Sump To Summit

We left Chesterfield at 5:45 am on a first-class train to London. At St Pancras, we had to go through security to board the Eurostar. Hannah helpfully announced to the security staff, “We have knives,” which, unsurprisingly, got their attention. Despite that, we got through with all our ice axes and mountaineering gear without any issues.

The train to Paris was amazing—so quick—and a second breakfast kept us all in good spirits. Once in Paris, we took the metro to Gare de Lyon, then caught a train to Basel. We only had seven minutes to transfer to our train to Chur, but thanks to a three-minute delay, we missed it. Not a problem—a pint and an hour later, we were on the next one.

When we arrived in Chur, it was a two-minute walk to our accommodation, which, fittingly, had no name. Perfect. We went for dinner at the equally anonymous restaurant before El headed to bed, while H, CJ, BN, and I went for a short walk to stretch our legs. The town was completely dead, until we heard music in the distance. Naturally, we followed it and stumbled upon a full brass band playing outside a church. After a few songs, they all put on masks and marched through the town. We followed them for a while before finally calling it a night—ready for a local ski tour tomorrow.