Ultimate (also called Ultimate Frisbee)
is a limited-contact team sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby. Players may only move one foot while holding the disc.
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It’s a normal night in the hostel (as normal as it can be living/working at a hostel in the Swiss Alps) and I’m sitting in the office. I’m eavesdropping on a conversation taking place in the kitchen when I hear a girl say that she and her two friends are now traveling around Europe after taking part in the Ultimate World Club Championships in Prague. I’m sorry what? I remember playing that during P.E. in high school but never did it cross my mind that there is a world championship for this sport. That is when this “Guest of the week” idea popped into my head. It’s not fair that I get to meet all these amazing people and hear all the different stories. So I will now share these great meetings and stories with you (hopefully once a week)
Amy Lowe, Emily Smith & Sarah Megyesi are 3 of the 30 players that make up the Mental Toss Flycoons based in Missoula, MT. From July 3-10, 2010 they were in Prague to compete in the World Championships with the rest of their team as well as over 100 other ultimate teams from 36 countries. The Mental Toss Flycoons competed in the Mixed (co-ed) division which consisted of 40 teams. During the tournament they played 11 games with each game lasting approximately 1.5 hours. After a grueling 8 day tournament the ladies and their team finished honorably in third place with the bronze medal.
Amy, Emily & Sarah’s adventure did not end in Prague. They and their rented car covered 1,000′s of kilometers in Europe hitting Leuven, Cannes, Gryon, etc. We were lucky enough to meet these ladies when they found their way to Gryon for a 4 night stay.
Over all other experiences, the best part about working in a hostel is meeting all the people, sharing a glass of wine around the dinner table & hearing their stories. People have such different lives and when you take the time to hear another’s story it can change not only your outlook on life but also maybe even the way you live. We would like to thank Amy, Emily & Sarah for sharing their stories, making us laugh & and being our first guests of the week. You girls rock! Good luck in your fall season and hopefully our paths will cross again in the future!
Professional photos taken by James Fassinger, Still Scenes
I remember the Friday afternoon of Gryon Festival, walking through the town with a few friends and running into the local butcher, a large man with moustache and most often seen with a meat cleaver in hand. Until then, my experience with this man was to order steak, bacon, and horse while chatting in broken understanding, him in English me in French and each of us politely correcting the others pronunciation and grammar. Yet on this summer day, we meet as community members. We talked as best as we could, shared a beer and a laugh, and parted ways as better friends in those few moments than nearly a year of our episodic relationship had made us.
