Water damage

Trees and islands have been washed away and a new river route formed

Early last week we had two days of heavy rain which caused the Navizence River to break its banks and carve out a new route for itself - something locals have not seen before. The force of the water was so great that bridges and islands were swept away, boulders the size of small houses moved, trees ripped out and banks eroded back. At its height the river flooded nearly the whole width of Le Pla.

Bridges have been swept away or left miles from the water

What's been left is (I think) a more beautiful and more natural looking river which meanders a broader route - new islands have been made and the banks re-sculpted.

Walking along what was the jeep track- now stripped down to the moraine a few feet down

Work has already begun to reinstate bridges, and jeep tracks - but it will be interesting to see what they can do to the route used in winter by cross country skiers. Currently the once wide jeep track is down to the width of a footpath and one of the crossing bridges now spans a boulder field - the river now takes a route several hundred meters away leaving you unable to cross from east to west bank.

Looking down Le Pla and the new look Navizence River

40th Sierre Zinal Mountain Race

Everyone who finishes gets a medal

On Sunday this legendary mountain race took place for the 40th time. Not only has it been going longer than any similar race but for many it's also the most beautiful. Its known as the race of the five 4000'ers because of the stunning views of five four thousand meter peaks, amongst others. Each year one of these five mountains is depicted on the reverse of the medal - it was the Dent Blanche turn this time.

Spectacular views  

This year over 3500 people signed up to take part as either a 'tourist' or in the 'elite' group of athletes, and the whole event was televised for the first time. The race starts in Sierre (for the 'tourists' that means a 5am departure to the sounds of a jazz band) and climbs on tracks for over 2200m before descending 800m into Zinal - total length 31km's. The 'elite' includes professional athletes from all over the globe; the course record was set by New Zealander Jonathan Wyatt in 2003 with an amazing time of 2hrs 29' 12" (this year - 10 years on - he took just 3mins 32secs longer and came first in the Veterans).

The course statistics

It's a fabulous day for both runners and spectators. We went up to Barneusa - one of several feeding stations along the route - to cheer the runners on. Some sprinted past grabbing for a sponge or cup of water while others stopped to drink, chat and listen to the alp horn.

Plenty of volunteers help out 

This year the winner was Marc Lauenstein from Switzerland with a time of 2:32.14. You can see part of the race on www.rts.ch, who televised the whole event for the first time. To find out more about the race you can visit the offical website (www.sierre-zinal.com) where you can also sign up to take part in next year's event.

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

Inalpe

This weekend saw the 'inalpe' in most of the Val d'Anniviers villages. Locals would call it the official start of summer - the day when the cows go up to the high alpine meadows and milking huts. Traditionally the animals would have been herded up from Sierre on foot to their summer pastures - these days it's quicker, with most arriving by truck but the celebrations remain the same.

A benediction of the alpine meadows and cows followed by the journey up and fights between the beasts to see who's top-cow or Queen for the summer.  Here they stay, bells clanging as they chomp through the lush grasses and flowers, producing gallons of rich milk which duly gets made into tonnes of cheese. In September the process is repeated in reverse - the des alpes...

Jewel in the Imperial Crown

As in previous years we ended the season by joining a Mountain Tracks group and some clients for a ski tour.  This April we decided to tour above Zinal on what's known as the Imperial Haute Route, as it takes you past the 5 peaks making up the Imperial Crown. Two years ago we did a varient but so so different (you can see pictures from that tour here).

This time we started off in Zermatt and took a route heading back to Zinal (the high way). It was to be a week of some real gems - we summited two peaks over 4000m, with climbs of up to 1600m in a day, skied though some of the most spectacular glaciated terrain and traversed the knife edge ridge line of the Moming... Staying in a range of huts from the 'self-catered' Arpitetta, to the comfy Grand Mountet and the soon to be replace (thank-goodness) Tracuit.

A real gem of a tour... it'll be hard to top this one

Stunning views above Zermatt

Some spectacular glaciers

Traversing the Moming Arete - heart stopping to say the least

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.

Touno's Turn

Finally got to ski the big couloir above St. Luc. The 3018m Touno forms the southern edge of the domain, looming over the long piste descent to Prilet. There are several skiable couloirs but the obvious classic is west-north-west. The entry is not obvious from a distance and even less so once you've climbed up round the back. From the col there's a narrow snow-ridge with sharp roped descent into a notch, then down a snowy gully to the crux where it narrows and steepens. There's a fixed rope to help out on the scratchy rocky section though without Nick belaying us, we wouldn't have had a hope - one slip and you'd go a long way. After all that the couloir itself is wide and quite gentle, though we did manage to set off a small slide on the sunny side... Three people had got there before us but I guess they didn't have to serve breakfast to their guests first.

The ascent... 

The climb down...

The ski...

The end.