22nd April 2022

The winter season draws to a close! Since returning from our ski tour in Switzerland, it seems that Spring has rushed towards us and Summer is already approaching. Just a couple of weeks ago we were shivering in icy winds and cold at the top of the Petit St Bernard Pass; today we have been walking along meadows carpeted with crocuses.

There has still been some great skiing: a day in La Thuile, more day touring to the Col du Fond des Fours (with lunch at the refuge, now that it has opened), touring around the Refuge du Palet, and walks above Villaroger. By and large, though, the snow is disappearing, and the conditions on piste are not great – icy in the morning, then rapidly turning to slush by early afternoon. That has given us the excuse to leave our skis behind and venture out. We went on a day trip to Annecy: an opportunity for some shopping aided by a lovely relaxing lunch in the old town. Today we put on our walking boots and headed up above the resort of Ste Foy (the ski season is now closed there) to walk to the old village of Le Monal, where the spring flowers are already coming into bloom.

On reflection, it has been a funny winter. The heavy snow falls at the start of the season brought the promise of great skiing, but powder days proved to be few and far between. The weather was unusually good – in the sense of warmth and sun, so the conditions both on and off-piste were challenging: hard-pack and ice were the order of the day. That gave us more opportunities for ski touring, but paradoxically, for the week we booked for a proper hut to hut tour in Arolla, the weather turned cold and stormy! To cap it all, the lingering threat of the Covid pandemic meant we started the season wearing masks, scanning Covid vaccination passes, and missing our friends whose travel plans were blocked by entry restrictions to France. By the end of the season, the Covid threat thankfully seems to have diminished, and just about all restrictions have eased. It is easy to sense the relief in the resorts: back in January there was still a genuine risk that the lifts would shut again. Now we can breathe a sigh of relief, and keep our fingers crossed that normality has returned. 

I think this will be the last blog of the 21-22 winter season. In just a few days we will be returning to Sardinia and to our boat. All being well, we will soon be heading across the Tyrrhenian Sea to Sicily, then on to Greece for a Summer exploring the Greek islands. We will try and keep the blog up to date with our travels, so keep an eye out!