tysonbolduc.com

Lenzerhide, CH – I flew from Oslo, Norway to London’s Heathrow where I did the left-side-of-the-road shuffle around the busiest and in my opinion worst airport ever on my way to Zurich, Switzerland.  In Zurich I boarded a train towards Lenzerhide with half the Swiss army who was returning back to duty after the Easter holiday.  The kids, all about 18, were happy to see each other so they were heavy into their fermented beverages and snuff which made it a unique ride to say the least.  They did not seem to mind sharing the train car with an American skier as they were eager to laugh and test their English while criticizing each others pronunciation as we shared stories and questions.  When I arrived in Lenzerhide however I was a little ill-prepared as all I had to find our accommodations was an address and no phone number.  Lenzerhide is not a big place, but it was Monday night and there was not a person around to ask directions.  So, I was stuck dragging my bags around the village looking for building “14” for about two hours.  Meanwhile, the snow had stared to fall but none-the-less I was excited to be walking after a few days of sitting on planes and trains. I awoke to catch up with the group which consisted of Tom Winter, Derek Taylor, Corey Tibljas, David Lesh, and Alex Norton and then proceed to the hill.  The mountain was empty, and we had the 30cm of fresh snow to ourselves.  Only one lift was open due to the visibility, but we lapped the T-bar until we were wet from the falling snow.  That night things got interesting however.  We took a venture to the local watering hole called the Slalom bar, but shockingly we were the only ones there aside from one infamous local.  For all intensive purposes I could explain the night in great detail, but I’ll just sum it up with a game called Neglin, for which the hammer ended up I the fire, loud music, shots, and the bar lit on fire…  This was a night to remember and we met our “ski professional” for the next day.   Anyone knows it is always better to have a local show you around a mountain, but we found “this guy,” who still smelled like booze and sweet from the night before.  Theo, our local guide showed us around the resort but had a different idea of skiing.  He was conscientious for mountain safety, yet his assiduousness for being the omniscient professional was refreshing.  The level of skiing we were looking for was a little different, but we still found a few zones with 2500ft chutes.  With 20 horses in his stables, Theo was a great guide and set the trip off on the right note.  Laughter! We continued on our adventure that afternoon and boarded a bus headed for Davos.