into steps. I felt strong at the end of the first class and had techniques to practice the next morning. So the next morning I practiced and was a very diligent student. Katie and Jim went out to the bigger runs and even snowboarded/skied into Switzerland. The second day of class I found myself a little bit behind the others in my group. Sam, my cute British instructor, gave me one on one time and really helped my confidence. I had by the end of that day learned ¾ of everything I needed to know. The next day it was snowing pretty strong outside.
I went to my normal practice area and Jim and Katie went to a new run. When Jim and Katie got to their run they realized that there was no visibility and decided not to snowboard/ski and went back into town. I however, did not know this and pushed myself a little too hard. At this point I feel I need to explain the difference between a “Tbar” pull and a lift. A list is something you sit on and it takes you up the mountain in a chair with your board dangling in the air. This is what you normally see when you see people going up the mountain. A Tbar is a piece of metal that goes between your legs and is attached to a pulley rope that pulls you up the mountain with your board on the ground. The Tbar is used mainly for the bunny slopes and is terribly hard to master. On the normal days I fell off the Tbar regularly. With that said, I spent the morning trying to practice and being constantly thwarted by the snowstorm. When trying to go up my slope with the Tbar my snowboard became buried in snow throwing me off balance and thus making me fall off the pull area. I fell so many times that the pulley worker who puts the bars between your legs yelled at me. He said; “stupid American just stand up!” with no compassion that I was having difficulties more so than I had had the previous to days. I waited on the mountain until my 1:00 class trying to practice on and off and becoming incredibly frustrated. Class time finally came and Sam had hurt his knee the day before so we had a new instructor in his place. Again I tried to get up the Tbar during class and could not do it. The snow was in my face, I couldn’t see 2 feet in front of me and I began to cry on the slopes. The new instructor was incredibly patient and was very encouraging but after my long day of failing I just left about an hour into class. When I got back and realized that Katie and Jim didn’t even board in this snowstorm I felt a little better but was so worn out physically and emotionally. So that night, as we did every night, we went to the bars. Stress relief dancing and drinking which I really needed. That night while walking threw town after drinking Katie taught me the last technique of snowboarding, turning, that I had missed by leaving class early.
The next morning was gorgeous and Katie decided to come practice turning with me. We again went on B1. This time however, I was ready for it and was going down the slopes fairly smoothly. She told me how impressed she was at my improvement in just 3 days. I was snowboarding! At one point I went down the slope super fast and ate it at the bottom, stopping is still a bit of a challenge for me. I landed face first on my stomach very hard. Now I had been sore all week from falling a lot but this was different. I bruised my rib I think, it hurt when I breathed or stretched. There was this big slope up with an airbag on the other side for people to practice jumping. So we went there and I rested as Katie did jumps into the airbag.
The next day I was extremely sore, especially my ribs, but decided to try and practice. I tried for about and hour but the pain was too much. I spent the day relaxing, taking a bath and using the internet. I felt good about my progress and didn’t want to push my body to hard. That night we went tobogganing. This was a special event every Thursday night. None of us had been tobogganing before let alone at night but its sledding so we all were down to try it. It was way harder than it seemed but just as much fun as it sounds. We took a run that went down into town that I could not do with my snowboard yet so it was really fun to go on a new run. At one point however, there was a super steep hill that I went down super fast and flew off my sled about 4 feet. I flew into the barrier, threw the barrier actually where my head and shoulders were dangling off the mountain. Somehow with my adrenalin I got up went back for my sled and continued to the end.
The next morning it was snowing again and it was the last day of snowboarding. I was in a lot of pain from both the week of snowboarding and the night of tobogganing. I decided to return my board and boots, as I was not going to try and practice in the snowstorm again. It was a nice day; I got a refund for my equipment that day and had a much needed massage in the early afternoon.
