Storms, a face-plant and unforgettable moments with friends
It’s a beautiful summer day in the Swiss Alps and I am at such a high elevation that when I look across to the Matterhorn, it is difficult to pick it out from among the other peaks. I wish you could see it. An avid skier, I have only skied a few times in Europe. Yet each time was quite an adventure.
The first time was with my two daughters. We spent enough time in Zermatt, Switzerland, to have a day on the slopes. With rented equipment we climbed aboard a large aerial tram that took us to the top of the mountain. Though there were only a few runs served by a T-bar, it was glorious to be skiing on top of the world. A new adventure — I had never skied in summer on glaciers, and it was a beautiful day so we skied in shirtsleeves.
The day would have been perfect but I had the most uncomfortable boots ever made. The restaurant at the top was first-rate and the ladies’ room had the most unusual sinks. First, they automatically bathed our hands with nice warm water, and then bubbly soap showered them. Oddly enough, that was one of several memorable things that day.
My next time skiing was when I was teaching in Holešov, Czech Republic. The teachers at my school had arranged a bus trip to the resort at Semmering, Austria. I had purchased my skis in a nearby town, and not wanting another painful ski boot experience, I had brought my own boots from Idaho. The charter bus was to pick us up at 4 a.m. three blocks from my house. Carrying all my equipment I opened the door, and whoa, it was pitch black. I learned then the town turned off all streetlights in the middle of the night.
Trudging along in my clunky ski boots with my skies slung over my shoulder and traveler’s checks in my pocket, I managed to find my way to the bus. There awaited another surprise — our bus driver was the spitting image of Elvis Presley.
Semmering is a pass not too far from Vienna and is the location for annual professional ski races. It was an excellent ski area with many super runs. At the top was a nice restaurant basking in sunshine, where I enjoyed lasagna at lunchtime. It turned out to be a wonderful day on perfectly groomed slopes with several new friends.
Later while I was teaching in Slovenia, the school chartered a bus to go to a ski resort in the Julian Alps. The day before the trip, weather got bad — rain on the coast where I lived, but huge amounts of snow in the uplands. My sweet landlady suggested that I stay at home because the roads might be dangerous. Concerned, I called another teacher to ask her opinion.
“Just let the driver worry about the roads. You go have fun,” she said.
Yes, the roads were bad, and the climb to the ski area was treacherous with some corners so sharp the bus had to make three-point turns. Needing equipment, I had to find the rental shop. Oh no, it was at the top of the mountain. After two chairs lift rides, one ending in a face-plant in the snow as I hopped off, I got some skis. Happily, I had a great time again.
Lunch was unusual. It was served at 1 p.m. in a lodge that was more like a school cafeteria, where we all went at the same time and ate the same thing. I was pleased when a student of mine, somewhat of a scamp, asked me to sit with him. At day’s end, we adults sat outside and sipped hot spiced wine.
My last trip was with Slovene friends. We drove north through Italy to Nassfeld, a resort high in the Dolomites. It was amazing, with some runs going down into Austria and others down into Italy. The chairlifts were feats of engineering soaring high onto towering rocky peaks. It was another wonderful day. A perfect ending to my ski adventures in Europe was enjoying a drink with my good friend in the late afternoon sun.
Johnson, of Grangeville, worked in three different European countries — Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia — in the 1990s and early 2000s. She can be reached at johnsondixie@hotmail.com.
