Marinda - 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 ... 

and the second

Skiing - 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 figure was down 12%, but in real terms that's a drop of 16% in revenue. Those declining numbers have lead to 12 resorts closing during this time.

World wide there are estimated to be 115 million skiers, and each year 80% of skier days took place in just 400 (20%) of possible resorts. So what's business like in a resorts such as here?

This years' annual report by the Grimentz-Zinal lift company (www.rma.ch) showed the following. In total the lift company took over chf 15,000,000 from the sale of lift tickets, food & drink in the restaurants it runs, and ski locker rental. It also sold 2% more lift tickets than the previous year. Great news, and we hope it's not just down to the novelty of the new lift, and the fact that Zinal-Grimentz was one of the few places last Christmas to have good snow - only time will tell.

Over chf 15, 000, 000 in revenue 

So over chf 15 million, doesn't sound too bad - but then there are costs, which ate up most of the money (especially with a big investment to service, and to which most of the profit could be written off to). They broke down as follows, with the largest slice going to wages.

and what most of it got spent on

However, one mustn't forget the core ingredient to running a ski business - the weather - and that you can't control. You need bad weather to bring snow, but at the weekend you need blue sky and sunshine to draw the locals who boost ticket sales! What a business...

The 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 journey has high and low level routes to allow for bad weather and tired legs, and includes some of the best this area has to offer - alpine meadows, old chalets and villages, ridges and lakes, and all with the spectacular snow capped mountains to the south. With a bit of luck, there's a chance to see some of the local wildlife too - red squirrels, chamois, ibex, marmots, eagles, adders, fox - to name a few.

From Vercorin explore the 'bisse' and Vall on de Rechy

Starting in Vercorin, the perfect warm-up and introduction to the old valley routes is to follow the 'bisse' - the 500 year old channel which brings water around from the Vallon de Rechy to the village. It’s a gentle walk through woods to the open meadows around the buvette at La Lé where you can stop for a drink and something to eat, before heading back to the village.

The dramatic high route along the Crete from Vercorin to Grimentz

To walk from Vercorin to Grimentz via the Crêt du Midi and Brinta is a highlight. Taking the gondola up from the village to the Crêt, you save your energy for this long ridgewalk with fabulous mountain views. But if the weather's bad there's a lovely walk through the woods and alpages with old chalets, lovely flowers and views too.

Low level walks through meadows and alpine villages

From Grimentz you can spend your day getting closer to the snow with a walk around the Moiry reservoir and on, up to the Cabane de Moiry. The new restaurant extension, with floor to ceiling windows, looks straight out onto the glacier and is a great place for lunch.

A circuit around the Moiry and up to the Cabane from Grimentz 

Some of the most spectacular mountain scenery is from Zinal. The walk up to the Cabane Arpitettaz is as dramatic as it comes with backdrop of the 4506m Weisshorn and the snowy Blanc de Moming giving a Himalayan sense of scale. Then there's the walk over the Roc de la Vache and to the Petit & Grand Mountet refuges through lovely alpine terrain.

Many spectacular walks around Zinal

The high 'balcony' walk from Zinal to St Luc is another classic with views of the Matterhorn, Weisshorn, Pointe de Zinal, Besso and Dent Blanche.

High 'balcony' walk between Zinal and St Luc

From St Luc, to finish your week, there's the wonderful panorama from the top of the Ilhorn. From here you can see your entire route around the valley to the west and south, and perhaps plan a trip north into the Bernese Oberland.

Panoramic views from the Ilhorn above St Luc

So when’s good to walk? From mid June (when the lifts open for walkers) right through until late October. Autumn is one of our favourite times here - perfect walking temperature, golden larches and early snow dusting the mountain tops. And barely a soul to be seen.

Autumn colours in Val d'Anniviers

To find out more about the walking on tour visit Inntravel, or if you fancy to stay put and explore at your leisure then self-catering from one of our chalets is a great option.

