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Posts Tagged ‘sports’

Spring is On Its Way and Biking is Underway

28 Mar

This weekend I met a friend to go on a mountain bike ride.  Riding with the Swiss can be a challenge.  They seem to have superhuman biking stamina.  I am not sure where that comes from.  I made the trip up a few local hills and through some valleys and was dead tired after the 2 hour ride.  The one nice part of any ride with a good Swiss is that is always ends a local farm house restaurant with a stop for a proper post ride beer or panache depending on what time it is.

So far despite my loads of traveling lately I have managed to get in longer rides in each of the last two weekends.  I am feeling pretty good about that.  Hopefully I can keep it up for the next couple of weeks.

This weekend we spent some time on top of Rotberg, a local hill that has a kiddie ski hill in the winter.

 
 

The Christmas Tree Is Up

09 Dec

Sled Under The Christmas Tree

Keeping with tradition our Christmas tree was up early this year.  We have become accustomed to getting out the decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving.  This year was no exception.

On the weekend we put up the tree there was also a photography conference in Baden.  On my way out the door to the conference I noticed that the flea market was going on just outside our door so I decided to make a quick loop of the stands.

This was the first time in months that I was lucky and found something I had been looking for.  It was a beautifully well worn Davos sled.  I got the deal of the century on the sled (20 CHF) and ran back to the apartment with it before heading back out to the photography conference.

Of course when I returned home with my new prized possession my wife was a bit surprised that I had returned from the conference so quickly.  She was even more surprised by the fact that I was bringing in some old piece of junk.  I convinced her that it would make a great seasonal decoration.

Now the sled is sitting proudly under our Christmas tree.  I of course think it’s a great addition. But sometimes I think I sense my wife rolling her eyes behind my back.

 

Why Not Get A Subscription to the SHJ Newspaper?

18 Oct

I have found the perfect Christmas gift for any expat, german speaking, culture vulture. Why not get your dear friends and family members a subscription the the SHJ-Zeitschrift. And was is that you ask!?

Well how else are you going to keep up on the latest Schwingen stats, or Hornuss league standings, or who has the best Jodel club in the land of cheese.

Even if you can’t read German the pictures on the SHJ website are great.

How did I come across such a great website?  It is almost to embarrassing to admit.  So maybe I won’t admit right now.  But I might let you in on my secret in a couple of weeks.  Keep coming back and maybe I’ll share the story.

 

Schwingen Week – Photo Blog

16 Sep

Schwingen in Stoos

Schwingen is one of my favorite swiss sports.  It is a great spectator sport not just for the sport itself but also for the people watching.  The crowds are really a cross section of rural swiss life.

A few months back I went to the Stoos schwingfest with a few photographer friends of mine.  This week my friend Wojciech has a Schwingen week theme on his photoblog.  Check it out for some great action shots of men in diapers.

 

Hornussen in Fraunfeld

25 Aug

Hitting The Nouss From The Block

Last weekend we made a trip to the Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älperfest with the main intent of taking in some Hornussen.  From the looks of it the sport is some sort of combination of golf and baseball without the base running.

In a nutshell a guy hits what looks like a black golf ball with a fishing pole with a block of wood on the end of  it off a metal tee.  The other team in the field has to hit the golfball out of the air with what look like shovels.  They team in the field are allowed to even throw the shovels.  If the golfball lands in the playing field without being knocked out of the air points are scored.

Attacking the Nousse With Flying Shovels

Each team has 18 players and when a team is at bat, each batter gets to hit two balls.  The sport is played in four quarters with 1 team taking a turn to bat in each of the quarters.  Each team essentially gets two chances at the tee.

There is a  nice video explaining the Swiss Farmers Game (Hournuussen) on Youtube in english.

Games can be 3 hours in length.  It is just as faced paced as American baseball.  Meaning unless you are a real fan I could see getting bored after about 15-30 minutes.

Its worth checking out if you are near a match, but for the uninitiated it might not be the best way to spend an afternoon.

 

Stoos Schwingfest

24 Jun
Schwingen and Flag Throwing in Stoos

Schwingen and Flag Throwing in Stoos

A few weekends ago I made a trip to Stoos for an Alpinefest.  The main attraction was of course the Schwingen (Swiss Wrestling) competition.

It was really a last minute decision to attend.  Since my wife was out of town for the weekend I went with a few of the other bachelor husbands who also tend to be as enthusiastic about photography as myself.  Going with friends that are just as passionate about photography is always fun.

Of course we got standing room seats so we could go right next to the Schwingen circle and sit on the grass like paparazzi at a World Cup game.  It was was really the perfect opportunity to practice high speed sports photography.

Although the lighting wasn’t the best in this picture I love that in captured the wrestling (burlap diapers included), the referee wearing his Mutz (traditional black jacket with red trim from folk costume from Canton Bern), and a flag thrower in the background.

