A wintery scene...

More snow has fallen this week and in between the storms we've had some beautiful blue sky days. Things are looking good... especially as more is forecast for next week.

It has begun...

Blue sky and beautiful snow - what a way to start the season. Zinal opened on Saturday with such good conditions it seemed rude not to make a few turns.

Not all the runs are open, of course, but there's skiing between 2900m and 2200m. Weekdays from mid-November to 18th December it's for race teams only. Thanks to the hard work of the director of the lift company, Pascal, major international teams flock in to train and compete. We've got the Bulgarians - Dobre doshal! - staying with us this week. It's a good chance for them to practice their English as well as their GS-turns...

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...

Col de Milon

One of our favourite walks is up to the Cabane d'Arpitetta (2786m). The refuge is in a side valley at the bottom of the Weisshorn and is dwarfed by this 4500m peak. It's encircled by glaciers that spill down on every side adding to the scale of things. The refuge makes a great destination in itself and has a wonderful terrace for lunch with a view. Today the weather was really good so we decided to carry on up and across the Col de Milon (2990m) into the Tracuit valley.

It's a bit of a scramble and the north facing side is slippery (it's snow-bound for much of the summer) so we were grateful for the chains, but the views are stunning; it makes a wonderful - though long - round-walk from Zinal.

Aletsch revisited

Having spent 6 days ski touring across the upper parts of the Aletsch glacier this spring, it was great to come back in summer and view the whole thing from a different angle.
From Brig the Furkastrasse passes through several villages from where cable cars reach the many walks with views over the Aletsch. You can buy a walker's lift pass for the day, but it's a slight mystery that there's not better info online giving the options available to you. After all, this is one of the country's absolute highlights - definitely up there with viewing the Eiger or the Matterhorn, but without being as commercialised (which probably explains the lack of information). The best of it is that the crowds dwindle rapidly once you leave the restaurant/bar/view points and hit the trail.

Movie making

You can tell we're dreaming of winter when we start putting together video clips of last season. At least the music is summery...

New Moiry Hut

 

Last weekend was the official opening of the Cabane de Moiry extension. The footpath up from the end of the reservoir was packed with walkers of all ages. The route takes just over an hour and climbs 600m, and while some carry on across the glacier to the surrounding peaks, the hut itself makes a wonderful half way point for an easy day out. 

It was built in 1924 and after nearly 90 years it's had a CHF 5.8 million make-over. The original building remains and a copper coated rectangular extension has been added to the south. Improvements include a new kitchen, a fantastic dining hall - lined with panoramic windows that overlook the glacier - more sleeping quarters and flush toilets, cunningly engineered to reduce their impact on the environment and on the people who use them (just smell the old ones from forty paces and you'll know what I mean).