SnowSlider - Blogging From the mountains by ise

It’s pretty normal at this time of year that cloud covers the plateau with the tops of mountains poking out, it lasts a month or so into December when the lower air is cool enough not to condense like this. It means that late October and November it’s just much nicer the higher up you go. I’ve (finally) received some new boots from Raichle so I went out for a few hours around Moléson. I already knew from the webcam that the cloud was going to clear above 1800m or so and I’ve lived here long enough to have seem this all hundreds of times but jut like every other time it takes my breath away as you break through the cloud and see all the peaks poking through.


Read the rest of this entry »

Like Sunday this was unfinished business, we’d set out to traverse the Hundsrügg a while back but some pretty violent thunderstorms made the ridge look unappealing so we didn’t make it. It’s actually a fair way as well, about 18km and a 1000m of ascent so that would have been a bit dire with lightning hitting the ridge around you. Yesterday I’d an early appointment in Fribourg so it made sense to go straight on to the Jaunpass and do this route.


Read the rest of this entry »

Mont Chevreuil is an abandoned ski station near to Château-d’Oex and was once on the same lift pass. The lift runs up from Rossiniere, or used to as it’s not run all the time I’ve lived here despite what some UK ski web sites appear to think according to their “in depth” guides to Château-d’Oex. Anyway, we had left the car in the Col des Mosses at La Lecherette and walked in to Mont Chevreuil from there. It’s a great time of year for walking and the conditions alter so much, earlier in the week I was in shirtsleeves enjoying the sunshine in Kandersteg and today we’re in early season snow. We’d thrown snow chains and snow shoes into the car as a precaution but didn’t really need them. You could have snow shoed at the top and the higher parts of the descent would have been fun but there’s not enough snow yet to need this kind of kit.


Read the rest of this entry »

I had a meeting in Kandersteg which I’d postponed from last week due to my flu. I’ve wanted to walk from Kandersteg to Adelboden for some time so this was a perfect chance and the weather forecast looked ideal. When I arrived in Kandersteg it was actually pretty cold and there was a frost down in the valley, it’s one of those steep valleys that trap in cold air so it’s cold before the sun reaches the floor.

I would probably have walked up from Kandersteg but after taking some time out for the meeting and allowing for the fact my flu isn’t quite gone I decided to ride the lift up the first section and reduce the ascent to 600m. Stepping off the lift it was suddenly much warmer, the sun was out and I’d soon taken my jacket and was climbing in shirt sleeves. I’d also overestimated the effects of my flu and I was climbing around 12m/min so I decided to alter my route and take in the summit of the Bunderspitz at 2546m and increase the total ascent to 970m.


  Read the rest of this entry »