There are many more pictures so I’ll be posting more in the coming weeks.

 

Badminton Anyone?

05 May

Badminton in Europe is a tough sport.  It is not for the weak hearted.  In Switzerland you are had pressed to find a racquetball court, but I it seems that at a lot of the larger fitness clubs you will find right next  to the weight room and squash courts, dedicated badminton courts.

If you are moving to Switzerland and want to look the part of a badminton guru the first step is to get yourself the proper foot wear.  There seems to be something about bright red, or bright blue adidas court shoes.

You’ll also need to get your own racket and case.

I went with a group from work last night for a two hour session.  Although I didn’t hurt myself, I am tired as heck today.  It was two hours of hard work, lots of running, jumping, and stretching.  I was really surprised at how good the workout was.

I’m sure the fact that a chance the smash the birdie has hard as you can and it really doesn’t go very far was also a good reason and opportunity to get the stress out of my system.  I had a lot of fun and hope I get a chance to play again.

 
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Winter Sports: Skigibi

07 Feb
Example of a homemade Skigibi

On the most exciting aspects of moving to Switzerland for a kid that grew up in the flat lands of the midwestern United States is the prospect of winter sports. In the words of some British friends, ‘Proper’ skiing as compared to the stuff in Wisconsin and Michigan.

I am by no means very talented in winter sports. I have played a little hockey, and managed to learn to downhill ski. I have even taken up snowshoeing this season. And the sledding here is fantastic! One type of sledding I haven’t had a chance to try yet, and I’m not sure I want to is called Skigibi in Swiss German. It is pronounced something like ‘SHE-gi-be.’

The concept is to take a single ski, screw a seat to in and ride it down the mountain. Sounds crazy. Over the weekend when we were at Rigi I actually saw two people with Skigibis and I just had to take a picture.

A Swiss friend of mine told me that these things were likely invented in the Berner Oberland. She mentioned that she thought they might have even originated from Adelboden. Every year in Adelboden there is a annual skigibi race and it is puported that last year some guy hit 137 kph (85 mph) on his skigibi.

Would you be brave enought to try your luck? What winter sports are you planning to attempt for the first time?

 

Snowshoeing at Rigi

06 Feb
View from Rigi Snowshoe trail

This morning we decided to get up and head to the mountains on the train for an afternoon of snowshoeing. The trip started well with a surprise. The train ride to the top was much less than expected because as of December 13th 2009 you can now use a GA for the Rigi Bahn.

Rigi is one of my favorite views in the summer but we had never been there for the winter season. I was not disappointed by the winter view. The snowshoe trails were marked but a lot of the portions of the trail looked like no one had trekked on them yet. In some places we were cutting the trails ourselves walk from marker pole to makerpole.

After a good 2 and a half hours of hiking we finally fished the number 3 loop and returned to the upper train station at Rigi Kulm. We visited the resturant for a nice big dish of Alpener Maccaroni one of my favorite winter time dishes. After that it was lights out. I feel totally drained this evening. But drained in a good way. I know I will sleep well tonight. For now, I am just fighting to stay up so I don’t go to bed to early.

 
 

Snowshoeing: The Day After

31 Jan
Snowshoe Trail Near Amden/Arvenbuel Switzerland

Yesterday we did a 2 hour snow shoe trek through the alps near Amden Switzerland. The weather looked a little foreboding as we were taking the post bus up to the top of the mountain. The area had just gotten about 8 inches of new snow the previous night, but no worries, the bus had chains on the tires and I am sure the driver was well experienced.

This was the first time I was ever snowshoeing. It is a really great time if you are hiker and want to get out in the snow. The blue trail leaves from Arvenbuel and is a 2 hour loop. As you can imagine the 2 hour loop with me and my camera meant we took a bit longer.

At the end of the trip the group of about 10 of us found a Switzerfamilia feuerstelle to make some fondue. The first 8 to get to the fire pit dug out the fire pit from under about 3 feet of snow and then lite a fire and began about 30 minutes later just in time to enjoy the fondue.

Everyone had carried about bit of the meal on the hike including some wood. I was carrying the 3 package of fondue cheese. So although I was a bit late we could only make 1 batch of cheese at a time in the pot so it worked out well that I was a little delayed.

This morning my legs were killing me. I couldn’t believe how exhausted I felt after truding through the snow. Some parts where I stepped off the trail I found myself waist deep in snow. With all the sore muscles today we made a trip to the Thermal Bath in Baden for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day for the baths. Snow was coming down like crazy while we were outside in the 35 deg celcius (95 F) swimming pool. What a way to end a weekend.

I will be looking for more snowshoe trails for sure. Do you know of any in Switzerland? Leave a comment.