I arrived in Grimentz on the 31st March to be met by
Ian, and David (from the Facebook group Anniviers Ski), who had a coffee in our apt but they curiously declined my irresistable offer of helping me unload the car. Ho hum.
April Fools Day was glorious sunshine topped up with a little fresh snow. Great conditions both on and off piste. Called round to say hi to near neighbours Brian and Linda, who were skiing until the weekend.
The next day saw some more fresh snow. Met up with Ian and skied the day on and off piste around the Lona slopes. Visibility was a bit variable, but Ian made the best of the conditions playing in the shrubbery. When the sun finally came out conditions were wonderful. This was the 1st day out with Fritschi Freeride bindings on my Stockli Stormrider AT's. To me they don't feel really any different than regular alpine bindings, and there is certainly no issues for me around the binding feeling sloppy, and needing to raise the DIN setting.
On the Thursday I skied around Bendolla in the morning and missed meeting up with Ian and David for lunch. In the afternoon, the visibility was not too great, so I fitted my skins and got some practice skinning up the side of the piste. My rate of ascent is still um.....slow. More practice needed.
Friday came around and more fresh snow. Took the lift up with Linda who had left Brian in the apt to look after the children. We had a great time skiing the Lona black in amazing bluebird powder conditions.
Of course, Brian was rather keen to get some pow for himself, so Linda returned to their apt and I took a couple of runs with Brian. The powder off piste was quite deep, but very dry, and really good fun. Andy was arriving at lunchtime, so back to our apt for a quick lunch and we ski the afternoon together in lovely conditions.
The weekend arrives and the resort is not too busy thankfully. The sunshine has made the off piste a bit crusty so we stick largely to the marked slopes.
It's the last opening day of the season, and this is the view that greets us.....
Fresh powder, and a big local crowd in the Bendolla restaurant with a band playing. Are all Swiss tone deaf?
The slopes were made more interesting by the pisteurs taking out the marker poles starting in the morning, with low visibility making life interesting. I got the feeling that the lifts closed early, clearly I needed more ski time.
I had planned to do some skinning as I need the practice, but the commune had ploughed a summer road across the piste, so the few skiers that managed to get up the hill somehow, had a hard time crossing this...
Though I would have loved to do some more skiing, in reality I was generally quite busy spending money on the apartment, arranging alterations and catching another Swiss cold!
