Andermatt pain & pleasure

There's some serious off-piste here, which is good as there's no piste to speak of... The average level of ability here seems higher than many other places we've skied, bar possibly Riksgransen. The nu-skool skis are everywhere - wide as barn door, and rockered at both tip and tail. How do I convince Sarah that I need a new pair? This place consists of a massive, north-facing natural bowl, almost like in Fernie. A single gondola lets you access it, in addition to two token pisted runs back down that few people bother with. There are very few skiers here during the week, meaning that the place doesn't seem to get tracked out very quickly. The last significant snow fall was Tuesday night, and there is still plenty of tracks to be had. On Tuesday we dropped off the back of the top station after the random Swedish boarder (aka Martin, like Sarah also here as he was made redundant) advised that it would be fine on skis, but the exit a tad on the flat side on a board. The top looked too alluring, with untouched powder and clear blue skies. And the top was as good as it looked, but.. the exit was rather flat on skis, too. At least we could release our boot heels, which we were more than thankful for after an hour and a half's worth of poling. We met a band of Norwegians en-route, and two of them had piste bindings. They did not have such a fun day out, cursing their pals with telemarks. The scenery was breathtaking, and some very inviting skinning tracks led up the faces on the opposite side. Yesterday, Martin took us down the Geissberg in poor visibility, as the top gondola was out of action for a few hours. Steep, cut up and bush-lined, it was certainly a challenge. Kudos to Martin for doing it on a board. Later on the weather cleared, and we had the first ace condition access to the main powder bowl. We finished the day down Felsental which is an awesome run back to the village, and eventually we found a place where we could get a gluewein. The village is mercifully free of bars, cool hangouts and apres-ski places. Perhaps this is why there are no Brits here?

All this powder has taken its toll, and the word of the day is 'pain', or in my case possibly 'old age'. Should have gone to the gym more. Hopefully, after a few more weeks of this it subsides. In the mean time, we've retired to the sofa to recover for the afternoon.