Friday, February 5, 2010
3883 metres and Italy
From the get go, blue skies reigned and the lights on the large mountain map radiated all green - all lifts open. Given that this has been a rare occurrence this week, Jen and I decided to take the cable car/telecabine to the Glacier lookout which I believe is the highest cable car in the world. The line up was a bit overwhelming at first but seemed to move quick enough so we were 'sardined' into the 'cabine' by about 10 AM. At the top of the route they have carved a tunnel through the mountain about 200ms in length and set up a viewing platform above. With time restrictions to catch up with the kids we elected to simply ski back into Switzerland rather than down into Italy and had some of the best runs of the week with patches of soft snow just off piste away from the hordes and hard-packed, icy groomed runs. Once caught up, the boys, Jen and I ventured to the top restaurant called Ice for lunch and had a feast much larger than our stomachs could handle. Bloated but content we got back in line to head up the telecabine to the Glacier and hence, Italy. 40 mins later we were sardined again but once at the top of the viewing platform knew it was all worth it. Climbing the stairs I could noticeably feel my heart pounding heavier and was a bit breathless with the exertion up the steps. The views were phenomenal at 3883 metres and not a cloud in this stratosphere to block horizon. We caught our breath and headed into Italy down run #7 which essentially skirts the side of the mountain giving incredible 360 degree views of the Alps and surrounds. Feeling a bit 'conferenced out' I skipped our evening session on Adult Congenital Heart disease as couldn't see too much relevance to my practice, and took the boys to the pool where we practiced snow angels and hopped back into the hot tub for that lovely burn sensation. Jen and I had the conference dinner in the evening and enjoyed a 5 course meal with a few shots of schnapps to get into a festive cheer. They were apparently flavoured but subtly so - all seemed to be more of a burning flavour and smelt of rubbing alcohol. None of us went blind though but there were some crazy dancers hitting the floor in front of the least animated keyboard/singer I have ever seen. Imagine a white male in a tuxedo singing 'Maniac' with a straight face - it was hilarious! One of the GP attendees(with a few schnapps under her belt) offered us her husband's 40 foot sailboat as she hates sailing (and shook on it) so we may be acquiring another possible way back to Canada....?
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