We started skiing on the glacier two weeks ago. In fact, we jumped on the slopes on November 1st. While it didn't match the early opening day of Wolf Creek or A-Basin back home in Colorado, it was easily the earliest I have ever skied in my short career. To get to the glacier, we have to take a series of gondolas...some big, some not-so-big...up the mountain about five miles.
At some point during the season, skiers will be able to ski right into Zermatt...almost to the middle of town. For now though, hearty skiers have to lug their gear to find the white stuff. "Hearty skiers" have included the national downhill teams of every major winter olympic team, including the team from the US. And...students and staff from Swiss Semester.
The anticipation for the first day of skiing was palpable. Seriously. You'd have thought it was Christmas morning the way kids acted around the dorms and in the classes. I can promise you that little teaching...and even 'littler' learning...went on that morning. As you can see below...Emme is quite focused on math and on whether or not her goggles clash with her jacket and gator.
To accommodate the skiing, the students' schedules have changed slightly. Students now take three classes in the morning...instead of the usual four. Students head for the lifts at 10:45 and ski until until 2:30. Their three afternoon classes then begin promptly at 3:30. So...the reality is that we ski everyday that we can for 3.5 hours. Here's the other cool part...every student and teacher in the program gets lessons regardless of their ability level. I am skiing in a group that is about two levels from the top. Good skiers...comfortable on 'blues'...needing a Depends under garment on certain 'blacks'. My instructor's name is Ollie. Ollie is about 35 years old and a native of Zermatt. His English is great considering he has been to the US once in his life. Ollie is also a remarkable human being. A phenomenal skier, Ollie's left arm was amputated above the elbow at the age of 10. Ollie and some of his friends had jumped on top of a train that was plowing snow from the tracks. Most, if not all, trains in this part of Europe run on electricity...about 14,000 volts worth. I know that figure because when I asked Ollie about his disability he spouted off the volts like he was reciting his date of birth or social security number. Its a number he will know and remember for the rest of his life. While surfing the train, he reached up for balance or simply out of instinct and grabbed the live wire. Just before it ejected him off the top of the moving train, it burned his arm so severely the doctors could do nothing to save it. The doctors cited his age and the sequence of the beats of his heart for his survival. Despite having one arm, he rides a bike to work daily and skies as well as anyone I know. And he is a great teacher I wish I had a picture of him to show you. He has a sort of 'cult following' with the students in our school.
The skiing conditions that we have had over the first two weeks could not be better. We have had one day of cloud cover/fog...the rest of days have been very Colorado-like...blue sky and warm sun. As you can see from the photos below...its easy to lose concentration because of the views that abound.
As a quick review....
*students go to class
*students and staff go skiing everyday
*students ski with an instructor...amazing Ollie
*skiing scenery is breathtaking
Which leads us to this past Monday...and a brief retrospective. I love helicopters. Always have. If I had to do 'life' over again, I would work towards becoming a helicopter pilot. In my opinion, they are simply beautiful machines. Zermatt happens to be home to some of the best helicopter pilots in the world as well as a full fleet of 'birds'. Because of the vertical terrain in this area, the helicopters are used to deliver goods and services to businesses and homes through out the area. The helipad is located about a half mile from our hotel and is situated on my favorite hiking trail. I have walked up to the pad to watch these guys take off and land many times. In the winter, though, they become ambulances/flight for life/search and rescue for a very large area. Their job...pull people from the mountain and deliver them safely to the ground. The helicopters are manned in the winter by the pilot, a paramedic and a doctor. They drill and practice regularly...theirs is a craft and skill that should not gather dust.
Back to Monday...another beautiful late fall day in Zermatt. I had taken probably six runs with my group and was riding the chair lift back to the top when someone on the chair made a comment like "I hope that's not a Swiss Semester person lying on the slope." The comment didn't register with me. Another comment followed..."Isn't that KR (the school's director) next to the person". That comment registered a little bit more. I focused my attention now on the person lying prone in the middle of the slope...not moving with three or four people standing around him. As we got closer, I recognized the ski jacket...because it was my ski jacket...the one my son was wearing while we were in Switzerland. I yelled down to KR, "Is that DJ?" I knew the answer...despite his affirmative thumbs-up signal. I got to the top of the chair lift and immediately took off in the direction of DJ and the others standing around him. I am not a fast skier. I'd much rather enjoy the view than race down the slope as fast as possible. On that run, I took some chances. As soon as I reached DJ I kicked off my skis and kneeled down over him. Honestly, I thought he had re-injured his 20,000.00 knee. I felt horrible for him. So when I asked what was wrong, I was a bit surprised to find out that it was his head...and his neck that were hurting. The ski patrol was already with him when I arrived and quickly told me they had called for a helicopter...that with head and neck injuries they simply take no chances. Within seconds I could hear the helicopter in the distance flying up the valley to the top of the glacier...not any different than hearing an ambulance with its siren blaring off in the distance. Another minute...and the helicopter was within sight. The ski patrol told me that we would need to protect DJ and ourselves from the flying snow and ice. When the bird arrived, it felt like I was in a very cold sand storm. The tiny pieces of ice and snow pelting our faces, our necks, our hands...it was an uncomfortable 30 seconds. Appearing out of the cloud of snow were two figures dressed in all red wearing helmets and carry first aid equipment. The helicopter flew off so that I could see and hear these men as they began to assess DJ. A few more minutes passed and the doctor approached me and said...from one father to another..."if it were my son, I'd fly him to the University hospital in Bern". He didn't need to say anything else.
The doctor, paramedics, ski patrol and his father helped to put DJ on the back board and hoist him on the ski mobile sled. Because DJ was lying on a fairly steep part of the slope, the helicopter was forced to land about a 100 meters down the run in order to be able to safely load DJ into it. DJ was then whisked down to the waiting bird.
Within the hour DJ was lying in the emergency room at Inselspital in Bern...some two hours by train from Zermatt. Kris and I managed to get on a train...separate trains since Kris was already in Zermatt when DJ got hurt and I still needed to get off the mountain. By 7:00pm or so that evening we were with him when the doctor decided that they wanted to keep him over night for observation. To make a long story...much shorter...DJ received...in no particularly order...a concussion, a broken nose and a very stiff neck. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet or it could have been much worse. He is not allowed to ski or go to classes for a couple of days. He might be skiing by Saturday. He asked me if he could go skating instead for exercise. Aren't they cute when they are this age?
By the way...Air Zermatt is the real deal. I was told by the doctor in Bern that Air Zermatt is so well-respected that they were asked to train the pilots and crews aboard the helicopters that pull people off of Mount Everest. I have included a You Tube link... it's a very cool video.
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