I’m Only Here for the Food, and Other Confessions of a Fair Weather Skier

I’ve been an avid skier my entire life. I grew up in a ski town, raced in high school, and worked on the mountain for years through college, but recently, I’ve become an over-the-top fair weather skier. For this, I blame the over-the-top die-hardness of the American downhill ski culture.

I despise the idea of first and last chair, not taking breaks, and paying horrendous prices that make me feel like I have to get first and last chair and not take breaks just to get my money’s worth, especially in bad weather. This idea of normalcy has taken all the fun out of it for me. It is simply not my cup of tea.

I thought I was off the hook for skiing this year, but my brother flew all the way from the U.S. to travel with me in Europe over Christmas, and he wanted to go. Reluctantly, I added a day of skiing in the Alps to our two-week Eurail adventure. I chose Switzerland, figuring that if I had to ski, I might as well do it somewhere on my bucket list.

To my absolute delight (and the delight of absolutely no one else), the Swiss Alps hadn’t received much snow in recent weeks, and the mountain only had a bit of coverage up top. There was, however, an abundance of sunshine. With good weather and bad snow, I was able to relax into the laid-back European ski culture and discover other truths about what a truly good day of skiing looks like for me. Call me a ski snob if you want, but from this day forward, I’m checking all these boxes, or I’m simply not going:

1. Good weather is a MUST

By good weather, I mean straight up warm and sunny. Maybe I’m spoiled by growing up in the mild Lake Tahoe winters, but, that’s what I like. Christmas in Switzerland was unseasonably warm and sunny this year, and I could not have been more excited about 45 degrees and sun for the days that we spent in Verbier.

2. I refuse to wake up early to ski

Because of the terrible snow conditions, there was zero incentive to get first chair, and this was perfectly acceptable. Instead of racing out the door in the morning, my brother and I had a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, enjoying our coffees while studying French on Duolingo. By the time we rented our gear and boarded the gondola for the top, it was noon. We weren’t sad about this; we already had a great start to our day.

3. I am only here for the food

This is my favorite. In Europe, it is not only acceptable to take lots of breaks throughout the day, it is expected. The resorts are built for it, with chalets and bars and restaurants all over the place. This is brilliant for me, because I always seem to be thinking about the next meal or drink, especially when I’m on skis.

After two runs, we stopped for lunch at an upper mountain chalet which we had to hike a bit to get to. It had a sunny deck full of tables where we enjoyed views of the surrounding Alps, Swiss beers, and Tartiflette (a traditional cheesy potato bake). This lunch stop lasted over an hour: amazing.

4. I want time to enjoy the view

When it comes to views, the Alps certainly do not disappoint. We skied at Verbier, in the Valais region of Switzerland, which is home to the 4 Vallées, connecting the ski areas of Verbier, Bruson, La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, and Thyon. With six resorts, including a 3330 m peak (Mont Fort – nearly 11,000 ft), there was definitely enough eye candy to keep us entertained. From the top of Mont Fort, we could see the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, and the rest of the highest peaks in the Alps to the end of the horizon.

Rather than rushing off the chair to get down the hill, we took our time, and so did everyone else. People were stopped everywhere taking photos and simply enjoying being present where they were. The sun and the mountains stole the show. I could feel them embracing us, and we embraced them back, lingering, utterly content to be in the midst of it all.

5. Aprés-ski culture is brilliant

The ironic part about this day is that we did, in fact, get last chair. Not because we were lapping the slopes so much that we were racing the clock, but because we had taken our time enjoying the beauties of the day, right up to closing time.

This was a moment for me. The fact that I was still smiling, beaming even, at last chair, is an anomaly in itself, which proves the brilliance of the day we had playing atop the Alps.

In attempt to make the moment last, we let Last Chair take us back to a lodge with an aprés-ski celebration. The sun was setting over the mountains across the way, the last of the day’s paragliders were taking off right below us, and there was Swiss beer on tap. Instead of rushing to end what had been a relaxing day on the mountain, we slowly sipped our beers, recapped our favorite moments from the day, and took in our foreign surroundings.

It was the perfect finishing touch to a beautiful day of… oh yeah, skiing. I guess it is still possible, even for a fair weather skier like me.

Thanks to Verbier and Valais Promotion for the 4 Vallées tickets, and Eurail for the train passes that got us there. All opinions are my own.