Blog

Downhill ski team hits Portes du Soleil 21 March 2019

Three intrepid skiers (Mervyn, Thatcher and Peter) attempted to follow Steve Long around his home resort in perfect weather and snow conditions to match. 23 lifts and a lot of ground covered with a superb lunch at the to-be-recommended Rhodos Restaurant.

Coffee and rest stop

Still smiling
Lunch at Rhodos
Yes – a good day..

A hike 3 years ago

Just upgraded the web site to WordPress 5. This gives a more powerful editor and much easier to use, so they say!!

Thought I’d test it by inserting a blog from a hike we did 3 years ago. Thursday May 19, 2016. This was led by Jonathan Harle with Rob, Thatcher and Mark.

  • GIN hike May 2016, Col de la Faucille,
  • GIN hike May 2016,

It was pouring with rain when we left the parking at Divonne and snowing heavily when we arrived at Col de la Faucille. Not the sort of weather we expected in May. Still a great hike, even if it was a bit short because the weather deteriorated so much that pretty soon we could not see the trail at all. All the trail markers were covered in snow or obscured by the mist. There are some steep drops we wanted to avoid so we headed due North until we crossed one of the ski lifts and got our bearings. Then we were able to plot a route back to the restaurant for a warming coffee.

GINs Snow Shoeing

7 Feb 2019 Enjoyable inaugural snow-shoe event, up to Vermeilleys from La Givrine for a fondue in snowy (good) then rainy (not so good) conditions, under the guidance of Mark Warren. With Robert Mackenzie, David Stiebor, Robert Pashley, Richard Saynor and me. Cheese Trifon fondue was excellent as was the chasselas. Sadly not all made it, but we regrouped for a tea at the end. Photos to follow. Peter

GINS XC Skiing – 6 Feb 19 – Lajoux

Fantastic Jura Ski Trails

Following a number of apologies for absence, Mark and I spent a great day out on the far trails of Lajoux (the second Jura ridge) in perfect weather. While the usual grey and soupy cloud covered the whole of the Lake Geneva Region, the Jura basked in calm sunshine. Mark langlaufed, while I skated, but we kept together and completed the 19km of the Combe de la Chèvre which takes in the Forêt de la Massacre. There were many friendly folk out there enjoying the sun with warm smiles and greetings, and the youngest we met was only 15 months, fast asleep in a pulk. Exhausting but brilliant, and rounded off at Lajoux with apple tarte and hot chocolate. Thanks Mark for driving. Peter

Gins X Country

Subject: GINs Cross-country ski outings – Wednesdays
Date: 23 January 2019 at 13:51:41 CET
To: Mark Watts

Dear Mark and GINs gentlemen all

As promised and a bit belatedly I am now in a position (after my foot operation) to propose some XC ski days out up in the Jura. And the snow is currently perfect.

In fact these will more likely be half days as we all know that that is as much as we can take in one outing.

I propose meeting at the usual parking by the fountains at Divonne Lake carpark at 9.30 am, where we can sort out transport and target location (there is more up there than La Vattay) on the following dates:-

Wednesdays

30 January
6,13,20,27 February
6,13,20,27 March
3 April

Lunches and/or drinks can follow.

Please feel free to extend this to friends and better halves.

Looking forward to seeing you and to some sunshine and healthy exercise out on the trails.

Best wishes

Peter

Top