A long wait at the garage while my car was fixed - although they did vacuum lots of child mess from the back seats which must have taken ages - gave me plenty of time to catch up on the local winter news. Lots to report!
Firstly, thanks to La-Haut in Sion for excellent service - again. My dynafit TLT ski boots now have new rivets and buckles. Best of all, it was free! (You have to live in Switzerland for a while to appreciate how exciting it is to get something for nothing)
New Lifts! All over the place it seems. Big news is the new chairlifts in Nax, replacing the rickety old 1970s drag lifts. New lifts in Vercorin and Anzere too. If you really like drag lifts don't worry, there's still Arolla.
Climbing Wall - until now there's been no proper climbing wall in the Valais, despite a huge number of local climbers. The Vertic-Halle in Saxon is now open, promising the biggest wall in Western Switzerland.
British Mountain Guides do it on film - lots of effort this summer has produced this excellent short video of the BMG at work. Lots of it filmed around Arolla.
