Category: Snowshoes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

At least one intending snow shoer inquired as to whether this hike could be moved from Thursday to Wednesday in view of the poor weather forecast for Thursday, but following the addage that there is no such thing as wrong weather, only wrong gear, we ploughed ahead.

11 and a dog showed up at Le Coutzet parking at 1160m, at 10am, just as a very large truck was loading up very large logs in the car park.

Happily the log loader had done this many times before and we were not threatened by falling wood.

Attending : Mark2ts, MichaelM, Stephen, Rob, Nathan, Andrew, Ross, Drew, Mervyn, Ralph and me and Kobie. Apologies were received from many, some of them with reasonable sounding excuses. Sad that Larry had had to return to Canada to lower his blood pressure.

I was quite surprised that all 10 others who said they would come, actually turned up on the day. The forecast was indeed not great. My hope was that the precipation would turn to snow as we gained height – and indeed this turned out to be the case. Despite this being a snow-shoe hike, and with it being mild and slushy at the car park we unanimously took the decision to leave our raquettes behind in the cars, and “wing it” on boots. I must admit to being a little apprehensive about this, especially as the snow arrived in spades not long after we had left the car park, both underfoot and falling on us !

Anyway without the snow shoes we were lighter and more nimble as we slid our way up the initial slopes.

Stephen led upward and he seemed to be in fine form after his hiking holiday in La Gomera, despite his somewhat niggling replacement knee, possibly to be re-replaced soon. He sported an orange plastic bag which reminded us of another member who also has this in his lexicon of kit (and who also hikes La Gomera).

We had been in reasonably dry weather to begin with. The precipitation soon came. Rain, then sleet then snow. Stopping for a breather at the Bent Tree (now more bent as you may discern) brought back memories of winter hikes past.

Morale seemed good so we ploughed on up towards the Chalet des apprentis

Kobie led the way up, sensing or smelling the chamois whom we spotted hunkered down on the steep cliffs left of the Col de Porte which was reached in good time for some aperos.

Sheltering under the lee of the hut at the Col de Porte (1557m) we were looking out at falling snow, reminiscent of April 2023 when Nathan had led us up here. These are the winter walks at their best !

Thus far we had seen precisely nobody else about, and the trails were virgin snow, surprisingly easy to walk on without raquettes. The descent began at 12.10 pm and indeed it took us only half an hour descending in pleasant powder snow, passed lower down on the piste by the odd skier enjoying very pleasant snow conditions.

We arrived at the Restaurant Couvaloup de Crans (1280m) only a little behind schedule. There were a number of skiers taking refreshment, but a big table had been set for us. Dr Gabs beer was soon delivered and a relaxed feeling that “the worst is over” seemed to be coming through. Of course this was a false sense of reality – but more of that later.

Various dishes were ordered duly deliverd and consumed, including much rösti and croute fromage and mushroom. One member misrembered his order and started eating the plate of another, but a diplomatic incident was averted as a new dish was required to be cooked and came in good time.

Stephen related an Irish joke from La Gomera. It was funny but I cannot relate it here as the Censor would make noises. We drank the health of absent friends, sorry to miss them and sorry they were missing another classic.

At this juncture I can tell you that I’m typing this on 13 February – ie the same day as this outing. We(I) did inquire of Rob as to when his blog of the SS outing 4 weeks ago was going to be seen, but he seemed to fall back on the “no rules” “rule” of GinClub, some would say a line of argument on thin ice. Given that he is the SS Organiser (and is having an abstemious quarter), he does have rank over me here, so I’m resting my case.

It was snowing outside and the fire inside was keeping us nice and warm. More beer then dessert and coffees arrived and Drew shared some Scotch.

It was time to pay up and go, the bill being divided unfairly or fairly as to ones choices, but in fact I think we tried to be fairer than a straight split by 11.

Off out into the precipitation now being more sleety rain than rainy sleet.

We opted for the shorter higher trail home. Indeed I did not recall this from earlier (April 23 visit) in particular that the trail rises up well over 110m on the way back. Clearly nobody had been this way for some time, trees had fallen across the trail which at times seemed to disappear.

This route followed a trail on the map just south of Le Kikajon to the Fin Château, the latter being not obvious as, if there ever had been such an establishment, it’s Fin was some time ago. We descended steeply to a clearing and a trail more indicative of use and stopped for a breather and a photo.

It was indeed not too far now to the cars. The rain/sleet had subsided. If there was any grumbling, I did not hear it. Even Kobie had enjoyed himself (when does he not?).

