Ah you haven't lived until your success depends on a small tube of temperamental sticky gu, called Klister! It is pretty amazing, the taffy like substance when applied correctly to your ski, adheres to ice and wet snow, yet lets to glide with ease. The stress begins an hour so so before the race, when you try to apply it to your skis. Too much and the ski doesn't glide, too little and it wears away prematurely during the race. There are different Klisters for different temperature and snow types. This race started in the rock-hard ice in the shade but finished with sun-softened wet snow and I was applying the Klister 'old-school.' Using the hatch of the rental car for a bench, smearing the layers of Klister on with my thumb and keeping the Klister warm and pliable (in my shorts). I made the decision that a Klister iron was too expensive to send to/worth buying in Europe. Can you tell I was stressed?
In the end, after my skis were prepared, I put the tube in my shorts for the race - just in case I needed it. The race started with a blistering pace, 710 skiers going downhill on a narrowing trail is always fun. Every once and a while someone's ski would stop, a result of too much Klister, launching the skier to the ground and taking other skiers with him.
My careful, Klister application was scraped off in the first half of the race when I didn't need it. As the trail started to go up (hills) my skis were no longer sticking. My kicks were useless and my arms were tired from 28 km of double poling. Grrrr, my heart raced as I struggled to grip the trail, wasted energy with each slip. I had to make a decision, either stop to apply more Klister and lose time while applying it or suffer on. I could see the rest of the course in front of me, a 300 meter climb up valley and than a swooping decent to the finish, 12 k left in all. I stopped, grabbed the tube from my shorts while other competitors skied by me. I hastily slobbered some more Klister on to my skis (in a fraction of the time or care it took the first time). I put my skis back on worrying if the layer was too thick and if I would glide. The 'in my shorts Klister' worked like a dream. Now, my kick worked. All the training I did this winter began to pay off. I picked off racers, passed all those who passed me when I reapplied. Faster and faster I kicked, taking another 10 racers. As I crested the hill, I was exhausted, my legs were rubber but Klister was my friend. The decent was fast and fun. I thought of the tour de France video where bikers came in on a corner too fast and volley off the hill. For me, if I volleyed, I would ski off into sharp broken snow, would certainly fall and likely cut myself on the ice... but, I remained on the course. The Klister held for one last hill and sprint to the finish. Ruth cheered me all the way. Only the other racers around me knew what it was like. And then I smiled ... what a race!
Zermatt, is a really expensive place in a really expensive country ($80+ for a ski ticket, fungi pizzas $25). I choose not to ski there this winter. But after visiting last week, I can see why Zermatt and the region deserves all the hype. Even the train ride to Zermatt is epic. The train travels up a steep-sided valley, with towering 4000+ meter peaks in view. However, you don't see the famed Matterhorn until you reach Zermatt (1600m), and the view was simply stunning. I brought my tele-gear and I chose the buy one ride up to Kline Matterhorn, the highest lift access in CH. The last lift was an jaw dropping tram ride. It soared high above a glacier and finished at a station blasted into the side of a shear wall (the small horn in the picture below). The views were amazing (glacier complexes, peaks 3k higher then the valleys, lifts everywhere, etc.). I slapped on my skis and started a ski tour at 3900 meters (well above the top of Mount Baker at home). I reached Briethorn (4164m) a couple hours later, just as the clouds began to roll in. It took me over an hour to ski back to Zermatt, skiing down ~2500 meters in one run. That was plenty. 
