Change In Plans

Greetings from Chamonix! I arrived here early this afternoon, following an impossibly long trip from Wellington, New Zealand.

My seatmates on each of the two long-haul flights were interesting from a people-watching perspective.

From Sydney to Bangkok I was flanked by two elderly Australian women, traveling together. They both occupied themselves on the first hour of the flight by solving the Sudoku puzzles in the in-flight magazine. After completing these, one of the women pulled out a tall stack of Sudoku puzzles they had clipped neatly from a newspaper. For the entire eight-hour flight, the Sudoku ladies worked away quite happily on puzzle after puzzle. Occasionally, one would take a short nap, then wake up and start working again. They disembarked in Bangkok, starting a vacation perhaps dedicated to less numerative pleasures.

I spent an hour milling around the Bangkok airport before reboarding. My two new seatmates in Row 62 were a Scottish woman slightly older than me, and a young New Zealander man living in London. Although they did not know each other, both seatmates had traveled extensively, and appeared to be kindred spirits in complaining sharply about every conceivable thing on the planet. It was extraordinary to listen to two people spend hours lamenting, deriding, criticizing, and whining about the flight, the food, the airport, London traffic, Bangkok traffic, Thailand generally, people who drink too much, people who don’t drink enough, the economy, the weather (in multiple geographies), the cost of many things, and the general sorry state of the world. The New Zealander completed each complaint with an emphatic, “I mean, what the f@#k???”

They probably talked for three hours of the twelve-hour flight. Amazing stamina. I preferred the Sudoku ladies.

On the other side of me for both legs was an Australian family traveling with three kids, the older two of whom were roughly Zola’s and Tallulah’s age. I was amazed at how well behaved and cheerful all three of the kids were throughout nearly 20 hours in the air. It made me miss my own family.

After a brief layover in London, a transfer to the very spiff new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, and a short (two-hour) backtrack across Europe, I was finally in Geneva.

Two members of our skiing party had also just arrived, and we shared a bus for the hour-long drive up to Chamonix. As we drove up into the Alps, I have to say that I craned my neck up at the high peaks, and felt intimidated.

A group of five of us, plus a guide, are doing the Haute Route. We will be skiing hut to hut from Chamonix to Zermatt over the course of five days. It is about 150 kilometers, some of which is downhill, and a lot of which requires climbing. It is considered one of the pinnacle skiing activities of a lifetime.

Not being a pinnacle skier I am feeling a little daunted. To be fair, at one time I was a reasonably competent downhill skier. Living in South Africa, having young kids, and having a wife who doesn’t like cold-weather vacations I haven’t in the last several years. It will definitely be a challenge.

When we went to pick up our gear yesterday, I started to get a sense of what we are in for.

Skis, boots, and bindings - all of which are designed to perform like downhill skis until you release the heel of the binding, and you can stride and climb. Very cool.

Climbing skins (for uphill traction on the skis), telescoping ski poles, which can be extended for cross-country or shortened for downhill; ski crampons, to maintain traction when climbing on ice.

Boot crampons, if it is too icy to climb on skis; shovel and probing pole to find someone else after an avalanche; radio-beacon necklace, so they can find me after ana avalanche; an ice axe; a helmet; ropes and harnesses and carabiners, oh my.

Despite (or maybe because of) all this gear, it is actually quite safe. The real challenge, I think will be the physical exertion at altitude. There has been a lot of talk of Iron Man triathlons and burning 5,000 calories per day.

We are getting up in an hour to spend the day skiing, and trying out all of the gear. It will be fun today, and almost all downhill. The plan is to do the same tomorrow, and start the trip proper on Monday morning. The first hut is closed, so we will do the first two days of the standard route in one long push. Should be an adventure.

It sounds as though India and the kids, and our friend Ginny, are having fun in Wellington. It is still very strange to not be with them.