Looking through the GIN blogs, it seems that the Grand Mont Rond (GMR) ascent on snowshoes has become a biennial (as opposed to a bi-annual) event, so as appointed SLeader, I thought we should continue the tradition. Nine of us signed up, Peter (+Kobie), Mervyn, Stephen, Nathan, David, Ralph, Philip, Marks 2rrs and myself. Unfortunately, Mark had to pull out at the last moment suffering from a heavy cold. Regrets and kind wishes were sent by several others with an eclectic range of excuses.
The main group of Vaudois set off from Divonne, whilst the Gessiens (Ralph, Philip and me) made our own ways directly up to the Col. At the car park, Kobie was as usual complaining about the length of time it took these (not so young) Gintlemen to don their snow shoes, but eventually we set off at around 10.15 taking the back road behind the ski lifts and past the zip line that some of us are planning to attempt in the summer. We passed a guy who had obviously been waiting all night and then turned left to take the path up through the forest.
It’s a steady climb up and we were pleased to be wearing snow shoes, but it was a bit disconcerting to see a couple of younger guys speeding past us just wearing boots.
We reached the first ski run and at this point Philip, who had also been suffering from a cold, decided sadly, that enough was enough, so he elected to part company with us and return to his car.
The remaining seven of us continued under sunny skies but cold temps towards the GMR before becoming disconcerted again by the sight of a group of about 15 youngsters coming towards us, mostly girls and just wearing shorts.
We made steady progress up to the summit where there were surprisingly many people. This was a Thursday and one wonders how many were “working from home”! There was swirling cloud but in between we had some fine views across the Alps and the Jura. A strong wind forced us to find some lee and inevitably, bottles and snacks appeared. Stephen produced an alcohol-free wine that was not universally appreciated by those who tried it, but Peter had his trusty bottle of Luins which was! The GIN bottle containing Red Bull vodka also made an appearance and was partaken by some brave souls.
The descent from the GMR was not always clear and at one point, some of us had to backtrack when we reached something of a precipice. We all arrived safely at the central valley where there was masses of virgin snow.
The climb up the other side was led by Peter and Kobie who chose the right hand route close to the falaise facing the Alps. There is an alternative way to the left which is easier, but our route was more challenging, resulting at one point with at least three of us choosing to slide down one particularly steep slope on our bottoms. We continued on the undulating trail towards the PMR, but shortly beforehand there was a minor mutiny when it was suggested that we go down to the main station for lunch instead of the self service at the top. Captain Bligh, aka SLeader, reasoned that the views were much better from above so we pressed on with no punitive action necessary!
At the restaurant, we found an empty corner table with a great panorama and enjoyed well-earned beers courtesy of Ralph, for which many thanks. Although we had only hiked about six kilometres and climbed 440 metres, it was felt by some of us at least, that we had had a decent workout. Staple fare was consumed, steaks, sausages, lasagne, pasta, etc, and it was time to head down. Mervyn, Peter and Kobie decided that telecabines are for wimps so they opted to walk back to the car park whilst the rest of us gratefully sailed down past them in relative comfort.
The weather and snow conditions turned out to be above expectations, the company was, as usual, superb and everyone arrived home safely.
Brilliant hike, lunch, company, leader, weather, snow, and not easy. One of the good days!