A hike of nearly 11km and 550m denivellation. Some gear was tested. Some found good, some not so. Lessons for the future. And I believe we all agreed that given the soft conditions and low depth of snow that wearing snow shoes would have been worse. Thanks for all the fun folks. Until the next time.

This is a belated summary of the SS hike from Marchairuz organised by our SS Leader Rob.

10 turned out for the hike and 10 lunch but two left and two arrived in between.

Attending (No dogs):-

Hike : Rob, Ralph, MikeH, PeterS, Mark2ts, Paul, Nathan, Mervyn, PeterT, Mark2rs

Lunch : Add David and Larry and subtract PeterS and Mark2rs.

This hike was in good cold sunshine out in a NW direction to the Cabane du Grand Cunay and back. We took apèros at the CduGC and returned for a fine lunch. Great to see both Larry and David joining us for the lunch. 6.5Km and 300m deniv. I recall Rob did not use his raquettes at all, but see there is a photo of him wearing them so that must have been another outing.

A fun outing with crunching then munching.

(First Snowshoe led by our new SS Leader Rob Ed.)

It was a classic opening to the Snowshoe season. Only a little snow, the traditional hike to Le Vermeilley, a fun group and excellent fondue / croute .  Twelve hardy souls and two dogs met at La Givrine braced themselves with extra layers but all agreed to leave their snowshoe equipment at home. 

Rob the organizer in chief was joined by Mark W, Stephen, Ralph, Nicolas, David, Mervyn,Bill, Nathan, RichardS, RichardW and PeterT.

We started off with a planned route, but only 20 meters in we veered onto a new and exciting direction following the  ski de fond sign posts towards the back end of La Genoliere. Nathan took over temporary leadership. Not sure if anyone noticed as there was lots of chat going on, although it was indeed a better path. As we got closer to the turnoff  PeterT had a new suggestion and we ventured on a new route towards the backend of the Cabane Rochefort.

With more of a climb and better views and it added to the planned distance. Once again, I am not sure anyone noticed the deviation from the plan as there were no complaints, unusual with PeterTˋs unplanned deviations. The dogs enjoyed it.

The whole crew was pleasantly surprised that when we arrived at the Cabane Rochefort, where we stopped briefly to take in the panoramic view of the lake and the Alps, Stephen offered everyone not one, but two glasses of Champagne in celebration of, as he described it as, a big birthday. Twenty-one or something like that? We chatted as we ate nibbles and chewing on the important topics of the day while wishing Stephen many happy returns. Truly a merry interlude enjoyed by all. 

We made our way to La Vermeilley after picking up the pieces of our abstinence breaking interlude,  and Stephen was more than pleased that his backpack was a lot lighter.

There was a bit of a climb and a short hike through the forest after which we arrived in La Vermeilley and the promise of fondue and something to quench our thirst. That champagne seemed to bring on a thirst.

With a big log fire, good food and the odd glass of wine and beer it met all of our expectations. Two other tables were occupied and all were merry, including six well behaved dogs. 

The fondue seemed spiked with some Bohemian rhapsody, or so it was claimed, but we managed to calm down and enjoyed some excellent tarts (of the desert kind) with flavoured coffee. All was good on the Jura.

It was a straight hike back down to the car park all as per the original plan; no deviations.  A fine day was had by all.

The stats 

Distance:          11,7km 

Total Ascent:       328 m

15 Feb 2024

I had chosen the Marchairuz location ten days before, but had hiked a snow trail there only 2 days before. Then the conditions were really scenic, with snow filled trees and sun and blue sky. Two days later the trees had shed all their white raiment, and some snow had disappeared from the ground. But mostly there was a snow trail to follow and it seemed a suitable pre-lunch amble for our Snow Shoe members.

This was to be a 5 Km hike with 180m denivellation.

Attending were Larry, Mike H and Rocco, Nicolas (without Onyx), Richard S, Paul, Philip, Andrew, Nathan, David, Peter S and me (without Kobie). Sadly Rocco was on his ownsome. Excuses for absence were received from many, some without explanation…

Two decisions were made before we left at 10.15am from the Col. Firstly Philip decided that he wanted to meander solo along the trail N of the col, at his own pace after returning to the fold after surgery. We were a little concerned that he would be alone, but like Adam he was adamant. Secondly, as quite a number of the party had not brought snow shoes (ahem, it was a snow shoe hike!) we opted for boots only, with one or two adding grippers to their soles.

The weather was warmish and cloudy with little wind and gloves were not essential, nor thick jackets. Off we set in the clockwise loop that Kobie and I had done on Tuesday, also not with snow shoes.

