SnowSlider - Blogging From the mountains by ise

It really didn’t look very promising today, the forecast was bad and there was a lot of low cloud. Yesterday had been awful really, raining all day and not really worth going out. So, meeting David again, we had a slightly late start with a vague plan to walk up the valley and explore a couple of options there.

We started with a quick side trip to the copper mines, in season they run tours around here but neither of us had been here before. It’s about 100m climb up from the main track and then just a straight walk back down. The weather was not brilliant but it looked worth continuing so we set off for the cabane de Petit Mountet with a plan to have lunch there.

I got some water in my boots the other day from the snow high up, fortunately they didn’t get so wet that flowers grew in them.

It was in the afternoon after we’d left the cabane that the most amazing thing happened, but you’re going to have to read on for that……


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I was going to skin up to the Sorebois but when I got to the end of the village the signs reminded me that the Cabane du Petit Mountet was open so I decided to go there instead. It’s a gradual climb up to the cabane and first you need to cross the basically flat area where the cross country ski area is, the skis and skins really aren’t too effective on this sort of terrain and you’d be quicker on foot or snowshoes but once you start the real ascent it gets easier.

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click on photograph for larger version

There’s not been any fresh snow in the ski area and it’s still a little busy so it’s not the best skiing conditions. So, we decided to take a hike up to cabane du Petit Mountet at 2142m which is up near the Zinal Glacier. It’s not actually open currently but it’s a good walk!

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