A Swiss With A Pulse

Tag: skimo

  • Instagraham strikes again

    Instagraham strikes again

    February 21, 2020

    This is the type of message I get from time to time from Graham. Remember him? He’s the week warrior from a story I wrote for this blog some time ago. Since then, he has earned another nickname: Instagraham, for his inclination to take and post A LOT of photos.

    Graham’s message was timely as I’m training for the Patrouille des Glaciers, which boils down to one thing: going up and down big mountains on skis. It was an easy conversation: 

    The weather gods were on our side: on Thursday, we met at 8am in the valley and drove towards Arolla in the beautiful Val d’Hérens. The plan was to skin up to the Pointe de Vouasson (3’490m) and maybe some more.

    It was a great day. On the way up, we spoke about life. That included:

    • our endless quest for the right ski boots (the ones that don’t hurt like hell)
    • the pride of seeing our kids grow up
    • how we should really do strength training – I mean, really – but always end up not doing it
    • what inspired us to take up ski touring
    • our next bike trip.

    We became silent near the top, just because it’s hard to talk when you are moving your arms and your legs at 3’400m. Once up there, we watched a 360° panorama of snowy peaks that is the trademark of this region. We resumed our conversation: hey is this peak the Dent Blanche? Or maybe the Matterhorn? It looks so different from this side, you know (repeat for a number of peaks we think we know but actually don’t). We could also see a good portion of the Patrouille des Glacier’s route from Zermatt to Verbier, which freaked me out a bit. This is going to be a long day, I told myself.

    We wanted to climb to a second summit nearby but it was getting late so we just headed down. We skied powder at the top, and terrible snow at the bottom. Shortly before reaching the car park, we stopped and had our sandwich in the sun, sharing memories of our hardest races ever which coincided with our most painful cramps ever. If you’re an endurance athlete, you will relate.

    So yes, it was a day well spent. Also because it was an opportunity to test the camera of my new smartphone, which is truly mind blowing. Judge for yourself below but remember that real life does not happen on your screen. Leave your phone aside and get outside.

    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland
    Ski touring above Arolla in Val d'Hérens, Valais, Switzerland

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  • The death bedtime story

    The death bedtime story

    February 27, 2018

    Nobody on their deathbed has ever said “I wish I had spent more time at the office”. Chances are you’ve read this somewhere, and the popularity of this quote suggests something to me: there are many people out there who are bored by their job and wish they were doing something else; that’s scary. Until robots replace us, we humans will spend a large part of our life working. Some would argue that this will happen very soon, but I believe that the deathbed meme will keep making rounds on the internet for a while.

    I can’t complain much about my work: guiding bike tours, taking photos and writing are all about sharing experiences that make people happy. There are worse jobs. I can also climb a mountain on my lunch ride, or go for a quick ski. But the fact that my wife thinks that I work too much and that I should spend more time doing other things should ring a bell. Maybe I should think of the deathbed story a little more and revisit what we like to call “work-life balance”.

    The good news is, I already have a great coach for that. His name is Graham, and I’m lucky to have him as a friend. Most of us are weekend warriors; Graham is a week warrior: he goes on adventures during the week so that he can be with his family on weekends. This guy has it figured out, and he has a good life.

     

    Graham the week warrior
    Graham the week warrior

     

    Graham keeps coming up with fun ideas for micro adventures that involve biking, skiing or running up and down mountains. Most of the time my answer is a variation on the theme of “I would love to come but you know, I have too much work. Have fun!” He shares A LOT of pictures on social media, as if to remind me that I could have been with him, you know, had I not been so busy.

    Yet on a recent Tuesday, I finally decided to join him and his usual partner in crime Kate on a ski mountaineering day trip to the Col des Ecandies. I should also add that I am lucky to live in the Swiss Alps… where you can leave home at 8am, go for an adventure in the high mountains and be back by 4pm.

    Here’s how my day went:

    • Woke up and had breakfast with my son Ben; prepared ham and cheese sandwiches
    • Dropped Ben off at daycare
    • Met up with Graham and Kate in the valley, drove to Champex-Lac
    • Started skinning up Val d’Arpette in the shade, looking up at the sun drenched peaks
    • Chatted and joked on how it must be nicely warm up there
    • Stopped for pictures
    • Got my left hand very cold, swung my arms like a mad man to get the blood back into my fingers (this trick is supposed to work)
    • Repeated the process four times and finally gave up
    • Kept stopping for pictures
    • Got to the top – in the shade. Ate my ham and cheese sandwiches with my right hand, which got very cold in the process
    • Skied down in a mix of awesome powder and horrible wind blown snow – all in the shade, of course
    • Got back to the car park where we felt the sun on our faces for the first time that day
    • Started feeling my left hand again sometime during the drive back
    • Got home, had a quick nap, then picked up Ben from daycare.

    Getting to the Col des Ecandies - in the shade
    Getting to the Col des Ecandies – in the shade

    Once I was on my skis, I never wondered if it was a good idea to be there rather than in front of a screen. There was nothing outstanding about what we did, but I will remember that day for the rest of my life; not the hours I would have spent crunching numbers on a spreadsheet, emptying a bottomless email inbox or checking my social media feed. And I made my wife happy too for ditching work for a change.

    We should all be so lucky to have a Graham in our lives. And if we don’t, then be the Graham.

    #bemoregraham

    From Graham’s prolific Instagram:

     

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    Coming out of the trees
    Coming out of the trees

     

    Kate with some nice sunny peaks overlooking us
    Kate with some nice sunny peaks overlooking us

     

    Heading back to the sun
    Heading back to the sun

     

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