Decided to head up to Leukerbad for a couple of days staying at the Berghotel Wildstrubel which is at the top of GemmiPass. One of the attractions of staying there was that we could take more kit allowing us to do an XC day and a touring day. Also they include the lift pass in the cost of the room which makes it more reasonable.
Had thought that we might enjoy the Spas in Leukerbad first, esp as the weather did not look so great first thing, we even thought of abandoning the whole trip! First challenge, Thursday is a clothed day in the Spa we were thinking of going to and we didn’t have any costumes. So first stop Sion to look for some swimming kit. Mission accomplished and we were driving down the highway and Mike asked if I had my ski jacket? On no, forgot to pick it up! So next stop was the mall at West Sierre to look for a jacket. Fortunately a sale was on and I got a very nice lightweight jacket and some nice thermal bottoms.
After all this time the weather had improved by the time we got to Leukerbad so we headed straight up the mountain and were lucky enough to be able to check into our room where we had an early sandwich lunch. Not being able to delay any further we kitted up with our (narrow) XC kit and had an exhilarating snowplough down from the hotel to the Daubensee lake which is frozen and groomed for hikers and XC skiers in winter. Decided to plough on (excuse the pun) down to the Schmarenbach Hotel (where we stayed a few years back on a ski tour with Rick), we enjoyed a beer and peppermint tea. Met a lovely Swiss lady who strangely enough was working in Japan the same time we were there. The ski back up to the lake was easier done carrying our skies for the most part but we made up for it by doing two circuits of the lake in bitterly cold temperatures. Only did the second loop after fortifying ourselves with some chocolate sitting on a very conveniently placed bench in the sun out of the wind. However, once we skied back down the lake it got very cold again. Very glad to squeeze on to the last lift up to the hotel at 4.00. I then struggled to get warm until dinner, helped by copious amounts of red wine!
The following morning the sun was shining and our planned destination was the Lammeren Hut. However, en route we decided it made better sense to look for some good powder to ski down so we agreed to head up route to the Daubenhorn as far as we wanted and then ski down. Got as far as the Col at 2850 but by then the visibility had deteriorated and the wind picked up so we decided to head down rather than try to achieve the summit. Good decision.
Ski down was challenging but happy with how I managed, esp with the pack on, did 8s against someone else’s tracks which gave me a point to focus on in whiteout and made it fun. Lovely bowl of soup followed by cake at the Hotel before heading back down the hill and home, via the mall.
Was so happy with my thermal bottoms that I said I wanted to stop off to get another pair. Whilst in the mall we noticed the ski helmets were on sale. We had decided to get helmets for piste skiing and this was a perfect opportunity. Even better, when we were checking out a rep came over and gave us 2 ski passes for Crans Montana which was an added bonus. Super couple of days despite thinking initially the weather would put a dampener on everything.