Season's greetings

Christmas and New Year have been and gone, and all evidence has been covered by the recent snow fall. The Val d'Anniviers' population exploded during the festive weeks as people rolled in to ski and take part in the events. A Christmas market wound its way through Grimentz old village while young circus stars twirled on wires above the street or juggled their way between the stalls. Santa, arriving by paraglider, kicked off the festivities which continued in all the villages with more carols, nativities, fireworks, skiing by the light of the moon, and paragliding down at night with flares - spectacular, though you wouldn't want to set fire to your canopy.

One of the biggest events was the Guggen open air concert with bands competing against each other, going crazy under the stars. Music, wild costumes, 35 meters of bar and fireworks combined to keep most of Zinal awake well into the small hours.

With the Christmas break and lots of snow we had to get out to ski but the start of the New Year got us knuckling down to some more renovations and the filling of our first skip. Work has finally really begun...