Tired of the endless grey skies of the past few weeks? Let me cheer you up with some pictures of snow-capped Alpine mountains under blue skies from my ski trip a few weeks back.
A (very) early morning flight from Bristol!
High Alpine peaks above the clouds.
Snow covered peaks of the Jura mountains below them.
The swirling clouds looked fabulous from the aircraft but delivered a very cold and grey day for our day’s journey to Moutiers via Annecy before heading up to the resort.
When we left Moutiers for the short drive up to Mottaret it was -1C. When we got out of the car 45 mins later it was -14C!
Compensation in the form of a truly stunning cloudless blue sky day above with a sea of clouds beneath us.
We didn’t have any fresh snow during our week’s stay which is always a disappointment.
But we did have the best week of weather I can remember on a ski trip, 8 straight days of blue skies and sunshine, cold enough to keep the snow in good condition.
A view from the top floor of our apartment block while we waited for the cleaners to finish up.
And our apartment, right on the slopes, top of the column of 4 balconies in the middle of the phtoto.
Skiing is hungry work. We eat a lot on these weeks, A LOT!
One of my favourite views from the summit of Saulire.
And the joy of easy skiing with good mates.
Sadly between the times the above two photos were taken, I took a bit of a fall. Quite innocuous compared to some of my more spectacular falls but I seemed to have done some damage and lay in the snow in pain for several minutes. After a lunch and a large beer I felt better and skied not only the rest of the day but the rest of the week. On returning home and after X-Rays and MRI Scans, it was confirmed I’d fractured part of my shoulder blade in several places (the Corocoid Process if you’re interested). I’m now facing several months of discomfort while it heals itself. Perhaps I’m getting too old for this kind of tomfoolery.
I took things a little easier (although not much easier) the rest of the week.
I was lucky in as much as the weather was perfect and had there been any fresh snow I wouldn’t have risked skiing off piste.
The ski area is the Three Valleys but the name is outdated as for many years its had a fourth valley. This is the long wild blue run that feeds into it. Another of my favourite spots.
Looking out over the peaks of the Ecrins Massif.
And the Vanoise National Park
Mont Blanc dominates the northern skyline. Standing high and proud as the highest mountain in Europe should.
Skiing is also thirsty work, especially after a laborious trip to the supermarket. Our favourite little bar.
And it’d resident dog, who, if you’re lucky will drop a piece of chewed unpleasantness on your shoe.
The rocky peaks at the summit of Saulire and entrance to some seriously steep and scary runs.
THO enjoying the sunny slopes
And yours truly smiling through the pain.
The view out over the glaciers from the summit of Mont Vallon, one of the highest points in the area.
And looking north towards Lyon and Geneva.
Mont Vallon itself.
Late afternoon light.
More eating, this time in the apartment.
Thats Val Thorens in the left of shot, highest resort in the area and in Europe.
View south from the summit of La Masse
MM preparing for run home at the end of the day.
THO from the same spot, different day.
Towards the end of the week we had another, above the clouds, morning.
Skiing just above it and then through it was spellbinding.
Me and MM taking it all in.
Stunning pink Alpenglow from the Apartment balcony
We were really winning on the weather front if not on the fresh snow one.
Our final day and yet another sensational clear blue sky day.
The peaks of Saulire.
And one the World Cup runs that started the day after we left.
And so the trip came to a close. Just one more gluttonous extravaganza in the great little hotel in Annecy.
Flight home enhanced by some great views. Lake Geneva.
High Alpine peaks above the lake and the clouds.
A fitting end to a great trip.
Homeward bound with views over the Severn Estuary and its two bridges as we approach Bristol Airport.
And finally back home with the family as the sun sets on another memorable trip.
The day after my little trip back up to Yorkshire and a forecast that seemed to indicate the possibility of a cloud inversion.
We headed out to the Radnor Hills in the van as a late start meant we needed somewhere with no parking problems.
We parked up in New Radnor, heading through Mutton Dingle towards Whinyard Rocks and the shapely little summit of Whimble. This little gang followed us through the first field until they realised we hadn’t come to feed them!
It was a calm and pleasant day and whilst the fog wasn’t especially dense there didn’t look much like it was going to clear or that we’d walk through and above it.
As we started the climb to Whimble we had our first patches of blue sky.
