Zermat-Corseaux Day 15

April 14, 2010

Day 15 Zermat-Corseaux

The day started out beautifully.  We woke up pretty early so that we could rent our skies and head up the mountain pretty quickly.  We didn't quite make it for the 08:00 ski rental opening, but it was early enough.  The views of the Matterhorn from the city were amazing and we were crossing our fingers that it would stay that way for the rest of the day.  Once we got our skies, we decided to head for the highest gondola first which would take us to 3883m!  Heather and Matt had been up there and had warned us of how thin the air was up there.  We also got a warning from our fellow gondola riders on the lower gondola saying that they had been up there and had skied as fast as they could to try and catch their breath.  I was a little worried.  We rode one gondola to the first highest level and then took a special cable car to get us all the way up.  That car fit about 20-30 people.  I didn't think that was the smartest thing if people were going to start passing out, especially since it started getting super warm the higher we got.  Finally at the top we had to walk through a tunnel to get to the ski hill.  Halfway through the tunnel was a view point area and to get to it you had to take an elevator up and then you had to climb stairs.  I also didn't think this was a good idea at this altitude, but luckily both Trevor and I were fine.  You could definitely feel there was less oxygen here, but it just meant (at least for us) that you had to move a little slower.  Climbing the stairs, especially with ski boots, took a little longer that usual, but the views at the top were unbelievable.  Words can't describe how amazing it was.  All you saw was mountains and the bluest sky you've ever seen.  It was so amazing.  After getting back to the tunnel, we walked toward the ski hill and Trevor decided that he would try and climb to 4000m while I purchased some postcards and waited for him.  I thought it would be hard to pick him out as the climber, but thankfully when he climbed back down I spotted him and met him down the hill a bit.  We then went for our first run and it was awesome!  The entire time we pretty much skied blue runs, but the snow conditions were amazing so even Trevor had a good time, minus the waiting for me.  Our lift passes that we purchased allowed us to ski into Italy, so for the first little while we tried to get ourselves over to the Italy side, but once there, we realized the ski conditions were not as good as on the Swiss side, so after skiing all the way down the Italy side we took a few chairs and a gondola and got back to the Swiss side.  At this point we decided that I would take a break while Trevor did a big run, so I went to one of the bars on the hill and eventually found myself a lounge chair and relaxed while I waited for Trevor to meet me.  We then went down a bit further together and decided to split again, allowing me to take my time and Trevor to be super speedy.  All the while the weather was gorgeous with the sun shining bright and the sky clear.  At the point that we split, I started a run that turned out to be super slushy and horrible to ski.  I crashed a bunch of times and felt so out of control.  By the time I got to Trevor I was so unhappy.  It had been such a great ski day for me and this run was awful.  Thankfully Trevor suggested we finish our day and get back to Corseaux earlier than planned.  The rest of the day was good with us catching an earlier train and getting to hang out with Matt and Heather for a bit.  Turns out I burned my face really really bad.  The later it got, the redder my face got.  Beautiful day at 3800m meant very little escape from the sun.  Should have worn sunscreen.  Still, I was so excited that the day turned out so good for us.  It was awesome.