No, the cabins aren’t supposed to look like this – apparently somebody was stuck further up the line when the jam happened and had to wait a while to get back down until they sorted this out…

OK, we’ve already blogged today but just two quick things:

First, I might never get used to hurling round corners up the mountain only to be met by a rather disgruntled bovine.

Secondly, did you know they’re building a new restaurant at La Chaux. Well, they are – and although it looks like a big concrete bunker right now but we think it’s a great idea…

And it was nice and sunny at times. Enjoy.

As you might (or perhaps might not) be aware, the Medran lift area in Verbier is getting a bit of a make-over. Well, the area around is being completely rebuilt and the lift station (possibly one of the ugliest lift buildings in the Four Valleys) itself is getting a facelift. The project is called Les Trois Rocs and will be a rather swanky and welcome addition to Verbier.

But only when it’s finished.

Because at the moment it’s nothing more than a rather scary collection of noisy construction equipment and mud where the parking used to be. So don’t expect any parking up at the lifts this year and do expect to be using busses a lot more if you used to nip up in the car – but don’t forget that (when it’s finished) it’ll be great. Just not yet…

The pendulum-like weather in resort has swung back to grotty and cold, having already passed through boiling, sunny, rainy and cloudy. It’s a bit disappointing given we’re still in August but on the flip side I’m waiting for one of the guys in Saas Fee to tell us (via the magic of Facebook) that they’ve got even more snow.

So it’s not a bad thing. Not completely.

And as Billy Connolly once said, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes…” So the Performance down jackets might be trotted out any day soon.

If Felix ever asks you if you want to bike from Ruinettes to Attelas, feel free to say no. It’s really rather steep up there. Anyway, after a lot of sweating and occasionally pushing the bikes up steeper bits we made it – a great (if exhausting) way to spend an afternoon. And it does provide an even better excuse than normal to have a beer in Chez Dany…

Yup, whilst we’re pretending it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere (in spite of all the rain) Sanna and Oli have headed south for more snow. Now, whilst it’s not been a stunning winter for snow down there, it’s been OK and Sanna sent us some pictures to give us all a little dose of winter…

“Had the most horrible snowstorm today in al long time but the nasty weather hasn’t stopped the kids from going out in the snow and skiing for the entire day until 4.30pm. It’s been windy and arctic here but at least we’ve got some fresh snow – exactly what we need right now (the grass has been sticking out on some of the wind exposed slopes so the new snow was very welcome). I even got some fresh tracks today – skiing backwards in a snowplow, but hey! It was still powder …”

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Meanwhile the rains been lashing down in Verbier and there should be snow up top – if anyone’s brave enough to head up there and get a picture we’ll let you know here…

…SNOW UPDATE….

The lovely Louise has just been up to Mont Fort (3330 meters) and whilst the views are “limited” there is a lot of snow up there (the official Louise estimate is eight inches) and it’s absolutely freezing.

Having just cycled down from Coix de Couer (2173 meters) I can confirm it’s chilly there too. Anyway here’s a snap of Louise’s Mum wishing she’d got warmer shoes on…