Snowless Davos

Davos, Switzerland could be a winter wonderland. Nestled in the Swiss alps, the town is surrounded by tall mountains. Christmas lights decorate the downtown section of the alpine village. It’s perfect for winter sport with ski lifts on all the mountains, Nordic trails running up and down the valley, an abundance of outdoor ice rinks, and Nordic walkers galore. The only thing missing right now is the white stuff for which Davos is famous. There is some snow on the peaks of the highest mountains around but that’s about it. The rest of the valley is completely dry and brown. Luckily there is a week and a half before the town is scheduled to host a World Cup weekend as there is little skiing to be found. There are two separate manmade loops of skiing in town. One is about 1.4km and the other one is about half that but growing by the day.

We arrived in Davos on Monday night. Some of the team went skiing in town yesterday morning but I had a day off which was relaxing to a level that was almost luxorious. I definitely felt like I was on vacation! I slept in and woke up to natural light pouring in through my window something that hadn’t happened since I was at home in Vermont! Then I enjoyed a delicious breakfast spent sampling many varieties of Swiss cheeses, breads, jams, and bircher muesli which is muesli mixed with yogurt, fruit, and juice and left to sit overnight. It sounds kind of gross and looks even more disgusting but tasted really good. The highlight of my morning, though, was definitely drinking lots of strong coffee! I couldn’t keep up with Kris Freeman who quickly put down six shots of espresso as well as some regular coffee but I still enjoyed the buzz. Our hotel is on top of a pass outside of town and has a bus stop and train stop outside the door, providing fast and easy transport down into town throughout the day so we had a fun afternoon exploring town, drinking more coffee, and practicing our snow dances in the sun.