Nathan Finkelstein

Snow shoe outing from La Cure to La Genolière

An exhilarating day began as 8 hardy souls (plus two 4-legged companions) awaited the 10:12 train at the Col de la Givrine. We joined two other hardy souls already in the train for the short trip to our starting point.

The hike began at the La Cure train station with just a small amount of snow on the ground and quite clement weather.

Attending were: Kobie, Mark2rs, Mark2ts, Mervyn, MichaelH, Nathan, PeterT, PeterS, Philip, Richard, Rob, Rocco, Ross, and Stephen. Excuses received spanned from a wishy-washy claim of lousy weather (fake news!), I’ll come only if it’s dry (which it was, so he participated) and a last minute abandon with no reason given but it was assumed to be a force-majeure.

Assessing the recent fire damage at Chez Mamac

When we arrived at the restaurant Chez Mamac to assess the recent fire damage, some of the more clairvoyant amongst us decided to don their snow shoes as the snow became a bit deeper.

Beyond Chez Mamac the snow slowly became more abundant

Others preferred to wait until the snow was knee-deep.

One of the group members decided not to use his snow shoes at all and simply strategically hiked behind someone approximately his height who was kindly blazing the trail. This worked well until our friend missed a step and fell into a hole. Luckily for him a nearby mate came to his rescue or we may have lost him forever.

One member, with his vintage snow-shoes, struggled a bit because near the beginning of the day his shoe tightening strap broke. A fellow hiker helped find an adequate solution with a strap from his sack. Nonetheless continuing the hike with one shoe only somewhat tied to his snow shoe was a courageous endeavour and deserves recognition.

The snow was deep enough to cover the paths and there were a few discussions about which direction we should take but we managed to maintain cohesion and all 12 of us arrived at Pré du Four for a well earned refreshment pause.

Although we were a bit behind schedule we decided refreshments were needed.

After the pause, an alternate route was selected which took us past Le Grütli and through a lovely forest that was not part of the initial plan. It turned out to be an excellent choice.

Just before the restaurant we parted company with two members who descended directly to La Givrine rather enjoying a meal with us.

Lunch discussion subjects largely included the antics of the present USA president (fondly known as The Orange Monster). It seems that the group has lost interest in Scottish independence for the moment.

Fondue, various croutes and röstis were welcome accompaniments to the beer.

Being 10 people helped immensely to determine the cost per person.

While we were replenishing our energy, our two 4 legged companions renewed their friendship with Moos, their host, and went frolicking outside in the snow.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and after a few beers and a delicious meal we decided to take the direct route back to the car park.

The day went very well: the weather cooperated, no injuries were incurred (although there was a helicopter that flew by to check on us) and we managed a distance of 9 km with a 360m climb.

Hike from St. Cergue to the Barillette restaurant

The itinerary suggested for this outing was partly in the forest and partly in open areas. The climb and distance were moderate from St. Cergue to the Barillette restaurant.

Eleven hardy souls met at the small car park in St. Cergue. Mervyn’s friend Stephen joined the walk but could not stay to enjoy lunch with us and Ross had to cancel at the last minute due to illness.

The weather forecast was good for the morning but slight rain was predicted for mid-afternoon. For once Météo-Suisse was spot on. The rain began as expected at 15:15 slightly before we reached the cars.

We had plenty of time, so we began the hike with a short detour along the path Balade de Béatrix to a picnic area with a lovely view of the lake and its surroundings.

After this short pause, Nathan started down a rather steep path toward the original itinerary. Stephen suggested a different path with a gentler slope which was immediately accepted by a unanimous group vote.

The walk proceeded with no notable incident through to our next stopping point where bottles of wine suddenly appeared accompanied with some nosherai. Many thanks to Mervyn and Larry for the liquid refreshments.

Afterwards we headed toward the last bit, just below the restaurant, which was the most challenging part of the climb. Everyone managed without a single complaint.

The lunch went well and the group seemed to really appreciate my enormous effort to have exactly 10 participants when the bill arrived.

We returned along the same path we had taken in the morning. About three quarters of the way down I was woefully derelict in my leader duties and did not ensure that everyone was following. A few of the group lost sight of the others and missed a turn. Happily technology saved the day. A quick phone call and we were reunited just in time for the rain.

It was a pleasant hike in spite of getting wet at the end.

We also bid farewell to Larry who will soon leave on his annual trip to Canada.

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Participants: Mervyn Powell, David Colledge, Nicolas Ulmer, Mark Warren, Thatcher Shellaby, Peter Drew, Larry French, Mark Watts, Stephen Langton, Andrew Neivens and myself.

Walking distance: 8.2km
Climbing distance: 445m

Hike Pailly car-park Colomby de Gex on 28 September 2023

Nathan initially proposed a hike that he knew well from the Col de la Faucille to the Colomby de Gex. During a subsequent discussion, Mark Warren indicated that there was an alternative itinerary beginning/ending at the Pailly car-park. The advantage of this route is that it is a loop rather than an up/down. The disadvantage is that it requires a bit more climbing/distance.