Top 100

This is the 100th post on this blog so it seems appropriate to list (in no particular order) some of our favourite things to see, do and experience in and around the Val d'Anniviers

Things to see: 

Black-nosed sheep, gentians and edelweiss.

• Patch of gentians
• Black-nosed sheep
• Ptarmigan
• Edelweiss
• Sunset on the Besso
• Crocus poking up through the snow as spring arrives
• Meadows of summer flowers
• Marmotts running across the fields
• Ibex on the cliffs
• Waterfalls beyond Zinal in spring
• Golden Eagles

Walking routes:

Tour lac de Moiry, Lac Noir and up to Cabane d'Arpitettaz

• Up to Cabane d'Arpitettaz 
• Wiesshorn hotel to Zinal
• From top of Sorebois lift to Cabane Petit Mountet 
• Tour lac de Moiry
• Bisse walk in Vercorin
• Descent of Vallon de Rechy
• Crete de Midi
• Up to Cabane Grand Mountet
• From Bendolla south to the dam
• Chandolin along the cliffs
• Lac noir above St Luc

Best events:

Feeries Christmas Market, Sierre-Zinal race

• 1st August fireworks in Zinal
• Feeries Christmas market Grimentz
• Friday markets in August Grimentz
• Sierre Zinal mountain marathon
• Vercorin jazz festival
• Grimentz three day classical music festival 
• Marche des Cepages, wine and walking tour though the vin-yards
• Desalps
• Grand Raid – Verbier to Grimentz mountain bike race 

Food & Wine:

Locally cured sausages, home-made redcurrant jelly

• Fresh serac cheese from the alpine diary
• Vin de glacier from Bourgeois Grimentz
• Myrtle tart at Hotel Wiesshorn
• Wild alpine strawberries 
• Multi-grain bread from Salamin bakery
• Local cured dried sausages
• Redcurrant jelly made from the wild berries around the house
• Glass of white wine from the caves of Sierre

Favorite pistes to ski:

Illhorn red piste, Chandolin

• Chamois, Zinal
• Pas de Beouf to Prillet, St Luc
• Vercorin blue, from top station to the village
• Blue from Grands Plans chair past Etable du Marais, Grimentz
• Illhorn red piste, Chandolin

Things to do and visit:

Grimentz old town, moon light walk in winter, Hotel Weisshorn

• Histoic house, Zinal
• Walk through Zinal old town
• Centre of Grimentz
• Moon light walk in winter
• Sleep out under the stars on a summer's night
• Visit old flour mill in Grimentz
• See cheese being made in the mountain dairies
• Star gaze from the St Luc observatory
• Visit hotel Weisshorn – even better stay overnight
• Visit Tzoucdana cafe and see the farm animals
• Overnight in a mountain hut 
• Via ferrata below Moiry dam
• Snow shoe to the snout of the Zinal glacier and discover the ice-cave

Best off piste:

Down to the dam

• Down to the dam from Zinal
• Orzival
• Vallon de Rechy
• Variants around Chamois
• Off back of St Luc into Turtmann valley
• Zinal free-ride zone
• Vercorin trees
• Lona
• Pylon route 
• Middle bowl, Zinal
• Abondance
• Trees to Chiesso Blanc

Views to see:

Weisshorn, glaciers above Grand Mountet, sunset from Tracuit

• Sunset from Cabane Tracuit
• Top of Ilhorn over Rhone valley
• Col des Arpettes into Turtmann valley
• Glaciers from Cabane du Grand Mountet 
• Besso from Lac d'Arpitettaz
• Glaciers from Cabane du Moiry
• From Niouc the 'Imperial Crown'
• Weisshorn from bridge above Zinal 
• South from Barneuza
• South into Vallon de Rechy from top of Vercorin

Day ski-tours:

Basset de Levron, Bec de Bosson, Col du Pigne

• Tourno, St Luc
• Basset de Lona, Grimentz
• Cabane d'Arpittetta and on to Glacier de Moming
• Basset de Levron, Grimentz
• Off back Grimentz and over to Nax
• Glacier de Moiry and Col du Pigne
• Off back of Bella Tola

