Saas Fee

We spent the days in Saas Fee getting in as much skiing/snowboarding as possible, which was hard considering the freezing temperatures and the fact that the sun seemed to only show on the slopes a couple hours a day. Skiing in Europe is very different and this mountain had many more t-bars than any of us were used to. Since most of the mountains here are glaciers, the danger level is really elevated, at least that's how we felt looking out over all the crevasses. Deanna and I mentioned VAIL many times and realized how spoiled we really were skiing there with family, in college, and the year she lived there. The Swiss Alps are definitely made for competent skiers that are willing to venture off piste (off the trails) to enjoy the powder. We were surprised at how many beginners were there and at times became frustrated by the highway like groomers toward the bottom of the mountain. One thing we really liked about skiing in the Alps was the cool way they printed the lift tickets.  Instead of some paper ticket, that is probably still attached to your jacket from the year before they print your ticket on a cool credit card looking pass and then each time you get on a lift it scans right from your pocket. Very skier friendly!  On our second day in Saas Fee, Deanna took a really bad fall at the top of the mountain.  After about 5 minute of not speaking, we said can you at least give us a thumbs up if you're okay.  The next few days we referred to "the fall" often, and unfortunately she really felt the soreness in her chest.  With the cold temperatures, we had plenty of hot chocolate breaks and the first day (only the first day) Deanna was adventurous and tried bratwurst. She was thinking that a nice grilled sausage on a bun sounded great, until what appeared was very different from what she expected. A boiled sausage covered with onion sauce and french fries didn't quite suffice. I stuck to the goulasch and a salad the next day. I figured letting the visitor be experimental would be enough fun for all of us. Each day after skiing we partook in apres ski, otherwise known as after ski drinks. Just the sights at the bars were entertaining. The best part is when they started playing American songs like "Twist and Shout" and even though no one is speaking English, somehow they know all the words to the songs. It was like a bad wedding in ski clothes. We preferred the italian or german music! At night we tried to hit the less smoky restaurants and sometimes had a hard time getting in without a reservation. We learned quickly, and made a reservation at a great Italian place the last night in Saas called Spaghetteria da Rosso. You get to choose 4 sauces and then they give you bottomless spaghetti...just what you need after a tough day on the slopes. To relax, we also spent time in bars and restaurants playing cards and our favorite game banana grams. If you haven't played it, you definitely should! We left Saas Fee on the 4th to head over to our next ski stop Zermatt. It was a pretty easy drive, about a hour, and the roads were clear since it hadn't snowed since New Year's Eve. We managed to get the car packed tightly for the second time and we were excited for the next adventure...except that the group started getting sick...Allie was first.