Five days in Andermatt

Setting off from Gemsstock

Although it's raining in the valley below, by the time we reach 1100m it's turning to snow. At destination, there's been 1.5m of snow in the last two days. On arrival, we get a day of picture perfect conditions, then the onslaught continues. There has been more snowfall in the last three weeks than in the whole of last year's season. I have never seen so much snow in my many trips to the Alps (save perhaps when my parents got stuck in the Simplon Pass with me aged 9mo's in the bucket seat in the back of Dad's Porsche 911T...). Day one and day five of the trip have been epic.

There was a greeting party to meet me at the Station. I've been travelling alone, as Flo and the Girls are impatient to get to a tropical climate, and are already in Rio as I write this. Al, Francesca, Kim, Ilya, it was great to see you all again. Sasha, Liz, John and Annalisa, it was a pleasure meeting you. The day before I got to Andermatt it would have been impossible to arrive at the station for avalanche risk. And that was to come back to haunt us later (see later post..."We're Furk'd!"). First things first, I get myself suited and booted at Snowlimit. An excellent selection of freeride gear, though tragically my feet are too big for the splitboards on offer. Is there any better way to explore the backcountry? I'll have to come back next year to see. 

Notwithstanding, Al, Sasha, Misha and myself hit unpisted slopes for some of the deepest powder I have ever boarded in.  That was day one. And by day five, after a two-day whiteout, the powder was another half meter deeper. Levitation. How I wish I had my Swallowtail, languishing at our chalet in Albinen, purpose-shaped for powdery conditions. I had to settle for a wide board from the shop, Misha and I dubbed it "The Ugly Stick" ("Someone's been in here with the Ugly Stick", a university rowing buddy of mine would say at less attractive gatherings...). That it's called a Skunk Ape seems apt. But it served me well, stiff and with that very clever Magne-Traction technology for keeping control at speed on patches of hardpack.



Aside from the inevitable Swiss, Andermatt seems to be frequented especially by Austrians, Swedes, Finns. There was a smattering of English, Italian, French, Russian. I even met a couple of intrepid Romanians. But essentially this place is for die-hard Alpine types. Although there are only two principal cablecars and a small handful of lifts, the terrain is vast, with many unpisted slopes, just wonderful in the powdery stuff. Here it seems almost everyone rides fat freeride skis or boards, and is kitted out with ABS avalanche packs and emergency receivers.

Someone's been in here with the Ugly Stick

I'm not the mountaineering type, ambitions of Everest and all that, but like Flo I love the mountains. For fellow mountain-lovers out there, I recommend K2: Life & Death on the World's Deadliest Mountain (hat tip Ewan for suggesting it...). This seemed a fitting preamble in particular to the white-out conditions with howling wind we experienced on Thurs and Fri! The mountains are a recurring theme, even at a distance, with Jas and Iris mad about the 18m climbing wall at our neighbouring Seymour Leisure Centre, and Paul and I frequent visitors to Vertical Chill, London's 8m ice wall in the heart of Covent Garden.

Off Piste this way...

In any event, these have been memorable five days in Andermatt that I'll be coming back to in hopefully plentiful future adventures in the mountains, which never fail to inspire. More on the intervening days to follow!