tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19826229394992637062024-03-18T20:37:19.175-07:00SkiZinalUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-12173206840724572162017-10-21T00:12:00.000-07:002017-10-21T00:15:06.188-07:00Domodossola - just a train ride away
Domodossola
Just an hour's train ride from Sierre and you're in Italy and the beautiful historic town of Domodossola. The old town dates back to the C14th and wandering around you'll definitley come into the Piazza Mercato - an irregular shaped square surrounded by elegant medieval town houses with beautiful balconies and loggias.
Wander the medieval street and churches
Domodossola has Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-1573569655817148962017-06-26T11:55:00.000-07:002017-07-13T03:07:58.692-07:00Vallon de Rechy - downhill (nearly) all the way
Alpenrose in bloom as we descend from the Cret
Views of La Maya at the head of the valley
The gondolas in Vercorin started their summer timetable last weekend. With the current heatwave the 1000m ride up to the top of the Cret de Midi at 2330m meant the air was a lot cooler and we reached the start of one of the area's more gentle mountain walks and prettiest ways into the Rechy valley &Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-27127242463899521202017-04-06T05:39:00.000-07:002017-07-13T03:09:13.084-07:00Ahead of the game
Frogs have already laid their eggs in the ponds in Zinal
Spring has definitely arrived early this year. The swallows and martins flew in at least 3 weeks ago and up in Zinal the frogs have filled the little pond with spawn, the willows are in full flower and the Plats de la Lee has virtually no snow on it
Pussy willow in full flower
It's been about 4 weeks since we were last able to &Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-16556887056634898972017-03-17T06:55:00.000-07:002017-07-02T02:01:50.328-07:00One fine day
It's been a week of blue sky and warm spring weather but the forecast says it's changing at the weekend. So today we headed up to the Cabane d'Arpitettaz for lunch out on the terrace. After a 1200m climb a cheese sandwich never tasted so good. The view up to the glacier is amazing, as was the spring snow we found on the ski back down. PK
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-57508065249626645852017-02-28T02:35:00.000-08:002017-07-02T02:02:24.777-07:00Where the river runs through
The gorge at the end of the 'Plats'
The southern end of the 'Plats' flood plain is blocked by a wall of rock -while the footpath climbs up and over, the Navisence river has cut down through it, forming a narrow gorge. This steep gorge is impassable in summer due to high water levels, but at this time of year you can climb across the exposed boulders and work your way up gorge. It's a wild Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-39534750020460274582017-01-11T06:42:00.000-08:002017-03-04T02:47:13.184-08:00Tele-marking time
You don't need much snow to have knee deep powder.
After some promising snow in November, we had virtually nothing in December. In fact, it was the third driest month recorded in the last 150 years, and the level 4 hazard was for fire not avalanche. However, there was enough cold for the resort to make snow and so, as we waited for the season to really begin, we took up our telemark skis and Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-31215101666496096272016-11-30T06:24:00.000-08:002016-12-01T06:43:46.117-08:00Besso
View from the kitchen sink
From our kitchen window we get a fabulous view of the steep, rocky, NW face of the Besso - this evening it had a rosy alpenglow, against a clear sky scattered with a few early stars. At 3667m it's not the highest mountain in the valley, but it's perhaps the most distinctive. The two peaks gave it its name - 'Besso' meaning double or twin in the old local Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-51461100024359596362016-10-14T07:33:00.000-07:002016-10-25T00:26:36.729-07:00New route to Lac d'Arpitettaz
After a snowy day the sun came out and we just had to go for a walk. It's been a while since we've done this route and we found quite a few changes.
Across the Plat de la Le and up the first section everything was covered in an inch or two of fresh snow - not enough to completely cover the autumn colours, but it gave it a certain something.
Walking up from the Plat to the bridge
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-68741206622371925612016-09-25T01:11:00.000-07:002016-10-25T00:27:05.189-07:00The 'high' way from Zinal to Petit Mountet in early autumn.
Fresh snow on the mountains are golden autumn colours
A real gem of a walk and at this time of year the colours are jewel like - sapphire blue sky, emerald ferns and ruby red leaves of the myrtile bushes - and to think autumn has hardly begun. A real contrast to the last time I wrote about this route which was in July when there was still snow to cross and the pink alpenrose was in bloomPenny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-62106316113636320782016-08-21T11:15:00.000-07:002016-10-25T00:27:32.425-07:00Green & Black
Crop of blackcurrants and gooseberries
It's harvest time for our fruit bushes and what a crop. We picked 9kg from the three blackcurrant bushes, and nearly 4kg from the two gooseberries. The rest of the afternoon was spent washing, top and tailing and freezing - keeping a few back top make some fool.
August fool
August Fool
- Stew some berries with sugar and a little water
- Puree, sieve Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-80277836188488297862016-07-10T00:27:00.000-07:002016-10-25T00:27:59.354-07:00Sky at night
Looking south towards the Besso
Last night was a beautiful, warm and moonless night. You didn't need to go far from the village to get the most amazing sky-scape. No telescopes required it was all just there - layer upon layer, from the bright to the milky way 'cloud'. A mind boggling look back in time. PK
Looking west
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-32247777464535333612016-05-21T04:11:00.000-07:002016-10-25T00:28:18.012-07:00Snow angel
The Besso's snow angel
Can you see her? Go straight down from the left peak and she's lying on the rock. We've never spotted her before, but this weekend our neighbour pointed her out. Of course she's not always there -and she can vanish overnight.
Incase you still can't see her..... PK
...she circled in pink.
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-20139217192628589272016-04-02T06:46:00.000-07:002016-05-12T07:26:59.683-07:00Look back on winter 2015/16As the season comes to an early end, it's nice to look back to just some of the epic ski days we had. After a lean start it turned into a great winter.
