It's April, and I'm skiing the end of season weeks in incredibly hot weather. I suppose the term hot is relative, but for skiing, it felt way too warm. I had arrived by train and then Postbus, and Sierre was baking hot. I was beginning to understand why vineyards are big business in Valais.
My skiing experience was that of very hard surfaces in the mornings, followed by soft slushy snow after lunch. The resort was pretty busy over Easter, and I worked hard to avoid the queues for the lifts.
Andy arrived for a short break and we had a great time off piste over by the Lona black slope. We saw that there had been an avalanche which had damaged the pylons of the drag lift, and we watched a new pylon being helicoptered into place.
In the photo, you can see the extent of the avalanche, and the helicopter with the pylon underneath. The helicopter had a twin set of blades, which I've never seen before.
The lift company fixed the left very quickly, and cleared the track between the debris, so we could use the lift. Seeing the debris up close was quite scary.
We did manage to get away from the Easter crowds though, taking a picnic and enjoying the spring sunshine.
An unusual sunset brought with it the promise of a change in the weather, but unfortunately Andy had to go home.
As the morning after the snowfall dawned, I received a txt from friend Brian. Who says there are no friends on a powder day.
As he's a good skier, he leads me off piste to places, I wouldn't normally go by myself. As usual I'm playing catch up!
Some of these tracks are mine, and for me that's good!I did drop my camera on the tarmac at the gondola station, so right now I'm wondering if I did some damage to the inside, apart from the dents on the body, as normally my photos are a bit sharper.
I started with a cold on the night after I took these photos, so I was feeling a bit low for the last few days. Of course, this cleared up, in time for my journey home.
