After all the trip reports in Alpinforum that raved about Val d'Anniviers, just east of the 4 Vallées (Verbier), I decided to go to the Valais region in western Switzerland for an eight-day visit. My flight arrived early Saturday in Geneva; I got my rental car (a brand new Citroën with literally five kilometers on the odometer) and drove east along Lake Geneva. On a sunny morning, it was breathtaking and borderline dangerous as I almost drove off the highway staring across the water at the dramatic mountains that come right to the lake's southern edge.
Within 90 minutes, I was in the Rhône Valley and pulled into the first of several locals-only ski areas I plan to hit on this trip, Mont Noble. Good thing that my car has a hotshot GPS system as there are only signs on the Autobahn alerting you to the most well-known ski regions, not the many under-the-radar joints. In fact, there are no signs that direct you to any of these ski areas until you're literally in the village near the mountain. The skiing was good; I enjoyed several nice 2,700-vert runs, but a storm moved in and it snowed hard for the next three hours. Visibility was poor so no reason to post photos.
Skies cleared out overnight, 7 am from my window:
Here's the view from the valley floor:
It's a wine region so there are grapes growing on both the north and south slopes:
After a half hour of twisty driving through the Hérens Valley, I came upon the Pyramids of Euseigne -- more impressive in person than in the pix:
Funny that I'd never heard of them. I was wondering if they're manmade; however, according to the My Switzerland website: The cones were created at the end phase of the last Ice Age, about 80,000 to 10,000 years ago. When the glaciers retreated, enormous piles of debris were left behind, which contained boulders. While rain and meltwater eroded the area surrounding the boulders, these rocks served as protective caps for the soil underneath them, enabling the formation of these well-known natural monuments. Looks like something you'd see in southern Utah, not Switzerland; however, they built a tunnel right under them.
About 20 minutes later, I arrived in the cute village of Evolène:
... and booted up next to a family that was excited to hit the slopes.
You glide down to a little ticket shack and then continue further to the lift:
A nice locals ski area:
An old slow double takes you from the base to the bottom of the ski area, 2,500 verts in 22 minutes:
About halfway up, people were shralping the low-elevation powder, which hadn't yet turned to mank in the sun.
Top of the Chemeuille chair -- from this point, it's nothing but surface lifts for the rest of the day:
Looker's left:
Time to hit some powder before the sun cooks it:
The only disappointment at Evolène -- the summit t-bar was already closed for the season:
Once the February vacation period is over, the smaller ski areas start putting lifts into hibernation. Too bad, I was looking forward to the upper terrain. I complained to the guy next to me, who wasn't happy about it either.
A not uncommon sight in French-speaking regions: older couples in matching ski outfits, which would get you thrown into fashion jail in North America:
Time for a quick outdoor lunch with the requisite Euro disco blaring in the background:
It's kinda comforting to see that francophone 20-something smokers haven't gone the way of the dodo bird over here:
The sign on the right reminds people not to throw cigarette butts in the snow -- "one cigarette butt can pollute up to a square meter of snow!"
At 12:30, I decided to get moving to my other target ski area about 20 minutes away, Arolla, located in a box canyon at the end of the valley. The snow was still decent on the lower part of Evolène before I ducked into the trees on the trail back to the parking lot:
Gorgeous view:
Arolla is right on the other side of the huge ridge that you see in the Evolène photos, but it was much colder: mid-winter temps:
Nothing but old Poma platter lifts there: the main one had a rocket-launch effect at the beginning:
I love how they zig-zag through the terrain -- this one had a few steep sections:
And like at Evolène, the summit lift was closed for the season, ugh. Several people were putting on skins here to access the upper terrain:
About six inches of nice leftovers on top of a refrozen base -- you'd hit bottom every five or so turns:
Another Poma with a 45-degree curve -- a shame that people are too spoiled or soft nowadays to accept these.
With light getting flat, I headed down for a mid-mountain afternoon break:
These refreshment/food huts are called buvettes:
Mademoiselle tending crêpes:
While I was relaxing outside, an entire family (parents and three kids, including a five-year-old!) arrived after skinning up.
