Best Day Ever?

Well, that’s hard to qualify, but today was pretty much all-time. As far as ski days go, conservatively, top 20 – but with a better memory, possibly top 10.

We arrived in Andermatt yesterday and checked in with Dan, owner of Birdos skis here in town – friend of a friend of a friend of a… He marked up a map for us, tons of great places to check out. All looked good, but in my mind it wasn’t nearly as rad as reality, given we arrived in a complete whiteout. Turns out, this place is just sick. So sick that I don’t even want to blog about Andermatt. It’s like a secret little surf spot that you don’t want to share. Stop reading now...

Aron & I got up the tram in super socked in, shitty visibility and initially I was not expecting much out of the day. But the stars aligned and a crew of Cali guys noticed a sticker and ski strap on my gear and chatted us up. "Dude, are you a Tahoe bro?," said they. Meeting these types of people abroad is always fun, but you just never know if ability and objectives will line up. These guys were not only super nice, but just ripping skiers who are on their third, consecutive annual  trip to the area. They were nice enough to let us follow them for a run, then another, then the day. They had the place pretty dialed and knew were to find the goods. Snow quality was a surprise to us all. It may have just been a dusting at the base of 4,700’, but was a solid foot or so up in the zone at 9,700’. Snow quality was all time, and terrain was all time-er.

Steep chute’s, blower pow, and great people. In addition to the Cali crew, we were lucky enough to hook up with a group of Sweeds that we met at our first bar night out in Engelberg. These guys could ski, and knew the area well. It was a day of sharing epic runs with good folks, high fives, huge smiles, and ultimately bro hugs. The day was punctuated by a 4,500’ decent off the back of the resort – skiing to beers in the amazing village of Andermatt. I even scared myself today – just an epic time.

Best day ever? Who knows. But it was definitely a high point of this trip, and season, and likely a memorable experience for both Boz and myself (Boz confirms).

Special thanks to the Cali crew (Kurt, Danny, Brad & Ben) as well as the Sweeds (Klas, Bjorn and dudes) – epic day all around.

Looking forward to another day in Andermatt.

Walk to Gemsstock Tram in the AM – excited but expectations are not super high

Tram to where? – Vis is not ideal

Happy campers

Suns out guns out – weather broke and the crew heads for the back side

Final gear check before the descent

The third arm of a gnarly approach

A Boz-eyed view – definitely looks good from there, Boz

I didn't cross a single track – fired up

Boz absolutely laying it down heading into the 1,000' couloir on the 4,500' backside run

A bit of a haul out from the backside, but town appears below

Mandatory, celebratory beers

Cali crew (Kurt, Danny, Brad, Ben) with Boz 

Even the views from the bar are all time