Gstaad

 

This weekend Emilie and I went to the resort town of Gstaad for some skiing and the annual Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, a music festival that takes place in the area. We took a similar trip last year and really enjoyed it, so we decided to come again this year for a second visit.

We made the couple-hour drive Saturday morning and were on the mountain by around 11am. The weather was warm and absolutely beautiful, which made it feel more like Spring skiing despite being early February. Fortunately, the snow held up fairly well.

The relatively warm winter overall, though, had definitely already taken its toll on the snow in the surrounding mountains. As can be seen in the following pictures, it had already completely melted in some areas.

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On Saturday night we went to a concert at the Église de Saanen -- the same venue where we attended the concert last year (several churches in the area serve as venues). The church dates back to 1604 and allows for a very interesting musical experience.

The performance consisted of three pieces: one by Bach, one by Rachmaninov and one by Beethoven. Though all of them were interesting, I enjoyed the pieces by Bach and Beethoven the most. The one by Rachmaninov was a bit harsh for me.

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On Sunday we were again treated to beautiful weather. A light ski jacket was definitely more than sufficient to keep you warm.

 

Such weather probably doesn’t bode well for the balance of the ski season, but for the time being we were willing to take advantage of it.