Snowboarding in Europe: An American Perspective 

By Nichole Braucksieker

Coming from Southern California, my vision of the Alps was a bit tainted.  I had always envisioned pristine, powder-capped mountains, with quaint villages nestled in snow-bound valleys.  Some of my experiences confirmed these images, and yet, some of these images were obliterated by other locations.  The resorts I visited are listed chronologically.

For my first outing, I organized a trip to Zermatt, Switzerland, mainly because it was the best option open in the "Early" season.  So, the last weekend in November I left Paris for Zermatt for opening weekend. [Opening weekend for non-glacier boarding, that is.]   In order to get there, 12 hours of train riding were necessary.  Complete, with a stop in Visp, Switzerland, which makes or breaks your journey.  After about 10 hours of trains, we arrived in Visp, only to discover that the last trains to the mountain were no longer going to be able to travel to Zermatt, due to snowfall.  Dismayed, I checked into a local hotel, in what, it turns out, is a one-horse town.  I got up at the crack of dawn the next morning, and took the first operating train up the mountain.  Our arrival in Zermatt was picturesque with the Matterhorn looming over the quaint European, car-less, village. 

While we were in Zermatt, the only way to access snowboarding involved taking a gondola-ride up, and then a chair lift from there. [Mainly because they had received so much snow that they had not yet had time to prepare the runs.] After all of this travelling, good snow was required-and it was received! The powder was light, and perfect.  The first day we were in Zermatt, the runs were almost empty, so we enjoyed a powder-filled, people-free day of riding.  There were no lift lines, and the runs were incredible.  According to my companions the rating system seemed a little harsh.  They felt that what were indicated intermediate runs would be black diamond at home.   

 The second resort I visited is one of the Trois Vall¾es, [The Three Valleys] in Haute Savoie in France.  The resort is called Val Thorens, and is a part of the largest network of resorts in Europe [they say Universe].  It is also the highest resort/village in Europe.  Reaching this resort required nearly as long of a train ride as did Zermatt.  While there, there was a large [wind] storm, and thus, the riding wasn't as good as it could have been.  However, even during the storm, I was able to locate small valleys, which were perfect for riding and being protected.  There were large throngs of people, though, and it made for some crowded runs.  My recommendations for riding at Val Thorens would be to go on a non-weekend, not during the school holidays [students get 1-2 weeks off in February and April!] The village was interesting, particularly the underground bar [which actually sits underneath a slope!] in the center of the village. 

The final day at the resort, the skies were clear, and I took advantage of riding all over.  The snow was decent, but there were several patches of ice [the first weekend of the season].  On the East side of the resort, the riding was less cramped and the snow quality was better. 

Like Zermatt, during the regular, non-early, season there is supposed to be a snowboard park.  It was not yet built when I was there.     

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