Following a less than ideal visit to Grächen on Monday -- overcast, rock-hard conditions, half of the upper lifts not operating, an unexpected (for me) regional holiday with hordes of families/no need to take photos or write a report -- I got things back on track with an enjoyable day at the community ski area of Visperterminen.
As always, you start with a twisty drive more than 3,000 vertical feet uphill from the town of Visp in the Rhône Valley:
Wine grapes on mountainsides -- very typical throughout the region. I discovered that Visperterminen is home to Europe's highest vineyard. Who knew?
After the previous day's unpleasant encounter with lots of people, it was shocking to drive into a completely deserted town (literally no one on the streets, no cars moving about, nuthin!). I left my car 30 yards from the ticket office/lift in an empty parking area. Looking at the ski map, while there are close to 3,000 verts total, the top 1,200 feet are what's usually in play unless you're arriving after a big dump.
10 am: I took my time booting up in front of the RFID turnstile -- not something you'd do at most ski areas.
One of the few t-bar rides all day with other people in front of me:
2/3 of the way up, a 45-degree turn on a t-bar. Very common in Europe; however, I don't think I've ever run into that in North America:
After forgetting to recharge it, my phone battery died so I didn't get many photos. The five inches that fell overnight were scoured by strong wind gusts; however, the groomers were soft and I had a few worthwhile runs in the offpiste.
Nice views to the north:
With a dead phone, I wasn't able to display my COVID certificate at the mid-mountain lodge (you can't enter without it); however, with a KN95 mask, the cashier let me grab some food and take it outside, which was very pleasant in the sun. By 1 pm, high cloud cover moved in and I called it a day at 2.
For the record (if it appears that I'm exclusively hitting small, unknown areas during this trip), I plan to ski the Big Show in these parts, the Aletsch Arena, on Thursday and Friday when it's supposed to be mostly sunny and warmer.
As always, you start with a twisty drive more than 3,000 vertical feet uphill from the town of Visp in the Rhône Valley:
Wine grapes on mountainsides -- very typical throughout the region. I discovered that Visperterminen is home to Europe's highest vineyard. Who knew?
After the previous day's unpleasant encounter with lots of people, it was shocking to drive into a completely deserted town (literally no one on the streets, no cars moving about, nuthin!). I left my car 30 yards from the ticket office/lift in an empty parking area. Looking at the ski map, while there are close to 3,000 verts total, the top 1,200 feet are what's usually in play unless you're arriving after a big dump.
10 am: I took my time booting up in front of the RFID turnstile -- not something you'd do at most ski areas.
One of the few t-bar rides all day with other people in front of me:
2/3 of the way up, a 45-degree turn on a t-bar. Very common in Europe; however, I don't think I've ever run into that in North America:
After forgetting to recharge it, my phone battery died so I didn't get many photos. The five inches that fell overnight were scoured by strong wind gusts; however, the groomers were soft and I had a few worthwhile runs in the offpiste.
Nice views to the north:
With a dead phone, I wasn't able to display my COVID certificate at the mid-mountain lodge (you can't enter without it); however, with a KN95 mask, the cashier let me grab some food and take it outside, which was very pleasant in the sun. By 1 pm, high cloud cover moved in and I called it a day at 2.
For the record (if it appears that I'm exclusively hitting small, unknown areas during this trip), I plan to ski the Big Show in these parts, the Aletsch Arena, on Thursday and Friday when it's supposed to be mostly sunny and warmer.
