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 Dwight Peck's personal website
Snowshoeing
in the Jura
More
fun than playing the numbers in New Jersey
In
the Jura mountains, what with US-led global warming and the general lack of steep
slopes, the population of southwestern Switzerland has been discovering, over
the past 15 years, that neat little snowshoes are frequently more fun for roaming
about our forests and mountains in winter than are great whacking touring skis.
Let's
trot off for a typical snowshoe amble in the forest of Grande Rolat, near Marchairuz.
Could life be more pleasant than this?!
You
will not find this interesting unless you're included here, so this is a good
time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up
in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
On
the Col du Marchairuz road above Le Brassus, the expedition prepares for the best
and the worst: André (Dante), Joe (seated), Lisa (truculent). And on the 8th of December 2002, off they
go!
40
metres. Lisa (sheepish)
forgot to attach one of her snowshoes. Dante (André) prepares to assist.
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Andrea
(Dante Guillaume) tightens a snowshoe, whilst former President Pirri displays
his well-known forbearance. |
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Prof.
Durham, with encouragement from her colleagues, gets over a stone wall in the
forest of Grande Rolat.
Ouragan
Lothar, the "Boxing
Day Hurricane" of 26 December 1999, knocked this big tree down (as well as
all the trees at Versailles and most of the rest throughout western Europe), and
now we ordinary citizens have to clamber under it.
Out
of the forest of Grande Rolat and onto the Seche de Gimel, on 8 December 2002 when
the world doesn't seem as awful as normally it might.
Dr
Pirri in an ambling mode
Time
for lunch. When Prof Durham comes along, most times are time for lunch. With tomato
and mozarella sandwiches dripping olive oil, pre-packaged pasta snack dishes with
salmon and/or little tiny shrimps, loaves of special peasant black bread that
will be just as good next year as leftovers.
On
the move again, preparing for the next lunch, the chappies wander down into the
Protected Forest in the middle of the Seche de Gimel.
It's
hard to fall here, but sometimes one does. And then recriminates with her son
because the sunglasses have got all snowy and don't work anymore.
Dr
Pirri attempts to snowshoe right the way over a stone wall. Good luck, Joe. Meet
you on the other side.
Dr
Dante (Andrea) seeks to help his mom over the stone wall . . .
and
considers just leaving her there.
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and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative,  .
All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 15 March 2003, revised 4 December
2003, 28 August 2014.
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