It has been a funny old day. This morning at 8.00am the temperature on the balcony was over six degrees. It was grey, almost black and we had the lights on during breakfast. On the mountain an hour later, it was equally dark. The electronic piste board at the top of the cable car seemed as bright as a street light.
The strangest thing was that the visibility for skiing was excellent. The wind from the south had been blowing and maybe the African sand it brought with it added definition to the slopes.
The skiing was pretty good in the morning, but after a brief lunch stop, Mannlichen had turned into a sticky mass masquerading as a ski mountain. I went over to Scheidegg hoping for better conditions there, but the wind was blowing strongly still and only the Arven lift was open. The snow was marginally better, but we are talking about the difference between evostick and super glue.
A difficult day brought 7,194 vertical metres in 17 lift rides and 46 kilometres travelled. A better day is forecast for tomorrow. Here’s hoping.
Idle thoughts from a mountain 