A compromise hike starting from the Col de la Faucille and ending at the Pailly car-park was proposed to the group. However, the 9 hardy participants (David C., 2 X Mark W., Mervyn P., Nathan F., Peter T., Peter S., Philip J. and Richard S.) unanimously preferred the longer route beginning/ending at the Pailly car-park. It was an excellent choice providing some splendid views of the Leman basin and the Alps. The weather fully cooperated with moderate temperatures and clear skies.

The hike began with a 40 minute rather steep but well marked path through the forest. Richard was not feeling well and unfortunately about halfway through the forest he decided to bail out. It was certainly a wise but painful choice for him. He managed to get back to the car-park where Carol came to fetch him. He was missed during the rest of the hike. We all felt very guilty that we did not offer to lighten his back-pack to ease his return (notably the heavy refreshment flask😂).

We enjoyed a brief pause after the steep climb.

We then followed various paths leading to the Montrond for another short pause. There, a waypost indicated 55 minutes to the Colomby. We could see the derrick in the distance, estimated that it was over 3 km from us and concluded that the waypost was somewhat optimistic.

1.5 hours later we were gathered in front of the Colomby de Gex derrick enjoying the view and beginning our well earned lunch.

While we were lunching we encountered a few hikers from the north of France who were impressed that our group of very mature men was able to hike all the way up to the Colomby, some even carrying the full weight of bottles of wine. Accepting their compliment, we shared some of our wine with them which they gladly accepted.

When the local colony of Colomby flies discovered us, we packed up for the long descent that began through a high plateau with a couple of successfully managed dodgy bits along the way.

The downward path took us through open areas with nice views of the Leman basin & the Alps, valleys, narrow & wide trails and forests.

The downward path terminated just below our starting point and a short climb on the “paved” road brought us back to the car-park.

From the start of the descent, the group split into 2 smaller groups. The faster one (Mervyn and the 2 Peters) completely abandoned us about halfway down, racing ahead because of personal engagements at 17:30.
They arrived at the car-park at 16:45 and were able to make their appointments.

The other group arrived at the car-park at 17:45.

Accumulated climb: 900 m
Distance: 16 km
Picture credits: David Colledge, Peter Taylor & Mark Warren.

GIN Hikers – Jura Winter Storm -A walk on the wild side – Col de Porte and Couvaloup. 13 April 23.

Nathan writes :-

The itinerary I suggested for this outing began at the Archette car park, up to the Col de Porte and then down to the Couvaloup-de-Crans restaurant for lunch. The return leg was around the mountain rather than climbing back up and over it. There was an optional quick climb to the Dôle after “encouraging” liquid refreshments at the CAS Hut.

Nathan’s Hike – Clockwise from top right – Lunch top left

The outing was tarnished by the fact that our restaurant decided to close for 10 days. Unfortunately I was not able to persuade them to exceptionally open just on Thursday for our illustrious group. We each had to carry our lunch up in our back-pack, at least most of us did.

MétéoSuisse led us to believe that there would only be very light snow and only in the morning with very little wind.

Seven of us met at the Divonne car park for our contribution to the saving the earth effort by travelling in only 3 vehicles. Two more met us directly at the Archette. The nine of us (eleven if Kobie and Nessie are included) set off a bit after 10:00 under a cloudy sky, with almost no snow either on the ground or falling through the air.

Soon after though, the ground was covered with a white layer and indeed a light snow began falling. As we progressed toward our objective, gaining altitude, the white layer got deeper and the snow began falling more intensely. Snow-shoes were not required but some of the steeper places were somewhat uncomfortable.

One of the steeper places – more serious still

When we arrived at the CAS Hut there was considerable snow falling. With the low cloud cover we were not motivated, even after appropriate refreshments, to climb to admire the non-view from the Dôle.

Not the Dôle top – but it’s over there. Several chamois in this photo..

Looking back down the track leading to the Col de Porte

Looking up – Rob leads Richard to the CAS Hut at the Col de Porte

Taking Benedictine and chips at the CAS Hut

The wind was no longer a gentle breeze when we crossed over the pass on to the western downward slope. The gusts were over 50km/h! Fortunately they subsided as we descended.

We all made it to the restaurant with no casualty. As expected, it was closed but they did leave the tables and benches on the terrace for us. Some of our more dedicated members cleared off the snow so that lunch would be comfortable albeit cold except for the few moments when the sun took pity on us with a bit of warmth.

After a lovely lunch, in spite of some complaints about the slow/snow service, we began our return through the forest. Being at a lower altitude the walk was more relaxed with neither wind nor significant snow falling.

It was occasionally a little slippery where the snow did not cover the wet leaves but we managed to make it back to the car park safe and sound.

Kudos to the group for their intrepidness to have undertaken the hike and finished it with “nary” a complaint in spite of the poor weather, lack of a restaurant and a couple of treacherous passages.

Participants: Mervyn Powell, Philip Jenkins, Nicolas Ulmer, Peter Taylor, Mike Muller, Mark Warren, Rob Pashley, Richard Saynor, myself, Kobie and Nessie.

Walking distance: 10.5km

Climbing distance: 580m

Nathan Finkelstein

Posted by Peter T