With fleeting glimpses of Whinyard Rocks.
As we reached the summit we were still in thick cloud but as we were looking around for somewhere to sit and have lunch things began to clear and the sun came out.
We found a sheltered little alcove for a break but as the clouds drifted around us we spent most of the time wandering about admiring the ever expanding views.
We weren’t quite high enough to be truly above the clouds but this was just as impressive as hillsides appeared and the disappeared, all the while under clear blue skies above and bright sunshine.
Whimble summit.
Looking out towards the Beacons and Black Mountains.
Black Mixen and its Communications Tower.
The view directly south and east gave the best impression of the sea of cloud beneath.
Summit selfie.
Wispy clouds in Harley Dingle.
TBF strolling the summit.
And posing on the summit. We must have spent well over an hour before being compelled to move on. Fabulous stuff.
We headed back down Whimble.
And cut across the fine grassy paths and fields over to Bache Hill.
And its small cairn on a mound which I’m guessing is some sort of ancient burial site.
There seemed to be quite a bit more snow at this slightly higher elevation.
This fence creating some quite deep drifts and nice photo subjects.
Always a pleasure to walk in the snow under a sunny blue sky.
Looking along the deep valley towards Whimble.
We took a wander up to the top of Black Mixen hoping for some more above the cloud views but whilst the ethereal views of the sun through the thin clouds was unusual we didn’t see much else.
We enjoyed a bit of a potter about in the snow and started the walk back down.
The walk along the valley towards Whimble was wonderful as we dipped in and out of the clouds.
As we descended the cloud became thicker and the sunshine less frequent.
Although we did get this fine sunny view up to Whimble before we started the long drop back into New Radnor.
After returning home with our new toy it developed a fault – something in the heater was causing a slow leak of coolant. I had to run it back up to Yorkshire so they could fix it but no big deal, all sorted in a day and they kindly offered to add an additional 240V socket for free to cover the inconvenience and fuel.
This left me a bit of time to slip in a short Peak District walk on the way home. I headed back to Burbage Bridge as the closest decent walking area to the M1 and my route home. By the time I parked up there was only about an hour of daylight left but its a high car park and I was able to fit in a superb walk around the tors and edges.
Firstly on to Higger Tor, only about 5 mins from where I parked the van. There was a thin cover of icy snow and the skies were clear and crisp (as well as being pretty cold!)
After a long drive the night before – and another one coming up to get home it was great to be outside on such a marvellous afternoon.
Carl Wark below Higger Tor
Looking back to Higger Tor.
I took a full circle of Carl Wark, its collection of boulders catching the setting sunlight to great effect.
It was only slightly disappointing that I couldn’t extend the walk but staying high up meant I could grab as much of remaining sunshine as possible.
I returned to Higger Tor and did a complete circuit of that as well.
Its much bigger than Carl Wark with a substantial edge on its south side.
More rock formations.
And quite a few people out and about, likely enjoying an end of week walk before the weekend.
Looking across to Stanage Edge.
After completing my little circuit I was heading back to the van.
However I reckoned I had enough time time – at a brisk pace – to reach the Trig Pillar on this little outcrop. It doesn’t have a name on the map but I called it Overstones as that’s the name of the nearby farm.
I just about managed to scramble up onto the edge before the sun went down.
A gorgeous pink glow to the rocks as the last of the evening light began to fade.
Looking out to the northern moorland.
And a final view of the setting sun before briskly heading back to the van. One of its more useful features is a heater with a remote control App on my phone. Providing there is a signal you can have the heater working to warm the van up ready. When I got back it was already toasty!
Even on a day out the van adds so much extra. I was able to change out of my hiking gear and have a cuppa in warm comfort before the long drive home. The view out of the van door wasn’t too bad either.
I took another little wander outside, reluctant to start the long drive and enjoying the “golden hour”.
Time was pressing and I had a 3 hour drive to go so tore myself away to enjoy the delights of a long motorway journey!
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
I'll also add in some gear and tech reviews and when something irks me I may even use this forum to have a rant - I do that pretty well I'm told.There are a few pages at the top that give a bit of background to what I like to get up to and what you can expect to see in my posts. I'm not exactly a creative writer but I hope some people will find my stuff useful or inpsiring or at least enjoy some of my photos.
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