Europe's Winter Playground

The winter season is here and I think you know what that means...it's time grab a coat, skis or board and head for the hills! Considering Switzerland sits smack in the middle of the Alps, it isn't surprising that Switzerland is one of the world's skiing meccas. Geneva is usually gloomy during the winter months with a grey sky vaguely revealing a ray of sunshine. During the week, the common conversation around Geneva is "where are you going this weekend?" Every weekend for the past month has been a trip up above the clouds into the white peaks, blue skies of a nearby ski resort. To describe the experience, one would say- beautiful mountain villages, awesome scenery, rickety trains crawling up, cheese fondues, and people from all over europe. Switzerland boasts the first ever ski resort, the tradition of skiing goes back two centuries.

There is a group of us that share a chalet (aka cabin) for the 5 month ski season. Friday comes around and we meetup at the train station for a 2 and half hour trip up to Verbier. Geneva train station is packed with people ready to hit the slopes, finding a seat is sometimes difficult. The ride is enjoyable, whether you want to read a good book, listen to the zune, have a few beers, or joke about the various acts of immaturity that keep us laughing for hours.

Here is a little view from one of the lifts:


Verbier is justifiably famous as one of the most outstanding ski areas in Europe and lies high in a sunny, well-sheltered position in the heart of Switzerland's southern-most Alps. Awesome in skiable terrain, Verbier consists of spectacular mountains home to the "Four Valleys" with 410 total kms (or 255 miles!!!!) of groomed slopes, 96 different means of uphill transportation/ski lifts. Verbier relishes its reputation for big skiing, powder snow and vibrant nightlife. There are a huge number of really challenging runs in and around Verbier. Expert skiers know it far and wide, as one of the most difficult skiing resorts anywhere, that's a given. Even everyone I ski with that have been going for over 5 years here, still talk about new runs. I luckily made a great group of friends with all skill levels if you want to push the envelope a little or kick back with some easy runs.


See pics BELOW: (I'll be adding more pics here after every ski trip)