Halleluiah!!!! Finally a ski trip with sunny weather every single day. The locals told us they also had the best snow in four years. Our hotel was great, we were located strategically close to the train station, the FSC party was very nice, Zermatt was good, many of us conquered Piz Gloria, the price of goods in Interlaken was very reasonable and ATMs were easily accessible. We had a few digestive systems that had to be adjusted to the local area but all in all everyone’s health was good. A few people complained of headaches after going to the Top of Europe and Piz Gloria but nothing major. No one got hurt skiing but a few had some old knee injuries remind them they weren’t as young as they used to be. Our three out of seven ski passes turned out to be just what we needed to go anywhere and ski anywhere with just the ski pass.

Interlaken’s train station was located just 10 minutes from the Royal St. Georges. Most people preferred the trains to the FSC bus. The train took a little longer but went places the FSC bus did not. With a few pointers, the trains were extremely easy to use and were a lot of fun. Most people walked to the train station in their boots. Boot Cat Tracks were a big help for this and saved wear and tear on ones boots. Add Cat Tracks to your list of ski needs.

We had basically four areas to ski: First, Mannlichen, Kleine Scheidegg and Schilthorn. First was the easiest and Schilthorn the most difficult. Almost everyone skied all four locations. We all were tricked (another story another day) into skiing First on our first day. First actually was a good place to ski on the first day and all survived. We also discovered a world of “NO MOGULS”. This may have disappointed some people but I found it delightful. The snow in Interlaken is a little crusty in the morning but softens up nicely as the day goes on. However it never got too soft to where the skiers created piles of snow or moguls. The longer you skied on the snow and the more people skiing on it, the better the snow got. Amazing!!! The crusty snow in the early hours put most of us on our behinds a couple of times but we adjusted quickly.

The FSC luncheon was held at Mannlichen. I only skied a few runs at Mannlichen but found them very nice as I like cruising runs. Mannlichen appeared to have runs to suite almost anyone. The FSC luncheon had good food, was easy to attend and no one seemed to mind how long you stayed. Lou loved Mannlichen and I though maybe we were going to have to leave him there. However Lou hadn’t discovered Schilthorn yet.

Schilthorn has the revolving restaurant on top, Piz Gloria. This was a must see place and our ski pass got us to the restaurant with no extra cost. Schilthorn also called the Magic Mountain was where the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was filmed. A group of us ate lunch there and enjoyed the beautiful view. Somehow Lou talked Saray and myself to ski down from the restaurant. My first thoughts after looking over the crest of the starting place which looked about 200 yards almost straight down was the vision of my body tumbling down the hill with pieces and parts and equipment flying in all directions. However, again we survived and actually enjoyed skiing most of the mountain. Thanks Lou, I think!!!

Contrary to our perceptions of getting lost on ill marked trails, we found just the opposite. All the trails we skied were well marked and had colored poles along the trail edge indicating the difficulty of the trail. Sometimes we didn’t agree with their assessment of the difficulty but the trails were well marked. Our visions of being dragged up the mountain on “T” bars and puma lifts was again incorrect. You could ski all you wanted on those good old quad and dual lift chairs we are so accustomed to. Most of the time they were also easy on and easy off. My biggest complaint is they didn’t always put the name of the Lift on the Lift. Sometimes this left some question as to where you actually were.

Did we have ski in and ski out? Not exactly. Our day would start at 7 AM for breakfast and 8 AM heading for the train station. It usually took 2 hours to get to the first ski lift. However this was not a problem as the trains/bus’s were full of people to talk to and the outdoor scenes were indescribably breath taking. Most days we got back to the hotel at 6:30 PM just in time for our 7 PM dinner. Somehow this all seemed wonderful and we would just talk about the great time we had that day. This did cut into our browsing Interlaken during the day but we managed to do that also.

The Royal St. Georges, our hotel, was extremely accommodating and helpful. Their staff was superb and I was concerned some of our women might try (well maybe they did try) to lure some of the staff back to the states. The rooms ranged from spaciously grand too fairly small but adequate. All rooms were very clean and well maintained. We had breakfast and dinner at the Royal St. Georges. These meals were basically buffet style where you could have seconds. Breakfast had the best variety of food and you could (I didn’t say this) make yourself a sandwich for a snack on the mountain. Dinner was available vegetarian style or the evenings buffet. I would rate the dinners as 4 star but not 5. Someone forgot to bring the trip evaluation forms and the hotel typed up the form and printed them for me no charge. The hotel gave us a last night special Meat Fondue dinner and wonderful chocolate sundae desert, which were at least 5 stars. Please do not tell the non-extension group of this as they may seek retribution. Thanks go out to the Royal St. Georges for their wonderful hotel and staff.

Your trip leaders, Bruce & Joan