J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ise

jastem wrote: :lol: News item this morning re charging for dropping off at certain airports, charges for plastic bags, quicker security check lanes, etc.

they also said it was the first year since the 1940's that air travel hadn't actually increased which seemed like good news for a change :lol:

Getting a reasonable early start we snowshoed up to the Zinal Glacier to explore the ice caves up there.




The stream that issues from the glacier has cut caves into it and, being careful, it's possible to go inside and look at the glacier from inside and underneath.





On of the most notable things is how dry it is, the ice is frozen sold and not melting at all and on the floor you've got the dust that the glacier has ground from the rocks it's passed over. Some of the seams in the roof contain just dry dust which seems odd, you'd expect at least some moisture to be there. In other places the ice is so clear and pure it's just remarkable, looks perfect for the ice for a G & T really :D




It's a bit hairy being up there, snow-pack stability is awful after midday so we head out but there's ice-falls, rock-falls and small avalanches coming down near the the lateral moraine of the glacier, picking a careful line we make one of the refuges and have a drink before heading back to the village.

We planned a route up out of St Jean to Orxival and to Grimentz which is pushing the envelope for snow shoes in spring snow but it turned to a great journey in the forest then up in the high mountains.



Leaving the old village of St Jean carrying snowshoes.



A wood anemone.



A few hundred metres up still carrying the snow shoes.




Bizarrely, this signpost is incorrect or wrongly sited, when I get time I'll see what the local tourist office have to say.

A few shots just snow shoeing near the Saint Luc ski station today. Pretty spring like a the bottom with some flowers already out, the one in the photo is coltsfoot which is supposed to be a remedy for colds and sore throats (in natural form it's liver toxic so don't try that) and it used to be smoked in herbal tobacco for catarrh and asthma, it's pretty short flowering and will be over in a week or two.

The snow pack is pretty awful as well, it's not cooling enough overnight and it's extremely dangerous much after midday. There were a number of slides as we descended and we felt the snow pack settling and expelling air half a dozen times on the descent which is the immediate precursor to an avalanche if the angle is sufficient. That would include slopes close to pistes so unless you really, really know what your doing it's not recommended.

on again on Sunday at 0030 apparently

more than anything of course, it's my taste, I like photographs of mountains. I take more of a range of shots trekking but still biased towards landscapes like these :

http://snowslider.net/slideshows/morocco-photos/

Pablo Escobar wrote:Any skiing action shots?

To be honest I've got better things to do than fanny about posing action photographs :lol: like skiing :lol: It's why I don't bother with video either. The camera I carry has a series of settings programmed in for metering and focus for landscape so it takes a second to take the camera out of my pocket and take a photo.

Tony_H wrote:What a shame its raining across Europe at up to 2000m

No it's not.