Spring is a magnificent time of year, especialy here in the Alp, and this year more so as our Son was born in April which really does mark the end of Winter! The winter snows slowly melt, fresh growth appears on the evergreans, and new shoots start to show on the deciduous trees. It start in the valley, which rapidly turns green, and slowly creeps up the hillside. Alpine medows first loosing their snow and then turning from brown to fresh new green.
Spring can take a long time round here - a tug between Winter and Summer, the snow-line rising and then falling again just when you thought summer was definitely here. Today being a perfect example, with the snows covering the Chaine de Fiz and the Top of Prarion once more when I opened the shutters this morning, when only a few days ago we walked up well above that level and picknicked on the new fresh grass!
With the onset of Spring, more of the mountains open up for you - walks can take you deeper into the hills and higher as the snows melt. The rivers and waterfalls are at their most spectacular as the winter snow relinquishes it’s hold and the weather is often superb, warm and sunny and stable.
Late January is normaly the time when the snow arrives across the Alps, and certainly for the last 3 seasons this has been very true here in St Gervais. Today seems to confirm the trend, and snow gently falls on the village. Although the pistes have been holding up well this snow is very welcome. We’ll see how much snow we get, as the forcast is showing just one day of light snow, returning to clear weather after.
The first snow of the season fell in the Village today, which makes it a lot earlier than last year. We are hoping that this is a good sign for the Ski Season to come!
It has been cold for the last few weeks which has meant that the resort has had the snow machines working, helping to put down the base for the coming season. There is even talk of them opening some of the pistes for the weekends in December. All good news for a good season to come!
With what seems like perfect timing the freezing point has dropped and snow is falling throughout the Valley giving us a last weekend of powder days!
Continue reading ‘Powder days again’
It looks like our good fortune this winter will continue as snow falls today over St Gervais. The forcast was promising snow Sunday afternoon until Monday morning, but it looks like it has arrived half a day early. It’s still light, and looks like it will stay that way, but it is never the less good news and will help keep the resort topped up nicely.
