Lauterbrunnen, Bernese Oberland - SWITZERLAND

THURSDAY 18TH FEBRUARY 1999

The charm of church bells ringing announced to us a new day, where another snowy Switzerland dawned upon us. Almost a metre of snow had fallen over the past 10 hours and the van was almost completely covered. In a mad frenzy we prepared for the day and rushed towards the bus-stop to be dismayed to find that the shuttle bus was not running. A large yellow tractor the size of the monsters found near mines was driven haphazardly around the campsite shovelling snow to the side, creating huge walls of snow. Ah Peter who needs to travel to Sweden to find the Ice Hotel!! The receptionist kindly let us know that the resorts were closed except for our favourite quad and t-bar at Murren. Two powder hounds then made their way across the quaint bridge by the river and passed hip deep snow towards the bus stop.

For a good twenty minutes we stood beside the road in the falling snow where flakes were the perfect shapes of stars and the size of fingernails, like something from the depths of your wildest dreams. Fewer people sat in the bus than you can count on your right hand and as the bus pulled away we watched most of the people from the campsite using the poma lift beside the site. I rubbed my hands together with glee for the best powder we'll ever encounter lay moments ahead of us.

The quad chair above Murren took us over our favourite run and we sat there with jaws dropped to the ground watching the skiers and borders move down almost buried under a mountain of snow. Heaven lay on the mountain below and in poor visibility we enjoyed racing down in hip deep powder snow. We were surrounded by trees on both sides and passed the occasional chalet roof and other powder lovers in sheer ecstasy. We must have spent two to three hours doing variations of the same run and even when you skied through others tracks it was like travelling through fresh powder. There was no way to ski out this perfect piece of piste.

We then moved over to the open bowl beside the t-bar to find even deeper drifts of snow running downhill for what seemed like kilometres. In low visibility we braved the sea of snow and in a wink of silence smiled at each other and pushed ourselves over the edge. To get down you had to lean back so far that you were almost lying down and bounced through each turn with the power of a boxer. Of course many memorable stacks occurred here. My favourite was when I powered down the lift line, took a right had turn and ploughed right into the centre of a huge invisible bank of snow. A thousandth of a second seemed like an eternity and the darkness and silence surrounded my entire body. My mouth being filled with snow in a violent flash of movement that nearly broke my leg I risked all to get out. Like a light at the end of the tunnel clean mountain air rushed into my lungs and there I lay stunned and high on an adrenaline rush. The concept of drowning in snow was frightening!!

Dave won the prize for stack of the day when he also sank feet first into the darkness. Within moments he pushed his lips above the snow and took a gulp of air, where from behind crazy Anita came schussing down. Unable to see him I took a turn 10 metres above which flew a wave of snow below and back into that little mouth that lay exposed in the snow. Like something out of a comic he was forced to blow his lips back through the snow. Luckily I saw him from below and raced up to dig him out of the snow, which must of taken a good part of half an hour.

Again we were the last ones left on the slopes and nearing close made our way down the black diamond through the trees. A blanket of late afternoon darkness descended upon us and we savoured our last run in conditions probably never to be repeated for us again! In the lift cabin we stood in soaking wet clothes and enjoyed our last descent into the valley.

After arriving at Lauterbrunnen station we caught the train up the other side of the valley to Wengen. Here we dropped off the rental skis and even received a discount as this side of the mountain was closed and it never occurred to them that we'd been all the way over to Murren. On return to the campsite the temperature wavered around zero and the snow turned into rain. Not leaving us much hope of getting out easily tomorrow! I called my best friend, Jane in Oz to wish her happy birthday and to hear a few stories to make me homesick. Although she's intending to come over in September or October and perhaps she could join us for a tour of Scandinavia. Auf Wiedersehen to another memorable day in Europe!!