The winter season is drawing to a close now and spring is arriving below 2000m, in a few weeks even the higher passes will be clear of snow and we’ll start some of our spring walking weeks. I’ve taken a lot of photo’s over the winter while out and about with clients and this a fairly random selection of some I’ve particularly liked. Some of them are really memorable because they were taken on great days with great company!
Dents du Midi
Our constant backdrop here in Leysin is the Dents-du-Midi. Summer and winter it’s the most dominant thing on the skyline and I’m looking forward to running our first Tour du Dents des Midi in the summer. This is early one morning as a storm is clearing on the mountain and the wind is transporting snow off the ridges.
A winter morning in Leysin
winter chalets on the way into the Bérard valley, Chamonix
Back in January I spent a great day in the Chamonix valley snowshoeing with some people preparing for the final stages of their International Mountain Leader awards. It was an extremely cold day with great, great snow and we had a fantastic day with some stunning scenery. I’m delighted to say that they all went on to pass their final assesments and are now all full IML’s! Some more photo’s and a blog entry.
Rellerli, Gstaad
I’ve used a couple of new routes this year, they’re in areas I know well from summer work , skiing or mountain bike trips and places I’ve thought would make great winter snowshoe trips. These photo’s are around Rellerli near Gstaad where there’s a series of ridge-lines and forest tracks which are perfect for snowshoeing. One of the ridges is quite exposed so it’s quite an exhilarating journey! Some more photo’s and blog entries.
Rellerli, Gstaad
Col des Mosses
Col des Mosses was as reliable as ever and I’ve had quite a few trips over there. At peak times the old ski chalet is open at the top of Monts Chevreuils which is a great lunch stop. We mostly descend to Les Moulins and take a bus or taxi back. The descent is great and there’s so many different routes through the forest that I don’t think I’ve repeated myself all season. More photo’s and a blog.
on the col du grand St Bernard
on the way to the hospice
As usual I’ve made a few trips to the hospice on the col du Grand St Bernard. I’m still sure it’s one of the best snowshoe trips around with an overnight stay at the hospice. The main up and down track is a quite well travelled and it makes a fairly dull ski trip but with a couple of days and snowshoes we’re able to explore the side valleys a little. The only hitch this year has been that it’s proving difficult to get overnight space at weekends unless booked way, way in advance. I think we’re quite good customers and reliable so the hospice let us have a few extra places and we were able to take a few more people than we originally expected.
col de la croix
col de la croix
Another one of the newer routes for this year is over on the col de La Croix. We ride the lift out of Les Diablerets and head for the col using the snow covered summer road. From there we’ve a few different routes we can take under the amazing backdrops of snow covered sheer peaks passing summer alpages.
col de la croix
It’s been a great season, the snow has been excellent and we’ve had some really, really great clients whom I’d like to thank for making another great season!
And, to finish, the Dents du Midi in some winter evening light…..
dents du midi
