Well after an on time departure from Frankfurt and a fun bus ride with trivia the Frankfurt Ski Club arrived in Verbier before midnight. We may or may not have some potential Jeopardy contestants but we do have some great trippers, skiers, and snowboarders in the club.

The snow gods were smiling at us this weekend because we had absolutely fabulous conditions in Verbier.  We had about a foot of fresh powder from Friday night on the mountain Saturday morning. Visibility was poor Saturday morning but began to clear up in the afternoon when the Sun started to show its face. 

Sunday was gorgeous with clear skies and a dusting of new snow. There was great off-piste and fresh tracks to be found on both days! Brendan said he couldn’t take the smile off his face all day because of the amazing conditions.

At the top of the list the first day the visibility was poor but that didn’t prevent the TC from hearing one tripper ask another as they started to ski down the hill, “Do you remember how to stop?” Well I think that question may have been a few minutes too late! There was a SnowSnake award given to Fred, but he should get a special award the “Flying SnowSnake” because we actually have video of him falling tumbling and able to stand up in one single motion!

As always, the hotel provided a great venue for drinks and stories at night.  We checked out both the Tea-room on the sixth floor and the bar on the main floor which must attract the whole younger population of Martigny. In a freak occurrence Fred ordered “10 beers to nowhere”.  Fred ordered 10 beers and everyone scattered before the 10 beers were finished leaving 4 untouched beers behind. Free beers and nobody wanted to drink them?   He was in “The Twilight Zone”.

The hotel did not disappoint one tripper in particular who requires a fan in his room to fall asleep. Fortunately a fan comes standard in every room to drown out the sound. Unfortunately, it was not a powerful enough fan to drown out his roommate’s snoring and sniffling without ear plugs.

Leave it to Jerome to make reservations for a restaurant on the ski mountain. The French gourmet in him came out.  He did not disappoint us when he took us to Chez Dany for some amazing fondue and crute.

The trip to Verbier was a great success with no injuries and the best ski conditions I have experienced in a decade.

Jonathan Halstuch