Easy first day

journal skiing

Location: Mestia

The first day started with a short avalanche rescue refresher: using beacons, digging, that sort of thing. After we finished that, we had a short tour (~900 vertical meters), rode ~350m down, then climbed back up, and skied out.

As far as "easy first day tours" go, this one was nice.

The ski out took us back through the village we had initially walked through. It was fun, but also full of cow shit. And, surprise, also the cows. The cows decided to congregate around our vehicles, which made it difficult to take our skis off and walk the final bit back. Second most cow-shit I’ve ever had to wash off my ski boots after a tour.

cows gather around vehicles as skiers transition

Cows and smiles. Guy on the left is Sandro, our local Georgian guide. He was always having a good time.

I had dinner with Dagmara (poland) and Louis (france), a married couple, and Jakob (usa). We had some good food, but the electricity in the restaurant would cycle off every 20min or so. The restaurant had 4 tables, and felt like I was eating in a small deli somewhere in New Jersey.

I couldn't tell what this was, but I don't remember disliking it.

Post-journal edit:

I’m still in touch with Louis and Dagmara off and on, as they live in Zürich and have a place in Chamonix. I haven’t talked with Jakob since the trip. I imagine I’ll see them all again on a trip with Pawel.