Views from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn

Cow fields full of wild orchids and a view of the Alps ranging from the Mont Blanc accross the Grand Combin and the Matterhorn. WOW!

Crans Montana and the right side of the Rhone Valley are really spectacular in any season!

The view up into the val d'Anniviers and the Couronne Imperiale, as they call the 4000m peaks around the Matterhorn are impressive. I particularly enjoy this view of the Illgraben on the left. It is fun to change points of view.

How do plants drink?

Many alpine plants have adapted to live in semi-desert conditions. They have tricks to get the most out of the smallest and rarest amounts of water, be it in vapor or ice form as well as liquid. Some can even defy gravity!!

Here the eidelweiss is doing some crazy thing just this morning after having been snowed on for the last 2 days up by the Cabane de Chanrion.

Pure magic!

The cabane chanrion is perched in the upper val de bagnes. A super place to get away from everything. There are bouquetins and marmots, beautiful wild flowers, wild alpine lakes, views of glaciers and awesome geology to discover too!!

Glaciers in Evolene

Sunny day and meeeeelting glacier water! From the valley fields bursting with flowers awaiting happy cows, we walked up as far as we could to see the Ferpecle Glacier and Mont Miné Glacier.

The moon was still over us as we started out!

What a view, what a day. We got our feet a bit wet in some places. It is increadible to witness all this melting!

Will the Mont Miné Glacier still be visible in 20 years? As we came around the corner a huge peice came crashing off the left side of it. Scaring us from going to close.

The moraines on the sides are completely powdery and difficult to walk on. A very fragile environment indeed...

La Dent Blanche and the Borgne de Ferpecle gushing with silt, giving the river a fascinating color.

Picnic time! And sunscreen time!

The flowery cow fields! We wandered through one that had flowers up to my armpits! I felt like a real troll in Heidiland here!

Evolène is really a Swiss postcard!

Wild foraging in the Alps

How great a feeling to pick your own "apéro" out of a field at 1800 meters with a bunch of people who only know what a dandilion and a tulip are!

And the final touch is decorating it all with wildflowers!

Dandilion flowers

Wild spinach

Alchemille

Tastes like.....uuhhh, well it is hard to say really, which is another fun aspect! Naming tastes is really tough! Yummy!

We had some groovy alpenhorns to help us cut everything up and prepare it on a yummy local bread.

Cooking with flowers

So much fun to pick flowers in the garden and dry them to use when the garden is covered in snow later on!

Sirop au bourgeons de sapin. Epicéa

The Norwegian Spruce is the key to the magic of our Swiss healthy alpine air!

The famous "bourgeons de sapins"  come from the épicéa. They are picked now in the Spring.

Pick the green fresh ones and put them in a jar with sugar and let the jar sit in the sun all summer. The humidity and heat will melt it into a beautiful sticky mess. But when you filter out the pine needles you get a wonderful concoction!

Here it is in the jar now, alongside the sirup from last year. It is used to soothe sore throats and is super yummy on ice cream or in yogurts! 

Bird watching Pierre Avoi

We took a hike in the snow and clouds today to try and see some alpine birds. The snow was fresh so we saw lots of animal tracks. 

These belong to a big sized bird. Probably the Tetras as we heard its call just around the corner

A fresh pulsatilla vernalis, fuzzy!

Some marmot tracks were visible as well. Check out the claws it has for digging.

Sunny on the Rhone valley side!

Learn about wild flowers

Wildflower Workshops every Wed and Sat of May and June!

Happy flowers! 

Do you know what is in your flowery bouquets? Are the beauties you are picking edible? Are they toxic? Should some be dried for making an infusion when you have a sore throat in December?

Would you like to learn these things, and discover what to add to a salad or omlette for a unique zing at the same time?

Well then let's go for a walk together!

Learn how to pick and eat raw stinging nettles!

I will be available to do these workshops every Wednesday and Saturday in May & June with you.

If you would like to go on a different day call or email me to organise it!

Make gold like the alchemists were with these diamonds of water!

Happy snowy spring in Fionnay

This is a great time for hiking and spoting animals. The fresh snowfall makes the animals move around and the tracks are very visible. Another advantage is that you dont have to wake up at the crack of dawn to see the ibex and chamois or chevreuil because the cold weather slows them down.

The mountains were beautiful in the snowy clouds. The avalanches were audible but not always visible as they were happening in the cloud covered summits! 

Ominous and grand!

No fish jumping! 

The weight of the fresh snow is visible on this bouquetin's back! 

Spring Verbier Snowshoeing

Away from the crowds up through the woods we ventured on snow that is crusty in the morning and slushy by midday.

We saw lots of animal tracks. Wild hare, chevreuil, chamois, no camels though...

The impressive massif des Combins and a norwegian spruce tree.

Snow covered renovated mayens, what a view to have every day?! The mont Dolent - Chamonix massif - plateau du Trient. 

Pop! Spriiiiiiiing is trying to burst through at 2000m anywhere the snow cover is thin enough!

Snowshoe Zinal Glacier

Nestled back in the upper valley of Anniviers is a huge glacier (actually it is where 3 glaciers come together).

Up past the Besso and towards the Pointe de Zinal...this is a trip for people who like to walk and take time looking at ice falls.

There is nothing very steep, but it is a gradual uphill and the air is fresh from the proximity to the glaciers! Perfect on a warm spring day!

The entrance to the glacier. The ice is not cold and feels strangely like plastic!

Little humbled snowshoers infront of the glacier entrance. In the winter the meltwater stream coming out is small, so you can enter and walk around under the ice!

Exciting on the inside! 

Orange birch trees close to Zinal. Not sure why they are this color...Any ideas?