As the rest of the group went inside, the mother shifted everyone's bindings into downhill mode and removed/stored five pairs of skins: badass!
Still life: beer and a lemon tarte
Within 90 minutes, I was in the Rhône Valley and pulled into the first of several locals-only ski areas I plan to hit on this trip, Mont Noble. Good thing that my car has a hotshot GPS system as there are only signs on the Autobahn alerting you to the most well-known ski regions, not the many under-the-radar joints. In fact, there are no signs that direct you to any of these ski areas until you're literally in the village near the mountain. The skiing was good; I enjoyed several nice 2,700-vert runs, but a storm moved in and it snowed hard for the next three hours. Visibility was poor so no reason to post photos.
Skies cleared out overnight, 7 am from my window:
Here's the view from the valley floor:
It's a wine region so there are grapes growing on both the north and south slopes:
After a half hour of twisty driving through the Hérens Valley, I came upon the Pyramids of Euseigne -- more impressive in person than in the pix:
Funny that I'd never heard of them. I was wondering if they're manmade; however, according to the My Switzerland website: The cones were created at the end phase of the last Ice Age, about 80,000 to 10,000 years ago. When the glaciers retreated, enormous piles of debris were left behind, which contained boulders. While rain and meltwater eroded the area surrounding the boulders, these rocks served as protective caps for the soil underneath them, enabling the formation of these well-known natural monuments. Looks like something you'd see in southern Utah, not Switzerland; however, they built a tunnel right under them.
About 20 minutes later, I arrived in the cute village of Evolène:
... and booted up next to a family that was excited to hit the slopes.
You glide down to a little ticket shack and then continue further to the lift:
A nice locals ski area:
An old slow double takes you from the base to the bottom of the ski area, 2,500 verts in 22 minutes:
About halfway up, people were shralping the low-elevation powder, which hadn't yet turned to mank in the sun.
Top of the Chemeuille chair -- from this point, it's nothing but surface lifts for the rest of the day:
Looker's left:
Time to hit some powder before the sun cooks it:
The only disappointment at Evolène -- the summit t-bar was already closed for the season:
Once the February vacation period is over, the smaller ski areas start putting lifts into hibernation. Too bad, I was looking forward to the upper terrain. I complained to the guy next to me, who wasn't happy about it either.
A not uncommon sight in French-speaking regions: older couples in matching ski outfits, which would get you thrown into fashion jail in North America:
Time for a quick outdoor lunch with the requisite Euro disco blaring in the background:
It's kinda comforting to see that francophone 20-something smokers haven't gone the way of the dodo bird over here:
The sign on the right reminds people not to throw cigarette butts in the snow -- "one cigarette butt can pollute up to a square meter of snow!"
At 12:30, I decided to get moving to my other target ski area about 20 minutes away, Arolla, located in a box canyon at the end of the valley. The snow was still decent on the lower part of Evolène before I ducked into the trees on the trail back to the parking lot:
Gorgeous view:
Arolla is right on the other side of the huge ridge that you see in the Evolène photos, but it was much colder: mid-winter temps:
Nothing but old Poma platter lifts there: the main one had a rocket-launch effect at the beginning:
I love how they zig-zag through the terrain -- this one had a few steep sections:
And like at Evolène, the summit lift was closed for the season, ugh. Several people were putting on skins here to access the upper terrain:
About six inches of nice leftovers on top of a refrozen base -- you'd hit bottom every five or so turns:
Another Poma with a 45-degree curve -- a shame that people are too spoiled or soft nowadays to accept these.
With light getting flat, I headed down for a mid-mountain afternoon break:
These refreshment/food huts are called buvettes:
Mademoiselle tending crêpes:
While I was relaxing outside, an entire family (parents and three kids, including a five-year-old!) arrived after skinning up.
As the rest of the group went inside, the mother shifted everyone's bindings into downhill mode and removed/stored five pairs of skins: badass!
Still life: beer and a lemon tarte
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