Tag: Raquettes

Tete de Bostan (2406 m)

Our first big hike this season -Tete de Bostan. We’re gaining elevations gradually, 2406 m is already pretty high up so I can’t wait for the rest of the season to see if we are able to beat our record. I saw photos from Tete de Bostan on my friend’s FB and immediately decided I wanna go there. I knew it would be a challenge with nearly 1400m of elevation gain but couldn’t resist anyway. Especially after our previous hike that was not very satisfactory when it comes to length.

Before having challenged the mountain, as usual I checked the opinions and conditions on route. One guy wrote: „It sure is one long ridge”. I seriously can’t argue with that! This mountain has like 3 false summits! You think it’s there, you can see your destination, you’re approaching with the rest of your powers only to learn that it’s not there and you have like another hundred of meters to cover. A bit annoying 🙂 For example look at the photo below where I am pointing to what turned out not be our destination and Radek pointing to the real Tete de Bostan.

We had a very nice weather that day. The sun was frying us and we got some really nice tan despite having put factor 50 of sun block 🙂 And the views were rewarding throughout almost all of the hike.

Final meters were tough to me but I was making a steady progress because I was curious of the vertigo-building line right before the summit (see photo below).

We were right on time on the top as soon after we did some photos the weather changed and became clouded. Going down was frustrating. We shared our route up with lots of ski tourers and every time I saw them I was envy they had skis and I didn’t. I mean, I know I probably don’t have enough skill to ski down such a slope but it would have made everything so much easier! I have no doubts that ski touring will become my thing soon! But for now – long and tedious way down on snowshoes.

Pointe de Bellevue (2041 m)

I really longed for a proper hike and was very excited about the one we were supposed to have that day. But I also chickened out a bit and settled for a not-so-challenging route which turned out to be a mistake. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the hike was very nice but I had a bit of a feeling of dissatisfaction afterwards – like I wanted more that day but the route had finished… Anyway, we will have a chance to have another one so nothing’s lost.
But to the point – our destination: Pointe de Bellevue – which in translation would be Peak of Beautiful View. It really was, but I’ll get to that later.
We started our hike on a very steep meadow where we gained elevation super quickly. It wasn’t a real trail, we just crossed the field where convenient for us. We didn’t intend it, we were following someone else’s gpx track that had been named as the official route. Bummer.

What I liked most about this hike was the constant presence of Dents du Midi. Most of the hikes we do here are more in vicinity of Mont Blanc. It’s funny because every time I see Mont Blanc it tempts me to climb it some day. And when I was close to Dents du Midi it made me wanna hike them again since last time we were there we didn’t have perfect conditions and it’s this kind of mountain that you wanna see crystal clear all around you.
Back to Pointe de Bellevue – our route there was pretty easy and as soon as we left the grassy steep hill behind us, we equipped our snowshoes and continue along the slopes straight to the top. From there we had a really nice view around the valleys and to the surrounding tops. Although there was no sunshine, we could see as far as the Italian mountains.

It was pretty windy up there so after a couple of photo shots we continued our hike down the marked trail to the ski station, where we took the already known off track path. It was a nice walk but made me want a bit more.

Stats: Max altitude: 2041m; elevation gain: 800m; Length: 7.3 km; Duration: 3h 40min

Plateau des Glières (1782 m) on snowshoes

At last! Clear blue skies, lots of sun, lots of snow and mountains. Liking it… No… Loving it 🙂
We set off for our second hike this year and it was a blast this time. We headed for Chalets des Auges and in order to reach them we needed to traverse the Plateau des Glières which opened a magnificent view over the Aravis mountains. Simply stunning, but we’ll get there in a moment.

We set off from Col des Glieres where nordic skiers have their earth paradise. It looked really awesome with all the routes prepared for amateurs of winter fun. We never got into nordic skiing but who knows what will happen in the future!

The route was pretty straightforward (I always choose easy ones when we go with our son on the back). Except for a pretty steep section in the woods, it was all nice and neat. When we reached the plateau the views took our breath away. It was fun to have a look at the chain and to recognize the mountains we had already hiked.

Once on the plateau, we did a short walk to Chalets des Auges (1782 m), took a few other photos and went back to the car by the same route. It really was a very nice family hike for us.

