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Jim Jack's Living History, Switzerland: February 8, 2000 The Hotel Bolgenschanze jimjack@gravityfed.com 
 Hello from THE HOTEL BOLGENSCHANZE. Today the weather is overcast and a bit warm. We are expecting snow
through the next couple of days. Skiing is still very good on the north faces, and the quality is as
creamy as the Cottonwoods. Only three times longer. Our first four days in Davos gave us time to adapt
to our new surroundings and get to know our new friends. Our room is the size of an Alta Lodge em. room
with a bunked and a single. The key is that it has its own sink and a door to our porch that looks down
through the valley. The tram from Jakobshorn Ski Area passes through our view only two short blocks away.
In the mornings we are up by 8am. Breakfast and dinner are included with a nights stay at The Bolgenschanze.
So we are always on time for that. Meals are served family style so there is never boring conversation. It
is raw communication skills at times that get us through our days, but mostly it is pretty easy. Meals are 8am
and 7pm. Just like working at any lodge in Alta, we ski between meals.
The pares ski is huge here and many people on the weekends go only to the top for that. Fortunately for
us the Bolgenschanze is the locals favorite for pares ski. So we don't miss out on much. The place is always filled with happy people and
the big game here consists of sitting around a meter high round of wood. A log basically, standing on end.
We sit around it and each player puts three nails in the log. Just enough to get it started. Then each
player gets as many swings as they have nails. The first person to get all their nails flush wins. I
should say, the last two people to still have nails up buy the shots. We are not that rich so we only
play for two pitchers per round. It sounds very easy except there is only one hammer and it is not your
ordinary hammer. A very skinny head makes it difficult to hit the nail. It is an addicting game that
winds up killing much of our time in the evenings.
We have managed to ski everyday so far and that has been a must, regardless of how late we stayed up banging
nails into wood for beers. Our room sits above the dance floor. We find earplugs help, though we are also
finding that if we just have one more beer and stay up a little longer that the music will stop and we will
be sedated. Nobody gets up too early unless there is powder. When in Davos, do as they do.
The highlight of our skiing so far came yesterday when we hooked up with Dan Kistler and Misha. Dan runs
the Hotel Bolgenschanze and Misha is one of his bartenders. Though to us they are much more than that.
They both ride snowboards and their skills are evident in the first turns that we all take on the north faces
off the back side of Jakobshorn (pronounced Yaw-kubs horn). Untracked, re-crystalized and about the size of
three Flag Staffs top-to-bottom lined up. The turns were what we had been waiting for. A chance to finally
open it up and go forever.
Conditions are variable right now and Avalanche danger is moderate to high. We are experiencing scetchy
pockets that like to settle under your skis and rip to the ground. The bed service from last weeks slides
are good skiing and at times highly recommended for safety purposes. Dan Kistler set a slide off that ripped
to the ground and funneled into the gully below. It kept us alert and we knew to avoid that aspect after
that.
The run eventually takes us to the neighboring valley where we get a cab or a bus and for 5 Francs we can
get back to the hotel with time to do it again.
It is truely beautiful here and the terrain is remarkable. Please keep looking here for more on our stay
in Davos, Switzerland. We have hooked up with Alta and Davos local, Dan Caruso and are planning our trip
into the Alps to check out some hut skiing. We will report in on our return in a few days. Until then..
we wish you all good skiing back home.
JJ, DW, AC |
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