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-71449861379831883402016-03-11T03:01:00.000-08:002016-10-25T00:28:40.948-07:00Direct line
Direct line to Mottec
It took one exciting (and wrong) try to finally work out the direct line back to Mottec. It's taken a while but we've finally done it and it's a new favourite route. Lovely snow, nearly 1500m of continuous descent, some exciting terrain, and a cup of tea waiting at the chalet. PK
Some great snow...
...and interesting terrain
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-88968546317339023222016-02-26T08:16:00.000-08:002016-03-15T08:22:34.712-07:00Marinda - East Face
A new route for us - the east face of the Marinda. Seen from Zinal the face appears to be nearly vertical, however, it proved to be a beautiful ski and with very little skinning. Happy days :)
Seen from Zinal it seemed almost vertical
The first short skin and ski down to the river
The second skin and lunch on the Basset de Lona
Perfect snow on the first main pitch ...
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-34362691608045335882016-01-25T08:05:00.000-08:002016-02-12T04:54:43.955-08:00Tree-mendous!
Skiing the trees
The new year arrived with lots of snow - one memorable storm lasting practically the whole week. Things quickly filled in, and we skied the trees like we've never done before. That fabulous sensation of snaking down through the gaps, dropping onto pillows of deep, fluffy, forgiving snow.
As our ski buddy Ray said 'I could hand my pass in now, as it doesn't get better than Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-65274819937281382992015-12-31T04:05:00.001-08:002016-05-25T07:59:41.350-07:002015's Weather This has been one of the warmest and driest December's on record (here in Switzerland). Lots of blue sky days and no new snow. So what was the rest of the year like?
January 2015
Started pretty mild, with rain to over 3000m, then strong winds and not much snow below 1500m. But the upper slopes had some good snow, and the month ended with a 2 day storm.
February 2015
Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-675952387628593352015-11-21T02:57:00.000-08:002016-05-25T07:59:20.016-07:00Skiing - going downhill?
Just come across some interesting statistics published by Laurent Vanet (www.vanat.ch) relating to the ski industry.
Ten years ago, Swiss ski resorts had a total of around 28 million skier days (ie the number of days tickets were bought for), last winter this figure had dropped by 20%. Fewer ticket sales means fewer francs - 10 years ago receipts totalled chf 806,000,000, last year that figurePenny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-27110939681786082692015-10-18T06:38:00.000-07:002015-11-12T05:33:46.826-08:00Bisse des Sarrasins
Part of the board walk along the Bisse de Sarrasins
This is the perfect time of year to walk this low level path from Vercorin to Pinsec. The route was originally built in the early 15th century to duct water the 9km from the Torrent de Pinsec, around the cliffs, to the pastures and village of Briey above Chalais. After 400 years of use, it was finally abandoned in the early 1830's when a Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-40047896107801412392015-09-20T05:32:00.000-07:002015-10-13T01:44:31.305-07:00Trails and Tales of the Turtmann
Heading south on the eastern slopes of the Turtmanntal
This summer we've spent several days walking in the magical, wild and near deserted neighbouring valley - the Turtmanntal. It was here that the last bear was killed, and is now the terrain of a wolf, as well as home to eagles and of course marmots, chamois and ibex.
Old paths and waterways
There's a road up from the valley, but Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-21424161670758795682015-08-29T07:05:00.000-07:002015-08-30T07:09:50.345-07:00A rocky existence.
This summer we've done lots of walking up to 3000m - well above the tree line of around 1800m. At these higher altitudes the terrain is harsh and exposed, and snow patches can last all year. But somehow things still grow - a quick glance across a grey scree slope just below the Hohtürli pass and it appeared to be just thousands of stones and certainly no soil. Look a little longer and Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-30036330012899016092015-07-27T21:44:00.000-07:002015-08-09T01:54:39.604-07:00The Grand Tour of the Val d'Anniviers
Spectacular views of the Imperial Crown
After 8 years of living here we've walked most of the valley's footpaths and yet the views still stop us in our tracks. Walk the same route twice (or more) and it's different every time - changing with the weather and seasons. So it was a great pleasure when Inntravel asked us to re-walk and adapt their existing tour of the Val d’Anniviers. The Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-64400326366044031552015-06-20T23:16:00.000-07:002015-07-17T23:55:05.087-07:00Go with the flow - follow the bisse...
Vercorin Bisse
Within the Valais there are over 2000km of 'Bisse' - as they're called in French, and Wasserleite or Suonen in German. These ancient, man-made water channels, traverse the mountains, bringing valuable water from rivers to villages and fields. Once they were a life-line, but after WWII many fell into disuse and disrepair as technology advanced, and the cost of Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-26988856349968214282015-06-09T10:39:00.000-07:002015-06-11T01:31:55.225-07:00White RussianThis year our end of season ski tour took us away from the Alps to the Caucasus Mountains, Russia. A very different adventure, and the chance to climb the highest mountain in Europe - Mt Elbrus 5642m. Thanks Olly and Mountain Tracks for putting together a wonderful trip with great people.
Here's a 3 minute slide show (best viewed on YouTube) of the trip and a few stills to give Penny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1982622939499263706.post-28474033042279141512015-04-19T01:25:00.000-07:002015-06-09T09:23:58.925-07:00Rule Britannia
The Britannia Hutte at 3030m
Paid for by the British members of the Swiss Alpine Club, the Britannia Hutte first opened in 1912, and was given to the SAC in thanks for the hospitality British mountaineers had always received. One hundred years on and the connection is still strong. For the centenary anniversary the British members bought the hut seven new solar panels.
Starting out to summitPenny Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398635535890204698noreply@blogger.com0