Stats: Length: 7 km; Elevation gain: 400m; Duration: 3h

Let the hiking season begin: Orsière (1750m)

I have to admit it – I got a bit tired of skiing. Maybe not that much of the activity itself but rather the side effect that we didn’t spend enough family time together. So this week we are taking a break from skiing, not from mountains though!
To inaugurate the hiking season I chose something easy, in any case, when we have a toddler on our back we’re not able to climb hell rocks and devil pits. Pointe d’Orsière seemed like a good choise – with no technical difficulty and low altitudes. And it was, with one 'but’.

The weather was a bit unfortunate. We drove there in full sunshine and took off all the layers in our car. But as we entered the car park it got gloomy and with every minute it was only worse. Throughout the whole day we saw the sun only a couple of times on our way back.

Although the route was very easy, we did struggle with ourselves. When you look at this outing from the perspective of our past hiking routes, this should have been like a walk in a park. But it really wasn’t! It’s sad how fast we lose the stamina when we stop doing sports. On top of that, our son is really heavy now so the 550 m of elevation gain we did is the maximum for hikes with him.

 
The whole trip made us so tired that 100 m before the summit we even considered turning back. In the end we turned down that thought and continue to the top following ski tourers’ trails. We spent only a couple of seconds at the top and descended by crossing the snowfields in the fresh powder snow. It’s always the best fun, as it literally lifts you when you rush down the slope in snowshoes. By no means the best part of the day!

Stats: max altitude: 1750m; elevation gain: 568 m; length: 12 km; duration: 4h 10 min

Montagne de Sous-Dine (2004 m)

Yet another snowshoe hike this winter (however I need to chose higher and higher peaks in order to have snow) – Montagne de Sous-Dine (2004 m.). I set off with a colleague around midday, first through the forest with little snow (definitely not enough to put the snowshoes on). Surprisingly, there were little people on the route so we could enjoy the wilderness of the paths. Montagne de Sous-Dine is situated on a plateau, which makes it possible to reach it with many different routes.
When we got out of the forest we saw beautiful fields of snow, either untouched or paved with different prints (animals, skiers, hikers etc.).

At some point we were able to see an already breath-taking panorama of the surrounding mountains, nevertheless it was still far from our final destinations so we continued on hiking up to the cross which is situated 8 metres below the peak.

 

We spent some time by the cross, admiring the view on the Alps and Mt Blanc (fortunately it was a perfectly clear day). The actual top of Sous-Dine was situated just a couple of meters ahead and to me looked pretty… mighty. I was even a bit afraid to approach it because you never know what might happen with snow caps like that. But in the end we decided to go back by a different route and we needed to pass by the peak anyway.

An ominously looking peak of Sous-Dine (Mt Blanc in the background):

Our way down was much more fun and off-road than the one up. Some of the parts were really steep, but whoever did snowshoeing knows that it can be a real fun running down the hill in a fresh snow with racquettes on. And it was for us too! We were not so sure about the route so we just followed someone else’s footprint. Having lost our way just once, we came back to the car. It’s a pity we didn’t find Trou de la Pierre passage – a footway that goes through the rock (looks like a whole in the stone). Well, at least I will have a motivation to come back here in summer.

 

  

La Bourgeoise (1770 m)

Today I went with a friend for one of my last raquettes hikes in this winter. Due to high temperatures snow was very wet and heavy and if the weather continues on an astonishing 20 degrees level, soon there will be no sign of white at this height.
Our destination today: 1770 m pour la Bourgeoise – a nice round walk with a magnificent panaroma over an Haute-Savoie massif.

An ascent was very mild with a constant view on the Samoens valley. Pretty soon we reached La Bourgeoise cross where two trails met: for snowshoes hikers and skiers. We enjoyed the views and stopped for a small picnic there.

For a descent, we first came down the same road in order to soon join a different trail that lead alongside a skiers’ route up to le col de Joux Plane where we parked the car. We passed by a lot of families with children, some did the track in backpacks with their parents, some had tiny snowshoes and other slid in sledges. I hope that some day I will do this route with my little Wojtek.

Col de Cenise (1787 m.)

Today I went for a snowshoe hike with a couple of friends – Agnieszka and Rafał. We chose Col de Cenise (1787 m.) for our destination. It was more of a walk than a real hike – with only 500 m of elevation and the temperatures so high it felt like summer up there. In fact, there were people hiking without proper clothing, hoping to get a tan. The route lead through a beautiful valley between the mountains I am ashamed to admit I don’t know names of 🙂 We reached the cross within 90 minutes and spent there some time picnicking and enjoying the sun.