It was pleasant going meandering along a snowshoe trail probably set on Monday by a guide – who knew where he was going. It was not deep but in places we went through holes up to our knees. Snow shoes were not really needed however.

After an hour or so of easy going we arrived at Fontaine Valier. Larry had a bottle with no glasses, so the cognoscenti were left to sample ouzo from the Bottle of Many Labels.

Suitably refreshed we turned up right and across the ridge to a parallel trail returning to the col.

Another hour or so of slightly harder uphill tramping brought us back to the col and the Restaurant. Philip was waiting for us – he had enjoyed a pleasant solitary stroll of 3.5km N of the Col.

We had met Larry at this venue almost exactly a year earlier. That time we were in the Stube, this time we had a linen table preapred in the main restaurant.

The food was delicious. Several chose fondu, while others went for the en-croute which was fabulous. Mike thought he had lucked out with piccata Milanese – the dish of the day. The desserts were good too – at least the mousse au chocolate was extremely rich. Beers, wines and coffees washed it all down.

We had drunk the health of absent friends, in particular Stephen. We had discussed much including US politics, poetry, the meaning of French letters etc, rugby and much more, some of which is forgotten and some must remain unwritten.

Needless to say that after such a gargantuan feast, and having done a reasonable stroll in the morning, we all chose to bail out and go home for a siesta.

Thanks to all for a great short day out, almost on snow shoes but not quite. And thanks to Larry for the wine we did not drink, and Richard for the Ouzo. And thanks to drivers too.

The hiking season cannot be far away !

Our SSLeader M2rs had foretold of a lack of snow, no need even to bring snowshoes. What a racquette this climate change has become!

M2rs had written:-

“The weather for Thursday is looking overcast with perhaps a lttle rain but unless the forecast is completely wrong, I have given up trying to find any snow for us to snowshoe on. 

So with snowshoeing past in mind, I am proposing a winter wander from the Givrine to Chez Mamac at la Cure for lunch and walk/train back. 

Depending on the exact route we take, the distance is about 11 kms (7km plus a further four if we walk back) height difference about 300m. 

I’ll be very surprised if we even need to bring our snowshoes but if anyone who has been up there recently thinks differently, please let us know. 

Meeting 9h30 Divonne customs car park, 10h00 (or just after for anyone taking the train) at the Givrine. 

Please let me know if you’re coming by Wednesday lunchtime so that I can inform the restaurant. “

MikeH and I with Rocco and Kobie arrived at 10am just before Stephen, David, SSL Mark2rs, Richard S and Nathan at the carpark (1205m) and shortly before RichardW and Rob who arrived by train. It was indeed a mild and damp start to February with precipitation forecast for the middle of the day. The winter wander then proceeded up the grassy field in a NW direction before turning NE on the somewhat icy tarmac road. Soon though we were safely off onto grass with even some snow patches.

We rose steadily passing a wall (some taking it directly) and up to the Pré du Four Cabane/Cowshed at 1395m where we established a table for apèros, rosé and genepi. Sadly no strong black coffee as M2ts was away in Blighty.

I believe that it was from here that RS established contact with son Tim and his beautiful dog Spencer to fix a rendezvous at Mamac for our lunch. Clearly we had been proceeding slowly because Tim and Spence came out into the mist to meet up with us in the fields.

All of a sudden Tim and Spencer appeared on our left giving impetus and energy to our party, or was it the lure of lunch?

We arrived at 12.30pm or so at Mamac and given a warm welcome with a large table for ten and 3 dogs. As I recall everyone was well behaved except Kobie (I’m working on it…).

It was not long before beers and wines arrived and we raised a toast to absent friends, some of whom had proferred better excuses for absence than others.

This was going to be a cheesy affair, the main question being the choice between en-croute or the Triphon fondu. Both were delicious, even the chèvre en-croutes.

The salad was good as was the cheese, wine and beer. Tim and Spencer left early to go back to work while the party discussion continued on areas such as the upcoming 6 Nations, diets, the organ recital, Trump, the Middle East, plans for the year ahead, the wonders of the E-Vignette, etc etc.

Finally we paid and were off into the dampness which seemed to have been worse over the lunch but was now abating. We eschewed any notion of catching the train and so tramped down to La Cure and up across the road to the path memorable for RS’s two falls in ten metres, of a few years ago. This time he only fell once, but I balanced out the count by slipping over on the wet group just afterwards.

A very pleasant lunch and an enjoyable wander. Indeed 11km and 300m. Sad about the snow. Gintlemen and dogs reasonably well behaved.