Zermatt, Switzerland

How do you describe in words what it's like to see and touch snow for the first time? Here's some words that came to our minds - soft, white, light, fluffy, cold, silent, powdery, crunchy, slippery, ethereal, white blanket, compacted, hard ice....this covers many of the stages of snow we've seen in the last couple of days.
We flew into Geneva on Monday morning and caught a train to Visp, then another to Zermatt - took about 4 hrs. The weather forecasts which Mase has been following for the last few weeks and especially the last few days forecasted possible snowfall on the Sunday night but otherwise maybe one or two clear days. Our trip is not within the usual ski season times - tho' only a week early - so skiing couldn't be guaranteed. Well as our train took us up into the mountains we saw some very light snowfall commence. When we reached our train connection to take us the last stage we got out into wet light snow which the kids thought was good but it melted as soon as it touched us or the ground. Anyway, on the train to Zermatt the snow began in earnest and when we stopped at one of the stations the kids and I jumped off quickly and grabbed a handful of snow each - wow! We were amazed at the feeling of it - so light, so powdery, so nothing - Jo says it was much softer than she thought...anyway the kids then ate their snow and got a huge mouth freeze when they didn't swallow it immediately - that was a laugh! At every station stop after that we hopped out and grabbed snow and tried to make snowballs - which was harder than we expected - we had to compact it a lot to keep the shape of a ball. During the train ride there was at least 10cm of snowfall and heaps more fell during the afternoon - it was up to Matt's knees that evening and up to Sam's knees the next morning. It was the first major snow for Zermatt this season (apart from 4cm in early Nov) and so we were very fortunate to be here to see it. Driving through the mountains and seeing the snow fall silently and thickly - creating a thick white blanket over everything - cars, houses, trees, fences, wires...the view of the mountains and the pine trees was absolutely beautiful.
Finally with much excitement we arrived at Zermatt - all kitted out in gloves, beanies, rain jackets...with the snow falling. The kids were desperate to have their first snow ball fight but we held them off until the got to the hotel and got them dressed in their snow suits etc - then we went downstairs and it was free for all. Sam quietly made his snow balls and would throw them with silent accuracy, Jo would thrust a few lumps together and throw wildly at whoever was nearby and Matt made snowballs and threw them at our faces at point blank range wherever possible....he was a snow plough for a while, then he lay in the snow but Sam and Jo were a little more concerned about snow up their arms but that didn't last long. Soon they were lying in the snow, digging holes, burying their heads, making snowmen and having a ball. When we put them to bed that night it was with great anticipation and excitement about the next day's skiing lessons and experience.
So now our first day skiing - Tuesday, 1 Dec - the learner's ski area wasn't opened until about 10.30am, so we waited for about at hour and then took the ski train up through the mountain - probably takes 5 minutes to get to the section where the ski area was and I we had to adjust to the air pressure as we gained height. Finally at the top we then had to get our gear organised and then take another ski car down to the actual learner area. Andrei our instructor then showed us some basic skiing tips for the next three hours and the time just flew by.
You can just see all four of us learners in the photo (I'm in all the foreground in black, Matt is going down the slope and Sam and Jo are coming back up the travelator). We were too busy too take many photos and this was the best - hopefully we'll do better tomorrow. The white gusts of snow in the photo are from the snow makers. Anyway, back to the story - Sam and Matt picked up the idea quite quickly but Jo was a bit slower and I was even worse - but eventually we all mastered the learner's slope. Mase having ski-ed before took a refresher course and did pretty well. There were a few stacks - but I'm proud to say my only stack on the learner's slope was when my skiis got stuck on the travellator... At the end of our lesson the instructor took Mase and Sam halfway down a beginner's slope to have a try and they did pretty well - but both had some stacks along the way.
At this point I should say that kitting up to ski is a laborious process and the gear is heavy and cumbersome to carry around..the boots are weighty and you can't walk normally...not something I'd want to do all the time but we all loved our first attempt at skiing.
Matt says his first day was heaps fun! Jo says it was boring because she could only do the learner's slope and couldn't go as fast as she wanted to and Sam says he doesn't know what he thought - but I think he had a great time and picked up some skills really well...and that was our morning.
We had some lunch and then headed back to the slopes for more practice on our own. Mase had ski-ed down a beginner's slope to meet us - it was pretty steep and he had to really control his speed to avoid stacking it.
I felt pretty comfortable on our learner's slope and was keen to try something a little harder - as were the kids. So Mase took Sam up to the top where he'd just ski-ed and they came down together - Sam did pretty well but stacked it once when his speed got a bit too much for him. Then Jo went up and she and Mase slowly made their way down, then Matt with a little more speed. Not to be outdone I then said I'd try it and all the kids clamoured to come down with us. Well from my point of view it was a bit scary and I stacked it three or four times coming down - which means I really need to practice stopping a bit more and remembering which way to turn on the curves - but it was fun and we're all looking forward to tomorrow - God willing.
Just to explain what the snow is like here though (you can ignore this bit if you're bored) - yesterday when it was snowing it was easy to walk and you just had to watch out for harder, compacted snow that was slightly yellower in colour as it was more slippery. There are machines constantly pushing and spraying the snow out of the road and pathways and that makes walking more treacherous. However today, as it hasn't snowed much in the day the roads/paths are even more slippery which brought my downfall literally. I was taking some bags of washing to the laundry and had just stepped out of the hotel and hadn't started thinking about slippery pathways and as I put my shoe on the steps outside, my foot slid out from under me and I landed on my backside - oooh, that hurt...Our hotel room is on the third floor and we usually race up the stairs - but now I can feel my bruised bottom as I run up - I'm expecting to see a massive bruise in the morning.
We're still struggling with wearing the right clothes for this weather - we rugged up far too much for skiing this morning and the kids ended up in singlets and snow suits out on the slope. When we went out this evening Matt and Sam had on short sleeved t-shirts which we told them wasn't suitable. With many complaints Sam got a jumper and Matt a thermal long sleeved shirt. By the time we came back Matt was freezing - hopefully he'll learn to take a jacket..
What else is there to say? This afternoon when we came back from skiing the sky had cleared and the mountains were really majestic - rising up 500 metres or more above the village where we are. Zermatt is 1620 metres above sea level and the Matterhorn glacier is about 3899 metres above - we hope to get up there tomorrow and try an easy slope - we'll be on top of the world. I really feel we're experiencing another whole world of God's making with it's own unique beauty - amazing.
When we woke up this morning the view over the village and up to the mountains was beautiful - smooth snowy blanket untouched by human footstephs - so still and clean, cold (freezing doesn't sound quite so enviable), crisp air - it was a special moment.
We had a Swiss breakfast this morning - rye breads, cheeses, cold meats, eggs, fruit, muesli and cereal - an interesting and welcome change to french breakfasts.