Skiing en piste 16/17
Although this winter has generally been considered to be on the low-snow side, Tanya and I have been very lucky and we have done quite a bit of skiing. First, we scored incredibly cheap season passes for Saas Fee, so we have been able to take full advantage of its high altitude, epic views, and amazing après ski vibe. On our first day there Tanya and Pete played snow-cricket:
A post shared by Tim Raupach (@cutflat) on Dec 11, 2016 at 7:57am PST
Dom, in centre, is the highest peak wholly within Switzerland.
Saas-Fee glaciers in December. The mountain behind is Weissmeiss (4017 m).
Lots of ice.
Dom again (centre, 4545 m).
Sunset from Saas-Fee village.
We took an off-piste ski course that was organised by the Swiss Alpine Club and ran through January and February. It was excellent; for four Sundays in a row we skied off-piste with an instructor, at Portes du Soleil, Leysin, and Ovronnaz. The day we went to Ovronnaz happened to include a huge dump of snow, so we skied powder all day, and it was fantastic.
Leysin with the valley filled with cloud. Dents du Midi behind.
It did also snow a bit in Lausanne — enough to fill my rain gauge.
Accuracy compromised.
A bit later we went to Grindelwald, and skied in perfect weather under the mighty Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.
Eiger (3970 m) at sunset, from Grindelwald.
Peering into the Lauterbrunnen valley.
Skiing with the north wall of the Eiger as the intimidating backdrop.
Mönch (4107 m) and Jungfrau (4158 m).
Lauberhorn and Tschuggen, and the Grindelwald ski area.
Sunset light on Wetterhorn (3692 m) from Grindelwald.
Portes du Soleil is a favourite place to go. It's close to Lausanne, is huge and has excellent terrain, and you can ski into France where they make tartiflette.
Dents du Midi from near Champéry on my work lab's yearly ski day.
Later in the season, rain left runnels in the snow.
More recently we spent a day at Verbier, and ventured up to Mont Fort to ski some steeper moguls. From the top of the station you could see so many of Switzerland's great peaks — from Weisshorn, Matterhorn, and Mont Blanc de Cheilon, across to the Grand Combin and Mont Blanc Massif.
Weisshorn, Dent Blanche, Matterhorn, Dent d'Hérens, and on the far right, Pigne d'Arolla and Mont Blanc de Cheilon, from Mont Fort.
Grand Combin.
Mont Blanch Massif, and the ski slope off Mont Fort.
Atmospheric ski café at Verbier.
Our most recent piste ski was at Zinal/Grimentz, a little station in the wonderful Val d'Anniviers. Here we skied spring snow, which is super fun because heavy snow will forgive you for almost any mistake. At the end of our first day there I discovered that I had ripped an edge out from one of my skis, presumably through hitting a rock. I took the skis to the nearest ski shop, where the staff laughed while telling me the ski could not be fixed. Later, I took it to a shop in Lausanne where they told me it could definitely be fixed and then fixed it. What a rollercoaster ride!
Great views from Zinal station.
Barrage and Lac de Moiry.
From Grimentz, the Barrage de Moiry and behind it Grand Cornier with Pointes de Mourti on its right.
Spring means walking more.
Zinal town has the best gate in the valley.
The Becs de Bosson, a peak we climbed last summer.
Whiteout at Grimentz.
Left: ouch! Right: the ski rides again!
We are very fortunate to have been able to get into the mountains so much this winter, and I am grateful. Now it's undeniably springtime, and it has to be said that the warm weather is really rather nice: the fields are turning green and there is blossom everywhere. And we're still eking out days on the skis, you just have to go higher to find it!
Saas Fee on a recent day when it had dumped snow and nearly all the pistes were shut for avalanche control.
A spring train view on the way back to Lausanne. On this train a man talked loudly about attaques de blaireaux (badger attacks!).
Spring at my work at EPFL.