7 Pruning and grass

Many winter sports areas hold a so-called Clean-up Day at the end of the winter season. The idea behind this is to collect and dispose of the winter's waste after the snow has melted. Board Generation took part in Laax, where this event was held for the seventh time, to see how something like this works and who comes to such an event.

Sunday, 6:00 and I have to get up to pick up other people's trash and not to draw my lines into a slope first. In silence I sit and curse the idea for a few seconds, but a hot shower helps, so that I can wake up my children and I'm on my way to Laax to ponder. Once there, the three of us are one Part of hundreds of helpers and grab the prepared lunch, Disposable gloves and waste bag.

Total this year 310 helpers are on site and want to remove the waste of the season, before the flora overgrows everything and the cows get some shit eat. Clean-up Day is so popular that this year you can had to introduce a restriction of participants, because last year the more than 450 helpers pushed the organization to its limits and probably also because just had too many helpers for too little waste...

Since the Summer season starts only one week later, we have the gondola for us. Nevertheless, it is now also really full. Why should it will be different in summer than in winter. At least you couldn't fall over.

The "uncool" in winter are the cool ones from summer

So and Now we gotta talk turkey! Where are all the "cool" boarders and freeskiers who call Laax their second home in winter? Probably all tan their buttocks in Bali or Hawaii and post updates Instagram. Because they didn't show up for the cleanup. Yeah, there were one or two Boarders, but otherwise most of the participants were families or local ski clubs.

This can it's not. If you're gonna produce the dirt, why don't you invest at least one Sunday in the public service to get your shits done to put it away again. That's given me a lot to think about.

Well, maybe many wanted to register at some point and could be restriction of participants, but nevertheless this was very sobering and disappointing.

And now... are the people who take out the trash, not the people who take it out have produced. And no, even if a season ticket is (too) expensive, means not that you can simply dispose of the waste on the slopes. And now... ...I'm gonna take back the moral lobe.

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Coal and cigarettes

After all participants had gathered on the mountain and found their group, the areas of application were explained. Our group was responsible for runway 52 and those who have been to Laax know that there the "little" playground of the boarders and freeskier.

They were not only adults cleaning up, but also many children. After some Minutes you could hear regularly: "Hooray, I found money!" This has then animates the other participants to search the ground even more intensively and so by noon almost all participants had found their few coins. I I guess Reto Gurtner does it on purpose. He strews on the last day in the a few rolls of coins to provide the teams with the necessary motivation and to give. And if not, that would be an idea, wouldn't it, Reto?

I have to also admit that finding money as opposed to collecting hundreds of cigarette butts (no, they don't compost for a long time) was a lot more fun. Back to the cigarette filters again. In Laax there are it even has mobile ashtrays. Then why do you have to put the butts throw? A single dump pollutes about 40 litres of groundwater!

I feel... by the way, also noticed that chewing gum and plasters are completely "as good as new" looked like when I picked them up. It'll be five years before chewing gum is decomposed, in height probably twice as long.

At my place ...we made 2 cents and 7 francs. That doesn't cover At least the cost of petrol is reduced, but this is also done out of idealism. What but what I'm really wondering is why there's so much coin on the track. Apparently many winter sportsmen have the coins in their trouser pockets and forget to close it, and then it happens. Or maybe Reto does...

Finding Qi and other scurrilities

For me Clean-up Day was very special. Since I also went to the Bergen, it was still a completely new experience. Usually I always have a goal in the mountains. That means from A to B like this to get through/climb as fast as possible. On Clean-up Day this restlessness was does not exist. You have chosen your section of the slope and tried imagine the slope in winter on the basis of the topology. Piste is the same Guys, it's a potential drop-off. And that's how you stroll a 20 meter wide sector down the slope and looks most of the time only at the two three meters ahead; ready to find the next anomaly in the pasture and to pick up another piece of trash. I must admit that this is a gave me a rather meditative mood. Thoughts were free, just like after a a few minutes jogging when sometimes I don't even know where I'm going to I ran through. And that's exactly what happened to me here. Plus, it's a place where you can really... does something good for the environment.

Actually I'd like to have found a lost GoPro or a fat wad of bills, but it wasn't. There were hundreds of butts, as I said before, but also many binding parts and even unopened PET bottles with Carbonated. We also found the obligatory key ring. I'm whether it will still be picked up or whether the owner has already has written off.

The but the most bizarre find I've ever made was in my own life. I still have a bag with of the finest vegan tobacco. Sealed airtight. The sweet taste in the odour sample then confirmed the contents. In case anyone is wondering... Contents were then disposed of professionally, of course...

Beam me up Scotty

Since we were still in the off-season, there was also no possibility to use the chairlift back to the top station. However, after we reached the the tasty lunch that the people of Laax had given us. on the loading area of an agricultural vehicle to be returned to the Crap up. For the children this was actually the highlight of the whole Day. After about 4 hours the cleaning up was finished and the time passed in Flights.

Anyway, the cleanup crews were very efficient and hundreds of pounds of waste together. This was collected in a trough next to the mountain station, in the the following days, then professionally separated and disposed of.

To At the end of the event, all participants were offered a sausage and a Drink. After that, people headed home to have the rest of Sundays with a good feeling to enjoy. Oh yes, a day ticket for the coming winter all participants have also received