Months before boarding a plane to Europe, Maria was already on budget flight sites looking for deals to visit us. Maria is one of the most driven individuals I know, so when she came to stay with us last year for a month to “shred,” I knew she was serious about being a good snowboarder. The same happened this year. She was coming to shred the Alps. In a tizzy of excitement, I booked a room in the Davos Hostel (or as the sign says “The YouthPalace”) in early November before Omicron surged. We were locked into this trip, as we all anxiously tested ourselves before the trip. Negative! Maria hopped on her plane and was off.

Even with a canceled flight and a train misconnection that caused significant delays, the psych was still high as Maria rolled into Davos 7 minutes before New Years. I had a Kleiner Klopfer at the ready for when she got off the train lol. Also, you can buy fireworks at any grocery store in Switzerland, so there were public firework shows as well as little firecrackers going off especially in front of the hostel. We were in bed by 1 am to be ready for skiing and riding the next morning!

I was set on snowboarding, knowing that if there's no pain, there's no gain. Funny enough, that slogan was etched on the bindings of my rental board. It was a good sign. The good times only lasted until we finished taking cute pics at the Top of the Jakobshorn (day pass was 71 CHF), realizing we now had to get down. For context, Maria is a great snowboarder, who polished her craft in her Tahoe Snowboarding crash course last January. As for me, I snowboard once a year, the annual reminder that it’s good to try things you’re bad at even if they make you very sore the next day. 

We now had to scrape our way down an icy cattrack. The road to success is a bumpy one where you may need to put life and limb on the line for glory. Thank goodness I was wearing a helmet. It’s also a good reminder of how scary it is to be the slow person on a ski piste. When playing MarioKart, no one asks how the banana peel feels after being run over! I turned off my sense of fear of being hit with a shot of Absolute Vodka. 

After a few runs, we turned in for lunch near the top of Jakobshorn, or should I say pre-apres? We found Leo Mondale's coveted drink, the Schlumli Pflumli, which is plum schnapps, coffee, and whipped cream. We drank it on these wooden beach chairs overlooking the Graubunden Alps. There were a couple of hot tubs set up with some groups of old men soaking with cigarettes. To our right was where the paragliders were taking off and behind us the smell of raclette wafted from their heating trays. Not exactly Palisades Tahoe High Camp, but certainly an experience!! 

Liquid confidence flowing, I really felt like my snowboarding was improving, all until the last run getting into town, I caught my heelside edge and whacked my head backwards, holding back tears as German families passed me with disdain and Maria faithfully laughing at me by my side. 

We finally made it to the bottom, and it was a party! The slope funnels you down into the XC track, which ends across the river from the main Bahnhoff, which is also where the paragliders land and the half pipe is. We lucked out on an outdoor seat at Bolgen Plaza and got some good wine and currywurst. Freddy, who had toured at Pischahorn, showed up and we listened to some headbangers until the sun set over the ridge. We went back to the hostel and rested until we went to dinner at the Hotel Parsenn. I had inadvertently booked us a table at the Apres Bar for the elderly. No one was within 20 years of our age, but they were all having a better time than us dancing in their ski boots to songs like “Sex Bomb” by Tom Jones and Mousse T.

The next day, the three of us went to Parsenn (75 CHF for a day pass). We took a funicular train to the Weissfluhjoch. As you ascend, you can see SLF’s research site and building at the top, which looks like a concrete bunker that could withstand any sort of weather. Very cool to see where a lot of avalanche research happens! We took the tram to the tippy top, and it was an 360 view of the alps. You could see down the Davos valley to Arosa and Madrisa as well. Then we skied one of the longest pistes in Europe (12 km!!). We stopped at the bottom of the gondola, but you can take the piste all the way to Klosters! 

We took the train home, a quick 2.5 hours. Watching the ski traffic on the one lane roads going back to Zurich going at a crawl made me even more thankful for train travel. Though the conditions were really icy, I had a great time spending New Years in Davos with two of my best friends!

A fun end to the weekend was that my mom sent pics of when she and my Dad went to Davos almost 30 years ago. Early 90s ski fashion always makes me laugh! Thanks for that Kathy!