Going, going, gone

With a little help from my brother and a sledge hammer we've knocked 4 rooms into 1 to make our new hall. I think we'll wait until the weather warms up to knock through to the outside for our front door (or at least until we've got a door to put in the hole). We've filled 2 skips so far (the first time I've put stuff in rather than taking rare finds out). One more next week should see most of the knocking down and digging up phase finished inside. We've also got our permission from the local Commune to change the outside of the building so it is really starting to happen at last... But just when you think you're making progress, another snow-laden cold front pops up with the threat of more skiing to get in the way. Ho-hum.

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...

It would be rude not to...

Even on a Wednesday, when you're supposed to be working, you can't miss out on conditions like these. Though to judge by the numbers on the hill (not many) most of the rest of the world was more conscientious. Which is just how we like it – after all, there's tomorrow for skiing too, and we wouldn't want all the powder to be tracked by the masses. Come to think of it, we might have to push the boat out and do Friday as well, since we'll probably give the weekend a miss. It's bound to be bumper – there's a stunning forecast and everyone knows it's been snowing for about a week without stopping – and it just wouldn't be the same having to share. Sorry, I'll stop now. Commiserations to everyone with a proper job.

It has begun

Okay, okay, that's not really a picture from last weekend's ski-fest (over 1100 people bought tickets on Saturday at Zinal - better than the lift company expected) but we did have a couple of runs in great condition from the Corne de Sorebois at the top to below mid-station (nearly 800m of vertical) and if you were feeling brave there was a bit of powder between pistes. Without any base it was a bit of a mugs game but I enjoyed it. Sunday was wonderful - not too cold and beautiful blue skies, along with enough natural snow cover way down the valley that it felt like a day in March.
Wet this week, after really cold temperatures (down to -13C at night) and a bit more snow right now. It feels well on track for a good Christmas, though of course it could all melt away within a week. But I don't think so, certainly not above mid-station at 2400m, surely?

Turned out nice again...

One cold front doesn't make a winter, but it's a start. A couple of days of snow has left the chapel behind the Auberge looking pretty and there's more to come tonight. It's also quite cold (minus 8C last night) so they'll be busy making snow for the delayed start of Zinal's ski season this Saturday (should have been last weekend, but a warm start to the week put paid to that).

'Very excited' doesn't even come close: I love the smell of P-Tex in the morning, and the thought that the first turns of this winter might be powdery ones, and that they'll be on the doorstep of our new home, is about as good as it gets.

The last hike of autumn?

Despite being nuts about skiing, the snow-free months out here are wonderful too, especially when we get what counts for a heatwave in these parts, in November. Last weekend we were able to walk above 2500m, stopping for a long picnic and a doze in the sun. A couple of north-facing shady sections had tricky ice to contend with where a stream had diverted itself down the path and frozen solid, but otherwise it was like a mid-summer stroll. The big stags have calmed down in the forest (it was crawling with them during rutting season, and they bellowed into the night) and this time we saw just one with a harem of eight females. Bet he sleeps well. There was also a large chamois, who hissed at us and then ran straight down the mountain in beautiful bounds, springbok-style but over steep rough mountain terrain. Very impressive, though on the plus side he didn't have a pride of lions in hot pursuit trying to tear him limb from limb. I imagine that must be quite off-putting for his African cousins.

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.