International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Zermatt and Chamonix adventure

[Eleeski]

Not sure I was always a "grumpy American". A couple parts were irritating but overall I enjoyed the trip. It was a wonderful family experience. @Desertdawg it sounds like you had a fun trip as well (including a couple issues too).

I tried to report as factually as I could. As a visitor, I faced issues with not knowing so many things. It took a while (and maybe some extra cash) to figure those things out. Maybe I can help out the next person who travels there.

By California standards, the snow was not good, luck of the draw perhaps. But we were able to get out and ski everyday - and find some fun. Since groomed trails are not my passion and that seemed to be the focus of our experience, I was not impressed by the skiing so much. Still fun cruising for sure. I love bumps and had to search for them. The European bumps were faster and wider than Squaw's typical bumps. Still fun. The bad weather day didn't produce powder. It softened things up so we had fun. The sightseeing day was fun. It was a SKI TRIP! So we were sure to have fun.

OK, I wouldn't buy a house over there. I like my place at Squaw better. Hrumph!

Eric

 

[James]

Thanks for the report @Eleeski . Part of what he's referring to is in the first post. The issues of traveling would have happened if a trip to Big Bear in SoCal was made. Glad you got to enjoy it overall. With time you may want to go back!

 

[SBrown]

Aw, I just thought he was being a little funny. In a wry manner.

We took a trip to Zermatt in 2006 that to this day remains my favorite trip ever. Snow was ok ... really firm at first, then a foot on the last day. But everything else, like clockwork. ;-) Except for the DIN of 4 on my rental skis.

 

[TonyC]

You have to get used to the travel inconveniences and make the best of them. Liz and and I have a lot of practice at this, and it sounds like eleeski does not. No judgment here. He has a vacation home at Squaw, which is evidence enough that he prefers the convenience of semi-permanent base for skiing to the compulsive wanderlust that we have.

Nonetheless I'd say he had lousy luck with conditions on that trip. It is possible to get skunked for whole week in the Alps by weather/conditions and that's what happened to him in Chamonix, and also to Liz by the way the week she was there before we met.

Zermatt was the Euro destination where we were very lucky with fresh snow when we arrived plus 2 more refresher storms during the week. I wouldn't think Stockhorn/Hohtalli would be spring conditions/refrozen 3rd week of March, but I wasn't there.

Desertdawg: "We skied 9 out of 15 days. 2 were spent flying from the western US and back."
This is the more normal expectation in the Alps. My longest trip to the Alps (1 week in the Arlberg, 3 days Davos/Klosters, 2 days Flims/Laax, 1 day Andermatt) had 9 good weather ski days, 3 days with bad enough visibility to be confined mostly to the pistes for an abbreviated ski day, plus 2 at the end where the weather/lift closures at Andermatt were so severe we used our rental car for tourist days in Milan and Lucerne instead.

There is always weather/conditions risk in skiing, as anyone based at Squaw from 2012-15 should know. Nonetheless the risk of weather with primarily above treeline skiing in the Alps is higher than at most North American resorts. I also can relate that the bar is set higher to ski in the Alps from the West Coast than the East Coast. Nonetheless we are eager to expand our experiences there, as there are considerable upside unique experiences, as we had in Zermatt in 2014.

I do not see a quote icon on the toolbar when editing posts.

 

[Eleeski]

I think I just figured out how to post pictures. I'm probably not doing it right but hopefully it works.

Note that we were all smiling in the photos. We did have a great time despite all the hassles. While I still love Squaw, the trip was well worth it for the experience.

Eric

 

[Eleeski]

OK maybe I didn't figure out how to post pictures...

 

[Tricia]

I think I fixed it for you Eric.

 

[Eleeski]

Trish, thanks for fixing the pictures for me. I'm not getting enough time at home with my desktop - too much darn travel! Eventually i would have figured it out but you would have missed the cool pics in the meantime.

Thanks again for the great technical support and for a fun site.

Eric