I can hardly believe it, I am done with the winter season, the snowshoes are safely stacked away until next year, it's over and I am home safe and sound. A very big OOOOOFF should be heard here.
It's been an incredible winter season all over the Alps, with LOADS of snow, which has continued to fall regularlly for 5 months. 
This has given some fabulous conditions of course and we've certainly never had to worry about ice or lack of snow this year. But it seems to have been snowing most days since mid-March which has meant I have often been walking in deep untracked snow and lately in fog!
Whilst this can certainly be disconcerting, not to mention tiring, at the time, afterwards there is something very special about the feeling of having the mountains to ourselves (no-one else was daft enough to out?!) and we have had some magnificent outings this last week or so.
My groups this season have generally been brilliant fun and these last two were no exception. I was at times frustrated because they so much deserved more sun, but in fact every day we got breaks in the clouds and the photos were very evocative and atmospheric. Everyone was cheerful and luckily most folk have now got the message that photos in the snow look a whole lot better if you're wearing bright colours, and even more so when it's cloudy.
At Gemmi the bearded vulture made an appearance just the once, which was nice.
And to cap it all we finished on a roll - or several!
I'm now taking a little rest until the middle of May when the Provence Hiking week takes place. Watch this space for exciting and enticing Provence write ups between now and then.
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| Photo: Louis Pinto |
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