We awoke bright and early the next morning to catch a taxi to the train station and a train to Zurich. We planned on spending the day there but the train was late and we ended up only having 2 hours to walk around town. Still, it was a really nice city. I wish we had more time to explore. Then began our long journey home; the hardest part of this vacation. I am still very sore especially in the ribs but it is defiantly getting better. My legs are both very black and blue all over. However, I had an amazing time, learned a new sport and plan on doing it all over again.
Much love,
Kat
Disclaimer: “The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.”
What a great vacation I had learning to snowboard the on the Alps. I went with my friends Katie and Jim. Katie is a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer in my group and Jim is an Ex-Pat working and living in Baku. Katie has been snowboarding for 13 years and it had been a life long dream for her to snowboard the Alps. So I decided to go with her and learn to snowboard. We began our journey on Valentines Day at 2am when we were off to the airport. We flew to Istanbul, we only had an hour layover and our plane arrived late so we literally ran threw the airport with the fear that we were going to miss our flight. This was a real “amazing race” moment. On top of that Jim left his ski boots on the plane and had to go back on the plane to get them and then run to the gate that Katie and I promised to do our best to hold for him if we made it there on time. Luckily, we all made the flight to Zurich, Switzerland. When we got to Zurich we had a taxi driver waiting for us. It was a 3 hour drive through the mountains to a small ski village called Ischgl on the Austrian side of the mountains.
We arrived to our hotel which had more of a bed and breakfast feel to it. It was midday so we put our stuff in the room and went walking through the town, looking for a place to have lunch. The town was quaint, even though every building was a hotel. All looked like houses/bed and breakfasts with restaurants at the ground floor. The Alps surrounded us and there were ski paths that came right into town. After lunch we went to rent our equipment. I needed snowboard boots and a board, Katie helped make sure I had the right fit. We then went back to the hotel to relax, shower, and get ready to explore Ischgls’ night scene. There were many bars that were packed with a great diversity of nationalities. The music was also in all languages and it made the whole experience so much more fun. I have several songs that I still can’t get outta my head that are completely in German.
Ok to the first day ok snowboarding. We got up to the lift really early as our jetlag made us 4 hours ahead of everyone else which was very nice. I went to go sign up for classes, wanting morning classes, but they were all pre-booked. I was able to get a 3 day package of classes from 1:00-3:15. So with time on our hands Katie decided to try and teach me the basics. Walking around with a snowboard is incredibly frustrating as you have one foot locked in at an angle and a large board trying to slide which ever way is down. The other foot is on whichever side of the snowboard feels better to you and you walk like this very slowly wobbling like an oversized penguin and well for me falling a lot. So we looked at the maps and Katie decided to take me on “B1” which is a beginners’ run, not a bunny slope. We got to the top, strapped in my other foot, and I began to try and stand on my board. Needless to say, I fell, I rolled, and I tumbled down the mountain. I figured out how to get up on my board by rolling over and getting up from behind. A few times I actually slid down the mountain while standing but `that was purely accidental and ended in me crashing into the snow fast and hard. Katie stayed with me for a while cheering me on, but I felt bad after about 30 minutes having only gone down the first slope. I told her to go enjoy the morning and I would get down this run take a break and go to my class. It took me about an hour and a half to get down B1.
There were a ton of people waiting at the snowboard class flag at 1:00 and I was worried that there would be so many people that I would really not get the attention I needed. However, about 5 snowboard instructors showed up and separated us by language into groups of 8. I had the sweetest British instructor that was sooo cute and a really great teacher. I’m not going to explain the basics of snowboarding but he was really great at breaking it down into steps. I felt strong at the end of the first class and had techniques to practice the next morning. So the next morning I practiced and was a very diligent student. Katie and Jim went out to the bigger runs and even snowboarded/skied into Switzerland. The second day of class I found myself a little bit behind the others in my group. Sam, my cute British instructor, gave me one on one time and really helped my confidence. I had by the end of that day learned ¾ of everything I needed to know. The next day it was snowing pretty strong outside.
