Festiraquettes 2009 Les Diablerets

Festiraquettes se déroulait cette année en 3 lieux différents: au Col du Marchairuz dans le Jura, au Gurnigel dans les Gantrisch et aux Diablerets. Comme j'étais aux "Djables", en voici qqs photos:

Voici Virginie (MC Vir) sous les tentes qui furent très simples à monter ...


Autre vue avec clients très intéressés par le matos. En arrière-plan, le Sex Rouge se découpe en blanc sur le ciel bleu (c'est beau).


Un groupe sur le départ avec leur accompagnatrice (Hello Pascale!) effectuant un petit stretching préambulatoire de bonne facture.


Sur le Tour du Tré, des clients satisfaits savourent une tisane maison sous un soleil radieux et les parois abruptes du Creux de Champs.


Les panneaux estivaux de l'ASAM contribuent au look résolument bigaré des lieux. La chose rouge juste à gauche du panneau est en fait le bus de MC Vir. Tout au fond, la crête épique de la couronne impérieuse du massif des Diablerets semble sortir de l'imagination de scénaristes bollywoodiens: à gauche le sommet des "Djables", puis la forme ronde de la Tête Ronde (très bon!) et enfin le Culan (une explication plausible et si possible sérieuse est toujours attendue pour ce nom à la mord-moi-le).


Fin de journée aux "Djables". Chacun y va de son histoire, les tentes sont pliées, les doigts de pieds gèlent gentiment au fond des godasses, quelques bâtons pleurent un peu car la journée a été longue et ils ont peur d'être oubliés sur le parkinje, et Pascale s'apprête à rentrer chez elles avec dans ses bagages les clés de voiture de France! De G à D: Anne-Valérie, Pascale, la Doudoune sous laquelle est blotti tel un lièvre varié c't'ami Caril et Alain descendu des montagnes du Jura.


En tout, environ 70 personnes promenées. Pas si mal mais on attendait un peu plus.

'ta.

Forklift waltz

It all started with a train trip to access the foot of the Niremont, a large hill that spreads from Chatel-St-Denis to Bulle, in the swiss Prealps.


From Semsales, I fixed my snowshoes on and started up through dense woodland. I emerged out in the open some 30 minutes later. Here, the northern winds had shaped the snow into smooth curves that delicately suggested the underlying topography.


Mist loomed around the trees halfway up the eastern slopes. I made my way through frozen marshes and small spruces.


Finally, BANG, sunlight, summit! In these catholic territories, almost every prominence has its cross, no surprise. But beneath this one I met a small troup of holiday makers over from England, New Zealand and Holland; we chatted, good fellas, and a smashing camera held by mister Lee Copple (that's him on the right, hello Lee!) out hunting for 100strangers, check it out: www.flickr.com/photos/copple/


For those of you who always look ahead and don't believe in looking back on things: well, I find it's sometimes worth it!


And now for something completely different. I was very fortunate to witness, as I walked into Chatel-St-Denis at the end of the day, a rare and moving event: a herd of waltzing forklifts. It was magnificent, but -alas!- short-lived, as the blushing drivers spotted me staring at their performance. It was a non-competitive stare (http://www.avydia.com/), but the machines cleared off nonetheless. I managed to snap a picture as they were leaving.

It's also part of the outdoors!

Recently I proposed an article for a local outdoor magazine I sometimes write for (http://www.atelier-33.ch/outdoor/index.php) and they refused it because the photos were not "sunny" enough. Of course, that was precisely the point of the article: bad weather in the mountains, and how one could still venture out and enjoy some amazing landscapes, atmospheres and have a little adventure. Yes, you do have to be careful when setting out in bad weather, but we are a bit spoilt over here in Heidiland because the weather is mostly quite good. Anyway, here's a view of the Lac de Joux in a wonderful, freezing mist. Oh, and it was almost night too ...


ps: check out the mag anyway, there's some really good stuff in it (apart from mine!)

Tendrement vôtre

Le Mont qui se nomme Tendre ne l'est pas toujours. Parfois il y fait un temps à ne pas mettre un Mike Horn dehors. Mais ce jour là, le 2 janvier 2009, nous y sommes montés en douceur, presque sans effort, en faisant froufrouter nos raquettes dans la fraîche, et le sommet nous reçu comme de vieux amis, en silence et avec délicatesse.


OK, mais il y a aussi des choses à regarder ici-en-haut, pas seulement des choses à rêver: le vent par exemple se voit bien sur la crête, même quand il ne souffle pas!


Et puis, au fin fond de la forêt profonde, comme on dit dans les contes, le vent n'arrive plus et alors c'est le froid qui se montre:

Ice

Cold
Cold
Icy
Freezing air has been blowing over Europe for the past weeks. We went down to a local river and found this amazing curtain of ice.

James Bond comes to Les Diablerets

"What? You mean ... really???"

Well, actually not quite. In fact, I was just looking for a catchy title, but it is only partially un-true, and here's why: 2 weeks ago Virginie and I led a small tour through the Diablerets village, with a group of Britons from the island in the sea across from LA France and amongst them ... but let's not go too fast, first of all here's a picture of V explaining some incredible stuff (no kidding) about wildlife in the Alps. I'll say it agin, no kiddin', she has a megastore of amazing stories about animals, plants, nature, for example: did you know that squirrels are left or right-handed and that you can find out just by looking (you'll need a bit of eye-ripping practice I admit) at the cones they nibbled? Well, that's the type of thing you'd hear if you were to come up to Les Diablerets one day and book an outing with Rando-Decouverte.


So what about JB007? Well, the guy standing with a big umbrella in the snow KNEW him, and it was the right one too: Mr Sean! He actually played a part in the famous Dr NO movie! A real nice character (no not NO, the man on the photo).