Swiss O Week is held every 2 years somewhere in Switzerland. The last one was run at the same time as my last WOC in Lausanne, this year it's in Zermatt. It was last held in the shadow of the Matterhorn in 2006 and I had only heard rave reviews so given all the time I have on my hands I was there!
The week consists of 6 races, a sprint followed by 4 longs and a middle I think, or 2 middles and 2 longs. Either way they are about 5-7km with over 250m climb and ridiculously epic views.
Zermatt is considerably bigger than I had anticipated. Not quite sure what I was expecting but there are throngs of people around. A good proportion walk around with packs on their backs, sporty gears and giving off the idea that they are heading into the mountains. The next largest group are courtesy of what must be a very good sales pitch in some Asian country. It is rather amusing watching the big tour groups get off the trains, scurry around grabbing bags and nattering in what sounds like mandarin before being taken off in what they use as cars here (funny mini truck things that are only about a metre wide). They seem to be the proportion that keep the big posh hotels in business. The last lot of tourists are families with little kids going for a few hikes or alternatively people who look like they do not walk up mountains and will be using the gondolas as their main mode of transportation. This particular week however the orienteers are adding to the mix with 5000 people competing in Swiss O Week.
Switzerland is well and truly living up to its reputation of being a pricey place to be, the supermarkets are pretty reasonable but outside those doors it's a tad outrageous. For the week as part of our race deal we have been given passes that get us up every gondola or train that is in the area. I paid 280 CHF for it and had no idea what a good deal I was getting until I spoke to someone on the train. They charge 100 CHF return to get up the main gondola and about 50 CHF for the other ones, it's crazy! That's a one use pass and if you don't get a view of the Matterhorn from up there then tough. As a result of this newfound knowledge I have been getting my money's worth. I've been up the main gondola, which is the highest in Europe at 3883m (higher than Mt Cook!), 3 times and the other 2 main ones twice each. As awesome as this place is if I didn't have my pass I wouldn't be hugely impressed with those prices, it doesn't bear thinking about how expensive a day skiing would be.
The weather so far has been pretty patchy but we've been making the most of the sun and it doesn't matter if it's not the best for the orienteering, you still get out in the mountains. Our first day up the mountains running was an experience. Not only was my body objecting to the altitude (2500m) and this running business, there was also only about 15m visibility at some points when the cloud came in. Made for some interesting orienteering and good compass bearings!
Jula and I splashed out at the posh chocolate shop and purchased 2 midget chocolates each, which while expensive, were incredibly delicious and definitely worth it. I have already pre-planned that I'll use whatever Swiss francs I have left on Sunday to purchase outrageous amounts of chocolate, can't wait! We also splurged on a dinner with Matty and Van to try real Swiss cheese fondue. We got slightly carried away in our ordering excitement and ordered a whole serving each. If people manage to finish those serving sizes I am seriously impressed, we had a cauldron of cheese to share plus Matty had a bonus pot on the side. With a mountain of bread to accompany each our topic of conversation quickly turned to the different 'cheese dreams' we might have after consuming so much of the good stuff.
The races themselves have been relatively uneventful, loving just going out for a run around and a general good time. Now that my body has adjusted to the altitude it's gotten significantly easier to run but I will admit to walking up a fair few hills, or should I say mountains. After each race I've been taking the opportunity of being in a damn cool place to wander back down the mountain on the multitude of tracks. So far I have yet to recruit anyone to join me, funnily enough they just think I'm a tad mental wanting to walk back after a race. But it's all downhill so it's easy!! I would like to be able to say I've been using the time to do some soul searching, really find myself, blah blah blah. Instead I use the wandering hours to day dream and go marmot hunting. So far unsuccessful, and I'm not really hunting them, more like eagerly sneaking up to the corners of the tracks in the hope that I might find one round the corner. Maybe that's why I have yet to find friends to walk back with me. I will find a marmot by the end of the week.
One thing I do love about places like this is people are so in awe of nature. On my wanderings down the hill, despite the pouring rain there are a huge number of people out on the tracks, making the most of being in such a spectacular place. This is probably why I can't find marmots as they're all getting scared off but that's ok if it's because people are too cheap to buy lift passes so have to walk up the hill as I scamper back down. And despite the large Asian tour groups clogging up the trains and gondolas I get a great deal of amusement from their continual 'oooooh' and 'ahhhhh' sound effects as we come round each corner. That and the photos they take, it took me a little while to work out that the people awkwardly squatting were in fact taking photos of the wildflowers. Or the old guy on the train who I don't think could even see the screen and was clacking off photos of the entire train line. Literally the train line, he had the camera at such an odd angle that he was only getting the tracks. Perfect entertainment for me.
I just googled what marmots were, hope you found one they look adorable!!
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