Okay. So this post is dedicated to Claire who I'm sure is going to copy and paste it into her own blog....
Chapter OneSo this one time these four girls - we'll call them Claire, Lauren-Anne, Caitlin, and Katy (some names might have been changed for the sake of security) - these four girls, take a short vacation to the country of Switzerland. Katy and Caitlin started in Paris and were scheduled to meet the other two girls in Zermatt, Switzerland. Katy and Caitlin boarded a train at 7:44am that they thought was going to Lausanne. After riding the train for about 2.5 hours - they discover, much to their suprise, that their train is in fact heading to Zurich. They, as you might assume, do not want to go to Zurich. However, this story, my friends, turns out good. The two girls descend the train in Bern, Switzerland where they rode to Brig and then boarded the famous Glacier Express which took them to Zermatt. Before even stepping on Swiss soil Katy tells Caitlin that she's moving to Switzerland - it's seriously the best place on earth. Upon arriving in Zermatt the two girls discover that they have arrived in a good ole, down to earth, ski town. Two short hours later the rest of the troop - Claire and Lauren-Anne (we'll call her LA) also arrive in Zermatt and the four amigos (or amies) check into their hostel, eat a quick dinner, and call it an early night in order to hit the slopes early the next morn. The next morning, after renting skis and buying electronic ski passes (for each lift was manned not by people, but turnstalls that only let valid ski passes through), the girls rode two gondolas to the middle of one of the many many mountains. Zermatt is situated on the border of Switzerland and Italy and thus both countries were skiable for our heroines. After skiing Switzerland for the first half of the day, the girls caught a quick lunch atop the Swiss/Italian boarder. Apres ca, they decided to try out the Italian slopes...
Chapter TwoThis is where things begin to get interesting for our fine young ladies. Katy heads off down the slope and stops about 1/4 of the way down to watch the rest of the girls make their way down the mountain. Claire and LA make their way to Katy and the girls watch Caitlin begin to slowly traverse the hill. With Caitlin working up top, LA spots an older couple on the side of the run who had fallen down - but as soon as LA moves over to check if they're okay - Caitlin's skis start to move out of control. Before you can say, "Harry Potter" Caitlin's skis are flying through the air, her poles are at the top of the mountain, and Caitlin is sliding rapidly down the hill. Katy -the first to spot Caitlin, calls to LA, who protects the old people from being destructed by Caitlin's screaming body, Claire, who eventually notices her close friend nearing the edge of a swiss Alp freezes, and eventually a French snowboarder grabs Caitlin's hand and stops her. The three girls quickly ski down to meet their friend - unsure whether to cry or to laugh and discover Caitlin herself lauging hysterically but also quite shaken up. Unable to put her skis back on, Caitlin walks the rest of the way down the mountain while Katy, Lauren-Anne, and Claire carry her skis down to the gondola. Adrenaline running, Caitlin decides to sit the rest of the sking out and the three girls spend the rest of the day (especially Katy) working on their sunglass tans. After a quick (and interesting) pizza dinner our heroines discover the Zermatt cemetary which is full of graves from the brave and daring adventurers who have attempted to climb the Matterhorn mountain, Zermatt's most famous peak. And this ended day one.
Chapter Three.Day two of skiing started by taking a train and two gondolas to the top of what looked like a pretty good run to LA, Claire, and Katy. Upon entering the second gondola the girls realize that they were the only girls heading to what was labelled a "downhill run". After exiting the lift our heroines find themselves at 13000 vertical feet and with skiiers who seem to be attaching their skis to their backpacks and/or stepping into special combination bindings. Always up for an adventure, the girls look at eachother, pick up their skis, and follow a group of 5 Italians who seem to know where they're going. After walking along a ridge which dropped into nothing on either side for about thirty minutes, the girls run into their Italian leaders (all the while coming to terms that, much like their Matterhorn companions, their gravestones will say, "at least they died doing what they loved..."). At this moment two Italian/Swiss jets go screaming past the skier's heads - the three girls look at eachother and take a seat. Nevertheless two hours later the girls make their way to the first avalible T-bar - newly aquainted with the term, "glacier skiing". Claire and Katy decide to take the first T up the hill followed by LA; now the TBar that girls have come across is the scariest, most intense lift they have ever encountered. Approximately 1/2 up the lift something happens to Claire's and Katy's skis and the two girls find themselves sprawled across the snowy terrain. Sore from the descent LA continues up the TBar to meet Caitlin for lunch and CK make their way through some moguls to try the TBar again. This time the girls decide to take seperate T's but the story is far from over for our young Frenchspeakers. Upon nearing the stop of fall no.1 Katy hears her name being screamed like bloody murder behind her. Claire, dear Claire, is pole-less, skis dragging, being pulled up the slope, yet holding on for dearlife. To make a longstory short - the girls make it down to ANOTHER lift (both have banned T-bars for life) - finally make it to Caitlin/LA for lunch, and ski the rest of the day uneventfully. Zermatt ended for the four friends with a nice train ride to Interlaken for the continuation of the adventure.
Chapter FourWednesday morning the girls awoke in the infamous Balmer's hostel. Upon waking the girls find a rafting outfitter who will take the young heroines
canyoning. Although unsure of exactly what canyoning is, the girls know that they want to do it and upon meeting two of the coolest swiss people ever they put on layers and layers of protective gear, traverse the swiss backcountry, and arrive at the "canyon". For the next three hours Claire, LA, Caitlin, and Katy swim, float, walk, rappel, hike, and jump off waterfall through this swiss canyon. After a wonderful four hour birthday dinner for Caitlin the week continued.
Chapter FiveThe rest of the week consisted of Lauren-Anne returning to Paris to meet her parents, Caitlin voyaging to Budapest, and CK trekking/climbing Mt.Pilatus in Lucerene, Switzerland. After a 3000ft climb Claire returned to Paris and Katy travelled to Lausanne to make a pilgrimage to the International Olympic Committee and the Musee Olympic. After putting in a few miles (on the way to 100...) Katy found the Olympic musuem, spent the next hours in fascination and tears, and eventually made the long TGV ride back to Paris.
And the girls lived happily ever after.Amen.
