Moonlighting

It always pays to glance out of the window at sunset, especially when there's a spectacular moonrise. The first shot is from the balcony a couple of nights ago, which inspired us to climb up to Sorebois last night for a chilly picnic while waiting for a repeat performance. It was worth it, particularly for that moment just before the last red glow leaves the peaks. The way down by moonlight through herds of munching cows (I think they graze all night long, without so much as a sit down) was more exciting than it should have been due to electric fences across the path at random intervals, which are very tricky to see in the dark.

Summer flowers

At this time of year the field behind the house makes most gardening efforts, wherever in the world, seem rather pointless. About 3 million different flowers per square metre emerge each spring, all on their own, and just keep coming back regardless of how often the meadows are cut for hay. They do pretty well up high too, just as long as you stay clear of the ski pistes which never look good in summer. They're easy to avoid around here - there's a lot more wild mountain than ski area - but the temptation to ride a lift for the first 800m of ascent is strong when it's this warm.

Out with the old, in with the new

Still demolishing... after months, but at least we've moved to the first floor, meaning that Jon (Penny's brother) and I could lob massive chimney blocks from the baclony into the skip. And we've finally started construction: here's a picture of my first ever wall - aerated concrete block with a thin bed mortar, since you were wondering - which I built on Saturday (an excuse for quality-time with my favourite new toy, a cross-level laser which shines spectacular horizontal and vertical lines through the dusty atmosphere).
We've had so much rain that the delivery truck which brought the palette of blocks got stuck in our back garden, having obligingly reversed as close to the house as possible, so we now have a couple of whopping wheel ruts for the local badgers to fall into at night.

Tour de Romandie

The Tour de Romandie had a stage finish in Zinal today, won by Italy's Francesco de Bonis. That they were still really racing by the time they passed our house was pretty extraordinary, as was the transformation of the village, with a full-blown media circus, massive lorries with mobile TV studios and enough helicopters filling the air that you might have thought a war had broken out. As a keen cyclist of a non-racing kind, my strongest impression was that there must have been more support cars (and certainly motorbikes) than there were cyclists. It reminded me of the US statistic that more miles are driven in cars carrying bikes than are ridden on them, which I reckon is nearly as silly as driving to a gym to pedal an exercise bike.

On top of the world...

...well, on top of the highest mountain in western Europe at least. I had a call from Nick at Mountaintracks late on Saturday afternoon, asking if I wanted to climb Mont Blanc and then ski down it... on Sunday. So that's what I did, with guides Farmer & Stuart, plus Rick, Tom and James.

The helicopter from Courmayeur got us to about 3800m - roughly the same height as the top of the Aiguille du Midi lift above Chamonix - leaving 1000m to climb, mainly along snowy ridges. We had hoped to skin some of it but in the end just carried our skis due to the conditions. The ski down is immense, through spectacular scenery and in our case through some very deep, very wet snow, following the Bosson glacier, then the river, into the forest and out to the tunnel entrance above Chamonix. A long day, and I'd have preferred a bit of acclimatisation, but a great way to end the season. Though of course you can never be sure when you might get a phone call...

"Now is fog, is not high..."

Those words preceeded a series of ascents in bad weather, all in the cause of a bit of ski touring at the end of a wonderful winter.

We were lucky to be in the able hands of Klemen, our local Slovenian guide for some interesting routes to the top of Triglav and elsewhere. He's not a man to let a storm stop play but be warned that once you have to remove skis and climb on foot, anyone under 2 metres tall won't have a chance of following his footsteps through deep snow.



The weather didn't let up over in the Sudtirol in Italy. Hannes took us through thick fog to the top of Col Bechei (actually a peak, not a col) where we had fleeting glimpses straight down to the valley floor 1800m below, as well as a magical view of Tofane silhouetted against blue sky for a few seconds. Staying in the luxurious Fanes Hutte makes everything all right and short days out meant we managed to squeeze lunch in, as well as tea and supper. And of course we have to go back next year in better weather, to see the scenery - which is some of the Dolomites' finest.

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