Snowboarding Laax

Yesterday Cat and I returned from our week long snowboard trip to Laax.

First we flew to Stuttgart and visited Marion and Bernd in Balingen, where we met up with the other guys who took us by car and van to Laax. The weather on the way looked a bit disappointing, with not much snow until the last corner to Laax.

We were staying at the same hostel as last time, it is the Mountain Hostel Laax. It is situated in the middle of the ski area at the first stop of the cable car. The accommodation and food is basic, but you don't really need much more anyway. This time we had a two bed room, which was a lot nicer than the sharing with four people of last year. The room could have done with more changes of towels or linnen though.

But the main disappointment of the holiday was also related to the Hostel, because there was a very relaxed attitude to property rights. During our stay my iPod Classic 160GB and a Sony digital camera got stolen out of our rooms and a pair of new snowboard boots from the hallway. For the iPod and camera I suspect the cleaners, because they vanished on the day brought new towels and the rooms were locked all the time. The boots got stolen during the night, so it must have been one of the employees or hostel guests, as nobody else can come or go at night time.

But now to the good bits. The weather turned out to be brilliant, the first few days we had non stop snowfall. This meant the visibility was not that good, but the snow was perfect and I discovered how much more I love deep snow and freeriding compared to prepared slopes. During the week there also no queues at the lifts which are perfect conditions for stressless fun. At one day there was also a lot of fog, which reduced the visibility to about 10 meters, but even that was fun.

I used the week to work on my snowboarding and I am a lot quicker now. I also learned turning 360 degrees while riding, riding backwards and 180 while riding slow. Cat also found a little kicker to do small jumps just off the slope. Cat is still quicker than me, but I can always blame the age difference. And I didn't break anything this time - brilliant!

I would love to go boarding again this year, but I am to broke to afford another week. And now I also need to replace the iPod and my own broken Sony camera.

Cat and Rafael have put some pictures on facebook, so check there.

I also managed to read some books while on holiday:

• Unzipped by Courney Weaver - which was not very good, a bit like Sex in the City with more sex and less shoes. I read the German version, which probably made it even worse.
  
• Head First Design Patterns - an illustrated introduction to design patterns, which I borrowed from work. The concept of the book is a bit strange, with lots of pictures and comic style text balloons. But it explains the same patterns as the Gang of Four book and with good Java examples. I certainly learned some stuff.
• The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin- I am not finished with this one, but Darwin was proper adventurer and explorer. It is amazing how much things he saw and how he was able to explain the smallest details of all the plants, animals and humans he saw on his travel.
  
  

Snowboarding in Andorra

Last week Cat had the brilliant idea to go snowboarding in Andorra for the weekend. The snow conditions were just turning right and the Grand Valira snow resort was opening the lifts for the first time this year. So we booked a car, hotel and the ski passes and left for Andorra on Friday evening. To our surprise it was a very quick trip because there was not a single traffic jam.

It took us a while to find the hotel, but it was not far from the El Tarter area. We were staying at the Vall Ski. I have a system of three categories for hotels. The first one are the ones where you feel at home and the atmosphere is more like staying with friends. These are usually small or B&Bs. Another category are the ones where you feel like a king and they provide everything you need without you having to ask, these are usually very expensive. And then there is the third category which is the biggest one and also the one Vall Ski belongs to. In these you feel like being in a hospital. Everything is nice and clean, but the food is horrible and served way too early. You also have to pay extra for everything. The staff was nice though. One evening we went to the restaurant next door with horrible design and menu, which surprised us with very good food by an italien chef.

When we tried to pick up our ski passes on Saturday morning, it turned out that he booking service (from the Grand Valira website) had messed up the booking. Cat spend two hours on the phone to sort it out, but the lady in the call center in Bulgaria was friendly but not helpful. So we ended up buying another set of two day passes. We will be canceling the credit card payment and I hope they will sort it out then.

The weather on the first day was very windy going to snowstorm. Sometimes I lost all sense of speed and direction. In the afternoon it turned even worse, so we had a snack and when we were finished we had the perfect conditions for the rest of the day. Fresh snow and no queueing for the whole day.

Sunday was even better, with more sun and less wind. Overall a perfect weekend for snowboarding and I think I improved my skill a little bit.

Now I am hurting everywhere though. Before we go to Laax in January I will have to spend more time in the gym and on the bicycle to get my fitness level up.