World Wide Walkies

Tales from the Back Country. A Better Bettolina Bassa!

9th Feb 3 — Nick’s grin – wider than usual when we saw the weather window granted by the gods for Bettolina!

Gressoney Backcountry Ski Course with Snoworks – Day 4

We were so lucky today and got a perfect weather window for a second descent of the remote Bettolina Bassa. Our bus ride to the meeting point at Gressoney la Trinité had been in dense fog but as we rose from St Anna to the top of the Bettaforca lift, everything was sparkling in the sun.

We had soft powder glistening and flakes of blown snow hanging in the air like motes of dust, twinkling golden in a shaft of sunlight.Continue reading “Tales from the Back Country. A Better Bettolina Bassa!”

Tales from the Back Country. Euan, ‘Eurika’ and Eagles.

8th Feb 2A Morning Commute — Our busy morning commute on the Seehorn lift!

Gressoney Back Country Ski Course with Snoworks – Day 3

I managed not to cock up the porridge this morning and the tactic of putting grated cheese in the pups’ food seemed to get us over the hand feeding issue! The pups saw us off with a look of resignation rather than reproach, but we both felt like we had been steamrollered. After two full days skiing off piste, I was so stiff that I could hardly walk!

It was snowing! My first sight of the morning was Snoworks’ Nick Quinn skidding powder snow off the piste over his head, whooping with excitement and shouting “Look at THIS!!!!!!”Continue reading “Tales from the Back Country. Euan, ‘Eurika’ and Eagles.”

Tales from the Back Country. “Don’t miss the turn or you’ll go over a cliff.”

DSCN0436 (2) — The gulley is Leitch, or “Middle Earth”. Our guide’s advice on skiing it: “Don’t miss the turn at the end or you’ll go over a cliff.”

Gressoney Back Country Ski Course with Snoworks – Day 2

The day started with another porridge catastrophe – I found a piece of semi-cooked blue dishcloth in me breakfast. Blearghhh!

The dogs KNOW. They have got upset about us leaving them and although we are tight on time, having to walk them and get ourselves ready to catch the bus at 08:50 to our rendezvous at Gressoney la Trinité, everybody needed to be hand fed.

Lani would only take her food 1 tiny piece of kibble at a time!Continue reading “Tales from the Back Country. “Don’t miss the turn or you’ll go over a cliff.””

Gressoney Back Country Ski Course with Snoworks

Jacqueline Lambert's husband skiing off piste in powder in monte rosa Italy

Tales from the Back Country – Day 1

“You will need skis at least 100mm underfoot” said Snoworks’ chief instructor Nick Quinn at our welcome meeting.

We must be the jammiest off piste skiers in the world. A week ago, thin lines of white piste wound through grass and the black run needed a bit of a strim. Then it started snowing. And snowing and snowing and snowing! Since Thursday, it has virtually not stopped. We didn’t ski over the weekend as the visibility was terrible, then came Monday morning. The first day of our off piste ski course; bluebird skies, no wind – and 30cm of snow last night!