Snowshoeing and winter walks with little crampons is on! 
The snow is excellent and the sun is shinning, although next week it looks like we are going to get a new batch of snow! Yipeee!
I hope you get in touch for a hike in Feb if you are around the Verbier area - there is so much to experience! I would love to help you discover it!
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​So for us in Switzerland we have to eat some chocolate bunnies, and why not on top of a little summit? The Dent de Valerette is a super fun little summit in the Chablais Valaisan. We had perfect sun and perfect snow too. It had just dusted the mountains for the past 2 nights and we were able to slide on our butts all the way down!  Absolutely epic outing! ​

And I have to admit, the best part - no it was not that I managed to get the chocolate bunny up there intact....(although I was super psyched about that), the best part - was that one of the participants was a 12 year old boy! So so proud of him and his 15 year old brother for making it up to the top! It was not easy, but they did it. Bravo!!! Fantastic day! What a great memory! 

Looking towards Lac Léman, or Lake Geneva, one of the clearest views in a long time. We could even see the summits of the Jura behind Neuchatel - the Chasseral and Chasseron were totally clear! It is not often that it can be seen like this. We looked, but did not see any boats on the lake sailing.​

This winter I have had the chance to snowshoe with some super amazing people and in some beautiful and fun spots! This was an unforgettable outing, on the 6th of March with the super team The Family of 5 !

What is their super power, you may be asking yourself?!
They are a couple with 3 young children who manage to travel every week-end they can! They are helping other families see that it is possible to get out and do super fun things with kids under the age of 10, and at the same time they are showing that it can be done with a disabled child. Yes, one of their sweet children is polyhandicaped and Jean & Camilla have started an association for children with vestibular disorders. This hits close to home for me, as I live with someone with Meniere's Syndrome. 

When I got hired to guide them, I had no idea how long the outing was going to be, I also must admit I had no idea what 'muscular disability' they were talking about.... Live and learn! Well what could have been a 30minute walk in the sunny snow, ended up being almost 4 hours long!! They are really super awesome!! 

We had a great little break where for the first time this winter we had a special addition to my wild tea! Tussilago farfara, or in English : Colt's Foot flowers. They resemble a dandillion flower, except that the stem has some sort of pinkish/redish scales on it, and it really grows right where the snow has just melted. The name colt's foot comes from the shape of the leaves, which come out much later in the season, like in June or something! And just to help not get confused, the dandillion flowers at the same time as its leaves and they look like a lion is showing you his smiley teeth!!! It was a super fun day and I think the whole family had a fun time too!

weird snow pack...
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Can you see that line in the snowpack? Well that is sand from the Sahara that came with some very strong winds back in February. This is the view from La Chaux in Verbier accross to the Chamonix Massif. Now this layer has been heating up our snow and making it tricky to figure out how stable it is. Even though the recent avalanche danger reports have had us in Level 2 - you need to observe and understand where and what you are standing on. Not always an easy thing to do. even for us professionals who are out there every day. So stay safe, and do check the avalanche bulletin:  SLF whiterisk

No fresh snow, but lots of fresh frost to snowshoe on these days. We went playing in the morning shadows and traversed the animal tracks in the woods. Once the sun popped up over the trees we were in the valley bottom and got to soak up some sunrays as we walked up the frozzen river bed of the Dranse de l'Entremont. Quite a unique experience. 

There are so many beautiful options to take once you are in your snowshoes! All you need is a bit of patience to watch how nature welcomes you to come take a look. It is almost easier to observe nature in winter than in any other season - as long as you are dressed warm enough!

So after having had a blog on blogger, which is still active, since 2007 I am now venturing to make a new one that is (supposedly) going to be wayyyy better! I hope you are ready to help me and come on this virtual trip. Any suggestions are welcome. I have sooooo many photos and just dont know how to share them correctly, so I am hoping this will help. On verra... See you on the other side of this snowflake!

A little bit of snowfall to enter into the new year was just a perfect way to have my last outing of 2020! A super nice family from Paris full of enthusiasm to look at snowflakes and discover what wild animal tracks were out and about.