Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Surprise!

I bet when you arrived at this page you were expecting to find nothing new.  Although there's not much new in my life I thought that I'd post a few pics and provide a brief update.

I committed to staying here for at least another year.  I'm ready to leave my current school, but not ready to leave the Alps.  I've had a lot of fun here in the mountains, but there is so much more to be had, and in order to do so I have to continue working here.  My job/school is un-inspiring, but my surroundings keep me going.  We've had a phenomenal ski season, and just when we thought it was Spring, daily snow showers are here.  Although it's too warm in town (1450 meters) the snow up high ( > 2500 meters) continues to accumulate.  My skis were nearly put away, but they're being put to full use again.

A group of us were hoping to tour up Mont Blanc (Europe's highest peak) next weekend, but with all the new snow that we keep getting, the snow conditions there aren't safe.  Kinda glad the weather is not in our favor because I'm definitely not fit enough to make it up on skis.  Some of us are considering trying to go up in June right after the school year finishes.  The weather and snow conditions will be much more stable then.

My friend (co-worker) and I have been brewing our own beer.  So far we've made four batches (two IPAs, a porter and an English ale).  We've given some to friends and people we know at the local bar and ski shop...positive reviews, so we'll keep the brewing going.  It tastes better than anything we can buy here, plus it's cheaper.

Summer plans are in the works.  Since I haven't traveled much during this school year I'm hoping to get to some new places over the summer.  I'll most likely be traveling to Scotland, Croatia, Greece, and Romania.  There will be some brief trips to France and Italy as well.  Other than seeing new places over the summer, my goals are: ride some of the major climbs featured in the Tour de France, climb the Matterhorn, the Eiger, and Mont Blanc (the classic climbs of the Alps), relax, and have fun.

Here are a few pics...

Monaco (going there again in 3 weeks)

 Leysin during a ski day

 A very tasty restaurant in Munich

 Picture taken during the one ride I've managed to go on

 Skiing through a glacier in Zermatt

 The bottom of a glacial descent in Zermatt

 Several of my ski buddies

More skiing