Written by It was a freezing December day when mountain guide Kingsley Jones first saw a rescue monk in action. He was leading a small group up the ominously named Combe des Morts when he passed by a rescue hut – one of many that dot this avalanche-prone area – and noticed a woman inside struggling in […]
Viewed from the top of the 2,255-metre-high Stelvio piste, the town of Bormio far below looks like a Christmas cake, with pine trees and church spires poking out of a snow-filled scene. The two are connected by a run which, with a vertical drop of 1,010 metres and gradients reaching 60%, is one of the […]
When I first had the idea of taking a winter road trip through the Alps, I imagined snowy walks followed by fondue in the comfort of our van, feet warmed by 25kg of auburn fluff (it was to be our Irish setter’s first encounter with snow). Waking up to snowflakes on the skylight and the […]
I first learned about the Écrins national park in relation to a specific nature reserve within it. The réserve intégrale du Lauvitel was established in 1995 to “monitor the natural dynamics of ecosystems” with all human influence removed. This so-called wilderness area was one of the first of its kind in Europe. A video showed […]