I went to my normal practice area and Jim and Katie went to a new run. When Jim and Katie got to their run they realized that there was no visibility and decided not to snowboard/ski and went back into town. I however, did not know this and pushed myself a little too hard. At this point I feel I need to explain the difference between a “Tbar” pull and a lift. A list is something you sit on and it takes you up the mountain in a chair with your board dangling in the air. This is what you normally see when you see people going up the mountain. A Tbar is a piece of metal that goes between your legs and is attached to a pulley rope that pulls you up the mountain with your board on the ground. The Tbar is used mainly for the bunny slopes and is terribly hard to master. On the normal days I fell off the Tbar regularly. With that said, I spent the morning trying to practice and being constantly thwarted by the snowstorm. When trying to go up my slope with the Tbar my snowboard became buried in snow throwing me off balance and thus making me fall off the pull area. I fell so many times that the pulley worker who puts the bars between your legs yelled at me. He said; “stupid American just stand up!” with no compassion that I was having difficulties more so than I had had the previous to days. I waited on the mountain until my 1:00 class trying to practice on and off and becoming incredibly frustrated. Class time finally came and Sam had hurt his knee the day before so we had a new instructor in his place. Again I tried to get up the Tbar during class and could not do it. The snow was in my face, I couldn’t see 2 feet in front of me and I began to cry on the slopes. The new instructor was incredibly patient and was very encouraging but after my long day of failing I just left about an hour into class. When I got back and realized that Katie and Jim didn’t even board in this snowstorm I felt a little better but was so worn out physically and emotionally. So that night, as we did every night, we went to the bars. Stress relief dancing and drinking which I really needed. That night while walking threw town after drinking Katie taught me the last technique of snowboarding, turning, that I had missed by leaving class early.
The next morning was gorgeous and Katie decided to come practice turning with me. We again went on B1. This time however, I was ready for it and was going down the slopes fairly smoothly. She told me how impressed she was at my improvement in just 3 days. I was snowboarding! At one point I went down the slope super fast and ate it at the bottom, stopping is still a bit of a challenge for me. I landed face first on my stomach very hard. Now I had been sore all week from falling a lot but this was different. I bruised my rib I think, it hurt when I breathed or stretched. There was this big slope up with an airbag on the other side for people to practice jumping. So we went there and I rested as Katie did jumps into the airbag.
The next day I was extremely sore, especially my ribs, but decided to try and practice. I tried for about and hour but the pain was too much. I spent the day relaxing, taking a bath and using the internet. I felt good about my progress and didn’t want to push my body to hard. That night we went tobogganing. This was a special event every Thursday night. None of us had been tobogganing before let alone at night but its sledding so we all were down to try it. It was way harder than it seemed but just as much fun as it sounds. We took a run that went down into town that I could not do with my snowboard yet so it was really fun to go on a new run. At one point however, there was a super steep hill that I went down super fast and flew off my sled about 4 feet. I flew into the barrier, threw the barrier actually where my head and shoulders were dangling off the mountain. Somehow with my adrenalin I got up went back for my sled and continued to the end.
The next morning it was snowing again and it was the last day of snowboarding. I was in a lot of pain from both the week of snowboarding and the night of tobogganing. I decided to return my board and boots, as I was not going to try and practice in the snowstorm again. It was a nice day; I got a refund for my equipment that day and had a much needed massage in the early afternoon.
We awoke bright and early the next morning to catch a taxi to the train station and a train to Zurich. We planned on spending the day there but the train was late and we ended up only having 2 hours to walk around town. Still, it was a really nice city. I wish we had more time to explore. Then began our long journey home; the hardest part of this vacation. I am still very sore especially in the ribs but it is defiantly getting better. My legs are both very black and blue all over. However, I had an amazing time, learned a new sport and plan on doing it all over again.
Much love,
Kat
Disclaimer: “The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.”
OMG Amazing