Besso

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 patois.

It was probably first climbed in the 1860's by two local guides via a route not seen from the house. The 'standard' route to the summit starts from the Grand Mountet hut, and goes up the rocky, and at times exposed, SE ridge. The view from the top should be amazing but for now I'm happy with my view from the window...  PK

Views and colours of the NW face of the Besso

From the ski domain it looks quite tiny - seen in the centre of the picture

Direct 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

Done and dusted...

Well it's as good as finished so today I took some pictures of our cosy new winter home.

Main living area with mezzanine 

We bought Le Mazot just over a year ago and for those following our blog you will know that it's been quite a renovation project. Here are some links to previous posts

(www.skizinal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/le-mazot-new-project.html
www.skizinal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/le-mazot-work-in-progress.html
www.skizinal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/and-then-there-was-light.html)

It's a small place but that made for bigger challenges in the design. We've kept many of the original features (most of which were covered with old 't&g' panels) and have reused lots of the original materials to help keep the character - old beams found under the floor went into repairing and filling in the outside walls as well as rebuilding the internal dividing wall, and the old 2" thick floor boards found under layers of rugs and chipboard have been scrubbed and relaid. We've insulated the whole building, replaced the old windows with triple glazed units, use a wood-burning stove to heat the place and have installed LED lighting through-out - all of which go to make up a cosy, eco, cabin.

Lobby and bedroom

Bathroom 

View from the kitchen across to old Mottec

Main living room with wood-burning stove and original timbers

As for all the old 't&g' that we stripped out - lots went into the construction of our new wood-store and all the little bits that couldn't be used are stacked ready to burn in our stove.

Monty and Eric - wood store builders

And then there was light...

As the season came to an end Le Mazot had a flurry of activity when the local carpenters finally arrive to fit the new windows. What a transformation - light streams into the rooms like it never has before. Great timing too - the resort is now shut and the guests have all gone home, so over the next few weeks we'll be able to push on with the interior and finish the insulation, cladding, bathroom, kitchen, cupboards etc etc.....(gosh there's still quite a bit to be done).

Even though it's been a bit of a black hole with work still to be done - it hasn't stopped us using it as our new winter base and so far we've had at least 7 weeks sleeping over there. Roll on next winter when it will all be finished.

Bygone days...

The renovations of Le Mazot continue with our new front door now fitted, the bathroom semi underway and the kitchen standing in the corner still in it's boxes. However, we've been using it and have already had a week sleeping over there.

As we work on the old building, it is hard to ignore just what it must have been like 100 or more years ago. Recently I came across some wonderful old photos (www.notrehistoire.ch) of Mottec showing just how rough and ready it was...

One thing that is striking is just how many more trees there are today - no need to chop them down to build and heat your house with.

Old road to Zinal - you can see Le Mazot in its original location over in the far meadows.

The centre of Mottec - the old chapel is now renovated

Looking down on Mottec

Le Mazot - work in progress...

 

It's been 2 months since our first post about Le Mazot and things have changed - and not just the weather.    

We've filled in the old hole for the chimney and installed a new one. Which involved pouring a concrete pad that slopped and didn't drop onto the floor below, cutting new shingle tiles and making sure the new copper work was straight. A first and no one fell off despite the snow..

 

Inside we've installed a new floor, drains and made a new wall...

plus this week we've finished insulating the ceiling and have put up the new panelling...

We're still awaiting our planning permissions, but all being well we should get that in the next week and be able to start on the windows and walls

The deer hunter - (la Chasse)

Last night's hunter's moon rising behind the trees

For the last two weeks the hills have been alive with the sound of gunfire while shortly afterwards trailers drive by with hooves and antlers sticking out at all angles. Not a good time to be a vegetarian, or furry. Here in Mottec our local hunter Rudolf and his friends have had one of their best years, with the biggest red deer stag yet - a 12 pointer - several chamois, roe deer and marmots.

Now on all the local restaurant menus

Even if it's not your thing, this is a highly important annual event that helps keep down the wildlife population. Without any preditors (wolves are thin on the ground around here) these animals would get too numerous and would end up starving to death once the snow arrives, a bullet through the heart seems the better way to go - the hunters are all good shots. 

Snow shoeing by moon light

After all the snow storms, last night was still and clear - perfect for a snowshoe trip by the light of the full moon. We just went up into the forest behind Mottec, and saw fresh snow hare and fox tracks, everything was beautifully quiet and the snow sparkled just like the stars.

Coming back into the village everything looked magical and certainly worthy of a picture or two.

Better late than never...

Col des Arpettes
Just getting a bit of training in for an early September tour of the Monte Rosa - normally an 8 day hike - which we're doing at a run with mad Tom, hoping to condense it into four 30-odd km stages. But it's the ascent and descent which will cause the trouble: the worst day is 2906m up and 3400m down. Here's a google earth track to the stunning Col des Arpettes above our house which we nipped up as a test-run which my phone miraculously recorded and which also tells me I can now eat an extra 6.7 Twixes. So it's not all bad.

Time for an update

A year is probably a respectable interval since last posting anything on here. Life just got busy - that's not an excuse, but everyone must know how it is. Anyhow, the chalet is now finished and we're scrabbling around trying to get our website sorted out - a bit late, I know - but bookings for this winter seem to be materialising even without it. For now, a few photos of the chalet...

Mottec Fete

For a hamlet where only a handful of people live, Mottec - just down the road from Zinal - seems an unlikely candidate to have not one but two chapels. The one practically in our back garden was restored with funds raised ten years ago; this year it was the turn of the chapel St. Laurent. Our neighbour Georgine masterminded the whole event, putting on an epic two day show. Statistics - principally bottles of wine consumed and chickens roasted - still to come, but I know that enough was raised to do much more than just repair the roof. More to the point, lots of people had a very good time...