Graechen and Crans Montana 2002 (Brendan West)

Paul Burns and have been ski bobbing for a number of years. Paul is a qualified instructor and I have attained Gold standard (wannabe Instructor). We decided to watch the British team compete in the World Cup Finals in Graechen, Switzerland and mix it with a bit of ski bobbing. The racing started April 4th. We wondered whether there would be enough snow and weren’t disappointed. We met up with the racers on Thursday and Rick Platt kindly brought along 2 Brenter C4’s for us to try out. After arranging ski-passes on Friday we departed for the slopes for a bit of recreational ski-bobbing. The conditions weren’t great, there was enough snow to ski on, but in the morning there was little sun and the piste was rock hard covered with little balls of ice that made skiing extremely noisy. 

We had a great couple of days watching the British racers take part in the World Cup Final. I have never seen so many ski-bikers in my life. The sport definitely is alive and well in Europe! 

I could not believe the speed these guys were going, particularly as the conditions were so difficult. The 1.5 metre jump was spectacular with a few tumbles from the less experienced races.

Paul and I found the Brenter C4’s extremely light and easy to handle which is a real plus, the downside being they are quite bouncy and you have to control the rear spring compression using your legs. This can be quite difficult if you don’t have much strength in your legs. If you are going to buy a C4 I would suggest you opt for C4 with the rubber spring under the seat as this reduces bounce. 

Racer taking 1.5 Metre	Jump Paul Burns on a Brenter C4

The race organisers had arranged a fantastic end of season party that was attended by all the racers and most of the town. The organisers had laid on plenty of entertainment with 3 live bands including a Swiss/Brazilian samba band. A good time had by all. Who said there is no social side to ski bobbing.

On to Crans-Montana, a 2-hour drive from Graechen where we hired skibobs for Alex sport and found the staff in the hire shop extremely helpful (thanks Vladimir). We found a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of the town centre (details on the web site), The pistes were fantastic and most of the ski lifts were operating except the lifts on the lower slopes. The resort went to an altitude of 10,000 ft (I think) so this left us plenty of scope for exploring. There are a multitude of long runs throughout the resort interconnected by a series of short paths that ran through ravines providing a very picturesque setting as we emerged onto a run. During our 2-day stay, the weather was kind to us, sun during the day followed by light snow overnight. There are a wide variety of restaurants in Crans-Montana that suite all budgets, we opted for the traditional Swiss which left us a bit “Cheesed out” after 2 days. All in all, I would recommend a thoroughly recommend a visit.