Favourite time of year:

Autumn colours, Zinal

• January – low sun and wonderful light
• February – early on, good snow and no people
• March – warmer and longer ski days
• April – spring snow
• May – crocuses appear through the melting snow
• June – meadows around the house are full of flowers
• July – higher alpine meadows come into flower
• August – lots of music and other events in all the villages
• September – warm days, no people and great walking
• October – larches turn golden and first snow on the peaks
• November – Zinal opens for weekend skiing
• December – Feeries market in Grimentz

Cabane fever

In the last three years there's been a flurry of building and up-grading in 4 of the valley's 7 mountain refuges or cabanes.

The new Cabane de Tracuit photographed in April 2013 - just before completion

The latest project to be completed is the largest and most ambitious (and expensive) of them all. The 84 year old stone Cabane de Tracuit (www.tracuit.ch) has been replaced by a brand new, glittering silver block. Using the latest environmental technologies, this state-of-the-art building has wonderful panoramic windows, underfloor heating, running water, inside toilets, showers and modern dormitories. It still only sleeps about 120 people but it's a spacious building with a variety of sleeping rooms and spectacular views. Since opening in June it's been very successful - becoming a destination in it's own right.

The new extension to the Cabane Becs de Bosson with wonderful views

Over in Grimentz the Cabane Becs de Bosson (www.cabanedesbecs.ch) built an extension last summer. It now has a beautiful new 'sun-room' (with wood-burning stove), more dormitories and inside toilets and showers. It's almost doubled it's size and the wall of windows give spectacular views.

Cabane d'Ilhorn has a more restaurant space and new rooms

In Chandolin the Cabane d'Ilhorn (www.clubalpinsierre.ch/cabane-illhorn) also redesigned it's interior last summer. The staff now have a large new kitchen and the restaurant space has been extended to upstairs. Downstairs a whole new dormitory wing with showers and toilets has been built.

The new copper building is linked to the old Cabane de Moiry

And last but not least, the Cabane de Moiry (www.cabane-de-moiry.ch) which in 2010 added a new building alongside the old stone refuge.  The new copper clad extension has enhanced the old building and gives visitors a wonderful new restaurant with amazing views across the Moiry glacier, inside toilets and additional dormitories. You can read and see more pictures in an earlier blog www.skizinal.blogspot.ch/2010/07/new-moiry-hut.html

Lac de Moiry

Flowers along the lower path on the west side with great views to the south.

I'm not really a fan of man made reservoirs but the Lac de Moiry (when full) is an exception. Today the lake was only half full so some of the rubble sides were unfortunately exposed, but its turquoise water and location go some way in making up this downside.

Edelweiss and early morning views from the high path on the eastern side

Above Grimentz, at 2250m it is a great starting point for some stunning walks, including two circuits around the lake - one high, one low. Both are wonderful - the high route traverses around at 2500m, at one point it's a rocky (chain assisted) path but for the most part you are walking across alpine pastures, over streams and past smaller lakes. The lower one (on the west bank) is lined with alpenrosa and other alpine flowers that contrast against the turquoise of the reservoir. Perhaps my favourite combination is to start at the southern end, head towards the dam via the high western path and return on the same side via the lower path. This lower path is wide and an easy walk, so you have plenty of opportunity to look up and take in the spectacular snow capped mountain views.

Last rays of sun reflect the mountains onto the Lac de la Bayerina on the western high route

The missing link...

• 3 pylons
• the 3rd longest cable way in Switzerland 
• 2 cable cars carrying up to 125 people each
• 7 minutes and 20 seconds 

will finally bridge the 3.5 km gap between Grimentz village and Zinal mountain from December 2013.