Since we still had some time and a lot of power left, we decided not to end our trip with the col. Instead we went a bit up to see what’s behind the hill and then we headed towards the rocks, off the firm route. This was good choice because the surrounding became less crowded and way more wild and beautiful. Also, the snowshoes came in handy at last. It was real fun to shove through virgin snow, making almost the only footsteps around.

Our way back lead through the footsteps of the hills. We walked practically alone and needed to watch out for snow caps that formed by the wind and could easily drop causing a small avalanche that would be dangerous for us. We tried to keep away from such places although they looked really spectacular. Fortunately, we managed to take a couple of photos of such overhangs.

Visit Day 2: Pointe de Chalune

During the second day of our friends’ visit we wanted to show them what we have best here in Geneva region, so I took them to mountains. We went to La Chevrerie and we tried to reach Pointe de Chalune (2116 m). Mountains during winter are beautiful especially for people who have never seen so much snow before. Magda and Michał needed some time to get used to the snowshoes but after some time they started to enjoy the hike and views.

Unfortunately, during our hike the weather turned bad and we needed to turn back after half of our way to the top. But going down gave us even more fun than going up. We jumped with our snowshoes off the track until we completely disappeared in snow.
Because we didn’t reach summit of Pointe de Chalune we decided to go and see a view point of Turet close to Gex, later that day.

Sur Cou (1809 m)

Thanks to a recent temperature drop we decided it would be lovely to go hiking in the mountains. The trip was longly planned and awaited – our destination: Sur Cou mountain. It was our first winter hike and it surpassed all my epectations. I mean, I am very enthusiastic about mountains so it surprised me that their winter face is even more enchanting.
So, a starting couple photo and off we go…

First passage was quite easy – the path from a firm snow moved through the forest. From time to time we were passed by skiers dashing through the snow. Every now and then treetops thinned a bit showing a spectacular view of surrounding mountains. However, it took some time to see our destination – Sur Cou mountain. There are two ways to get there, we chose a steeper but shorter one. As soon as we turned left on the junction, the path became steeper and way more demanding. After a while the forest finished, leaving us on the bare slope. That was the most difficult part of the hike, since there was really a lot of light snow, not tracked by hikers or skiers. We needed to watch our feet in order not to fall down. Just one wrong step and the racquette would tilt to the side taking the rest of the body along straight into a 1-meter-snow.

The conditions changed when we approached the top. It got way windier and as a result, the snow cap was thinner, making the ascent a bit easier. Well, 'easier’ is a bit subjunctive. As I was approaching the top, I was imagining I was climbing Mount Everest 🙂 Call me crazy, but I have never gone through anything similar and although I know it wasn’t particularly difficult, for me it felt like a real duel: man vs mountain. Radek was a bit faster than me so he claimed Sur Cou first and managed to take a photo of me struggling to get to top. Looks alpine, doesn’t it?

And now… a cherry on a pie… The views… Although the photos never give justice to a real panorama, I won’t describe much. It would be difficult for me to depict with words the feeling of exhilaration I had as soon as I found myself over the clouds… I love mountains and I learned that I prefer mountains in winter than in summer.

 

Snowshoeing adventure begins: Le Turet (1375 m)

New Year – new adventures. We can now cross out „snowshoeing” from our to-do list. We had to take turns to be able to go on a trail, but it’s OK since we had different conditions and could later compare impressions and photos.

Take „Radek”:
Radek set out on his trip on Wednesday. It was way colder than the next day, so the snow was nice and neat, covering the pines and forming snow caps all over. The weather was sunny in general, however with the gaining height it got misty. Pros of mist and sun: lovely views through trees. Cons of mist and sun: no view at a viewpoint (see photo above).

Take „Ania”:
Iwent out the next day, on Thursday. Weather conditions were a bit worse, it got warmer and the snow melted and got heavy and watery. There was almost no sun and I didn’t do any photos from the trail (mainly because I was in hurry but also because Radek’s ones would be much better). However… When I reached Le Turet bench I was struck with a beautiful view of the sunset over Jura and surprisingly clear look over Geneva to the Alps. So I would say that by the powers combined in these two days we made most out of Le Turet.