Bettmeralp

a sled replaces a trailer in Bettmeralp.  a snowboard or a pair of skis replaces a car.  and the food you eat replaces petrol.  in this carless town a suitcase can be your worst nightmare.  but if you take that one little obstacle out of the way, this is a dream come true.  strap on your snowboard to access your local grocer, unstrap your board and shop but try to not overdo it since you will have to carry everything you buy back through possibly very thick snow.  

an essential part of the daily activities involve preparing the fresh fallen snow outside the chalet
 - to replace the use of the good old fridgidaire keeping all drinks cold
-  to act as elevated boardwalk avoiding the snow-in scenario
-  singing a song that comes to mind, one suggestion being: everyday i'm shuffeling.

Some people take shuffeling to the next level, but this is not advised unless you are truly an experienced shuffeler.

one of the best things of spending new years in a resort, is you have the mountain to yourself on the 1st of January if you are able to get an early start. 

Snow to sea

Blue can often have a stronger attractive power than white.  When the sun is out and the sky is clear and the heat is a dominating factor of the day, the chances are that my mind wonders away from the thought of putting on baggy pants and a thick jacket to make lines with my board in fresh powder.  In days like these paddling out into refreshing cold salt water is taking my mind away from going up a snowy mountain face.  But as soon as the sun rays start to loose their force, and hoodies appear from the back of the cupboard, then my mind wanders back to the magical snowy wonderland - the Alps. 

awesome trailer

http://vimeo.com/25364836

chamonix



 this is your life.  do what you love



 snowboard       love  travel   take photos   
SmiLe               

             learn a new language


 

push your limits


  if you don't like your job...quit

             
open your heart to new things and people.

                                                     travel often !
BreAk the RuLeS




  LIFE ON EARTH is SHORT


                      TRUST..

...Live your dream

 
treasure your friends!
laugh!

except yourself for who you are
.............You ARE a MASTERPIECE

           DREAM.
                                    don't give up

living in the moment

living in the moment makes blogging difficult.  snowboarding chamonix 2011 is now only a memory.. photos take you back there, but the moment has passed.  it was amazingly awesome.

we made new friends, we conquered new mountains, we got fresh snow on our heads, and powder under our boards, we got to know a new village, we went up the highest point in europe (aguille di midi - mont blanc), we carved lines on les houches, le grande montets, le brevent, flegere, le tour, we ate french bread - made in france, we flew airplanes, we slept in a chalet with weird wallpaper, nous parlons francais, we had hot choclate in the snow, we tried to demolish an ice cave :), we went out to town in our skipants...we lived and we loved it!

feeling alive

so this blogging thing hasn't really been working out for me. don't know what i was thinking and where i thought i would get the time to sit at a computer, with mountains, snow, friends and a 9 day lift pass?  priorities change in this picture and computers don't fit in that frame.  now that we are in geneva, away from the slopes, i can actually get myself to sit in front of a computer.  but putting an outdoor adventure experience into words on a computer is not that easy.  maybe it will come to me later, but right now i am still trying to soak it all up.

snowboard history

In 1964 the first snowboard was made by a surfer, Poppen, who wanted to surf the snow. His first attempt was to bolt two kids ski's together.  Later he created the "snurfer", which was seen as an uncontrollable toy. 
In 1970 the first snowboard was created by Milovich, following the design of short surfboards.  He started the first snowboard company, called "Winterstick".  This company went bankrupt in 1980. 
Jake Burton Carpenter, a young student, kept developing the snurfer. From these modest origins, he started Burton Snowboard Inc. in 1977, at a young age of 23.  This company has since developed into a flourishing enterprise.

The first snowboard contest was held in 1981. Until 1985 snowboarders were still banned from most resort, and if they wanted to go down the runs, they had to sneak in at night and walk up the slopes secretly.
In 1987 the first European Snowboard World Championship was held in Livigno and St.Moritz and a new sport was born!  The rest is history ........