SnowSlider – Blogging From the mountains by ise

I parked the car around at Les Hôpitaux-Vieux and nearly stayed in it. It had been cold at home but there seemed the chance of some sun, by the time I’d crossed the border into France and got to Les Hôpitaux-Vieux that chance of sun had vanished and it was snowing heavily and very cold. My first thought was to do a short 3 or 4 km circuit two or three times and take advantage of the hot flask and sandwiches in the car. But, once you’re moving it’s not so bad and I headed for Les Hôpitaux-Neufs instead picking up a section of the GTJ (Grande Traversée du Jura) I’d not skied before.

On the loipe it was perfectly quiet and I saw half a dozen people while I was out, by the time I’d got to Métabief it looked busy, it’s a small downhill station but it’s holiday time and it was pretty busy, some good conditions bringing out the crowds. That’s where the two photo’s above were taken, where I’d parked I was one of two cars in a large empty car park, nordic is just perfect at busy times without the crowds at the alpine centres.

After leaving the refuge around 0800 I got an hour or so of good skiing done covering some distance and enjoying the early morning light. It was pretty cold but ideal for the skis so they ran quickly without too much work.

Somewhere between two farms I picked up a companion though, a dog started to follow me and I got a bit concerned he was going to get lost. I doubled back to where I’d seen him first two or three times hoping he’d head off home but each time I’d turn back to my route he’d follow me. A couple of times I thought he’d gone but suddenly he’d bound out of the snow or forest, tail wagging and rolling around in the snow delighted to see me again. After a couple of km of this I realized I was going to have to try and find some way of getting him home.

I took a minor detour into a village and went to the local hotel and asked for their help, fortunately they’d got a dog of their own so they were happy to help. I gave them some idea where I’d first seen him and then skied off without him. That’s him above looking a bit worried that his new friend is going off without him.

I was really worried about what happened to him so I got in touch with the hotel who were able to confirm they’d tracked the owner down and that he’d been picked up and made it back home.

By now the weather had turned and I skied another few hours to La Cure on the Swiss border in fairly poor weather. The detour and loopbacks had cost some distance and at the end of the day I’d covered about 37km which was a shade more than I expected. After a long day I was delighted to be staying at the Hotel Arbez Franco Suisse in La Cure in a comfortable room and to take a great meal in their restaurant.