It's been a long time in planning but work finally began this summer on the new chf 30 million ski lift. Pads for the pylons are being dug and poured and buildings have been demolished to make way for the new station in Grimentz (it even has it's own web-cam so you can check progress). So even this winter one will start to get a feel of how things will be.

The new linked area will have over 120km's of piste and will mean that some of our favourite off piste routes will be repeatable more quickly. We also hope that most people will start their day in Grimentz where bigger carparks are being made for day-trippers, thus reducing the numbers coming up to Zinal. What changes it will actually bring are still 16 months away and only time will tell ...

Look back on winter

With less than 3 weeks left of lift accessed skiing I thought it was time to look back on some of the fantastic ski days we've had here in the Val d'Anniviers this winter... But it ain't over yet.

December: Storms brought record amounts of snow and we were cut off for 2 days

January: Heli ski conditions for everyone including our Mountain Tracks off piste week.

February: Freezing temperatures and fabulous powder.

March: Still finding powder within the domain or with just a short skin to hidden spots.

April: Spring snow showers and still skiing back to the chalet

We've got lots more postings and pictures on our Facebook page.

From ice to Nice

photo by: Will Herrington

It's only 2 weeks since the previous post and how the landscape has changed. The resorts are open at weekends and the international race teams are being relocated from other venues and are flooding in from all over Europe to race in Zinal. Us mortals benifit tremendously from all the hard work the lift company has put in and we've been making turns before most. Now the real snow has arrived and we can venture off piste too. This is from Sunday which was before the recent falls. More forcaste for the rest of the week.

Hazy days of autumn

We've had a week of wonderful warm sunny days, the leaves have started to turn and the slopes are a mix of reds, yellows and golds. The weather is perfect for walking and yesterday we went round to the Moiry dam. As we sat having our picnic it was hard to imagine that within a month these slopes will be white and that we will be skiing in Zinal just the other side of the hill...

Dam skiing

Two great days out with Nick, Archie and Tara (on telemark) after a week of wind, snow and storm. Day one: lots of powder in Zinal's freeride area, followed by a good run down to the Moiry dam. Day two: the gullies at the top of the Chamois and the north side of Orzival in Grimentz, ending with a picnic and a grassy descent into St Jean, through meadows of crocus and primrose. Not that spring is here quite yet - minus 10 degrees and a snowstorm is on its way, apparently...
Mountain Tracks

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...

Connections

When the vendors simply wouldn't drop the price further when we were haggling over the Auberge, they started bunging in any other inducements they could think of, including shares in the local lift company (ski, not tower block). So last weekend we went to the AGM - a thinly disguised excuse for a drink (actually, many drinks) and a knees-up. The presentations stretched my powers of concentration in French to the limit but we heard more about the plan to join the ski areas of Zinal and Grimentz (reminiscent of the Alagna-Gressoney link in terms of pros and cons, and what type of skier stands to gain most). Just one speaker from the floor was not happy, making the point that it's a big project for something which doesn't actually open much new terrain. But there's good precedent in the biggest lift projects of recent years - Kitzbuhel's 3S, the Vanoise Express between Les Arcs and La Plagne, and of course Whistler's "Peak to Peak" gondola (actually, mid-station to mid-station, but don't let the facts get in the way of a snappy name) that's being built right now. If Zinal is truly planning to compete with bigger resorts the integration will be essential, no matter how good they make the shuttle bus service which currently gets you back to Zinal after skiing across to Grimentz. And at least this lift will actually go up rather than along like those above. For the meantime there's also the paragliding option which seems popular in these parts.

The more vital link, which I sincerely hope will be in before winter 2010, and not subject to objections from the green party or an avalanche risk analysis, is broadband to our house. Until then we have to hoof up the hill to the telecabine station for the nearest wifi signal. That seems desperate (and potentially chilly as winter draws nearer) if you're used to being on-line constantly though it's amazing how much more productive you are when you sit down at your computer and the world doesn't pour in through port 119, wherever that is on your motherboard, or is it your hard drive? Whatever. You don't have to know how it works to be able to use it.