Christmas and New Year 2011

Christmas 2011

Spluegen for Christmas

The battle to reach 22nd December (our last day at work) was won and finally we were on holiday. For some time we had been worried about the apparent lack of snow in Spluegen (and in Switzerland generally), but our fears were unfounded as a week before we arrived there was massive snow fall.....sadly all the ski runs would be shut on our arrival due to avalanche risk.

Nevertheless we made good use of our time.

23rd December 2011

Our room at Hotel Bodenhaus

Spluegen Day 1 and still snowing

Afternoon ramble down by the river Hinterhein

Say cheeese... but freeeze would do too ...

As cold as it looks

Wood store or work of art?

Splugen church with festive covering

Surely, this is impossible....

Once a post house and our digs for a few days. Beautiful inside too.
Hotel Bodenhaus

 24th December 2011

With the threat of sunshine and the end of the snow fall it was with a sense of trepidation that we checked if the slopes were open....They weren't....But, the cross country skiing routes in the valley were open, so we went a did that instead :-)

Good Morning Graubuenden

Cross country skiing is great fun and here's Meike having great fun...Its also very hard work

Highway A13. Despite all the snow, still open for business...
Oh and Meike skimming along on her cross country skis

The wing nut cometh. There is a machine that combs the route every day and puts down these grooves. Handy. What we were doing was traditional cross crountry skiing but there's also skating cross country skiing and those guys use the rest of the piste.

25th December 2011

Christmas day finally saw the skies clearing and the lifts open. Brilliant.

And having had the foresight to pre-hire the skis it was a quick breakfast and then off to the cable car.

Smile if you are having a good Christmas day :-)

Another busy day then....but it really was very windy and more than a little cold on the face

:-)

At the top.

Meike on the T bar lift

Boxing Day, and more of the same :-)

And the other big runs are open today too.

How to stay warm on a chair lift....Wear everything you own :-)