Yup, snow is falling as I type up at  Atelas and on the Savoleyres ridge, meanwhile tonight is eighties night in the T-Bar – it’s almost like winter’s already here, with the cold weather and people dressing up like idiots again…

Anyway, do you know what tomorrow is? Cheese Day. OK, it’s actually really the Bagnes Fete de Raclette to celebrate the cows coming down off the high pasture and also celebrate the fact that our proud little valley invented raclette. I know, a great claim eh?

Essentially, however, tomorrow is a cheese and Fendant orgy.

Anyway, here are some shots of the snow as the clouds parted and duck fell…

Yup, sticking with our recent ‘unseasonal weather’ theme, we had snow last night up high – about 2500m, give or take… However, it’s been a bit cloudy today. So if you click on one of these you’ll be able to spot snow at about the cloud-line. Unless you click on the one of Tom, in which case you just a get a picture of Tom from the Lodge (AKA mini Jamie).

Today saw the realisation of an epic challenge – two modes of transport competing to see who can exhaust themselves first.|

Yes, the Lake Geneva Challenge. A group of cyclists aimed to do a circuit of Lake Geneva and a lone rower was planning on rowing the entire length of the thing.

It was all for charity, of course, and their ridiculous efforts raised over £4000. (Although you can still join in and make a donation….).

And here’s how it happened (there are some links to pictures here but thanks to the magic of technology all the pics are collected at the bottom of this blog):

1. So the Lake Geneva challenge is on… Neil rowing the length of the lake, Gareth biking round it. Here’s the story: http://bit.ly/bSt9G6 #
2. #LakeGenevaChallenge He’s off. Conditions are perfect, water’s like a sheet of glass. Spirits are high. I’m off to MacDonalds. N #
3. To find out exactly how daft the whole #LakeGenevaChallenge is you can read James’ interesting article: http://www.planetski.eu/news/1951 #
4. @planetski forecasting La Niña next winter http://bit.ly/d3Pget so I don’t think it’s too early to whisper about the 100 year storm again… #
5. #LakeGenevaChallenge Bikers have started “Depart Villeneuve: Jonas, Pedro, Ian & me – the Verbier Peleton” from Gareth. Only 175km to go… #
6. #LakeGenevaChallenge Gareth starts the mammoth trip round the lake… http://twitpic.com/2geq4j #
7. #LakeGenevaChallenge Three of the four cyclists ready to go. And shamelessly plugging sponsors… http://twitpic.com/2geqkb #
8. #LakeGenevaChallenge Stage 1 to Meillerie complete. Very windy and choppy on the water, but the big man’s powering on to Evian… N #
9. #LakeGenevaChallenge However, Gareth has passed Neil, and already made it to Evian. But he’s got 175km to go, Neil’s ‘only’ doing 75… #
10. #LakeGenevaChallenge Pedro, Jonas, Ian & Gareth just sped past on their bikes looking pretty red-faced – there’s a pretty stiff headwind. N #
11. #LakeGenevaChallenge News from the rowing finish line in Geneva: Toby’s there and it’s chucking it down – Neil’s rowing into a storm… G #
12. #LakeGenevaChallenge The bikes are in Thonon les Bains with a puncture. 1 hour 40 minutes of cycling and 45 KM down. Only about 130 to go… #
13. #LakeGenevaChallenge The cyclists are about to come back over the border into CH & “il pleut comme une vache qui pisse”. They’re very soggy. #
14. #LakeGenevaChallenge Lake’s choppy & boat wakes are nearly tipping Neil in, so 15 min rest. Happy to hear bikers are stuck in a rainstorm. N #
15. #LakeGenevaChallenge …and the Verbier Peleton has reached Geneva “wet through but smiling” according to Gareth… #
16. #LakeGenevaChallenge Stolen from Jonas’ Facebook update – Neil getting overtaken earlier…. http://twitpic.com/2gg4an #
17. #LakeGenevaChallenge Jonas has revealed they’ve stopped off for snacks at a petrol station.They don’t do that on the Tour de France do they? #
18. #LakeGenevaChallenge Wind’s whipped up waves & very difficult rowing. Calmer now. Neil’s passed halfway but he’s fighting the elements… N #
19. #LakeGenevaChallenge Puncture number 2. The Verbier Peleton is just outside Nyon. Spirits are “strong, plus the sun’s come out” says Gareth. #
20. #LakeGenevaChallenge Neil’s rest to wait for calm water has paid off and the lake is like a sheet of glass again. He’s raring to go… N #
21. #LakeGenevaChallenge Neil is powering past Yvoir (which is beautiful). It’s looking good: sun’s out, no wind. Like jam, he’s on a roll… N #
22. #LakeGenevaChallenge Neil’s about 50km in, with about 25 to go. As our nifty map shows. Enjoy… http://twitpic.com/2ghuhn #
23. #LakeGenevaChallenge Neil’s been rowing through hell in huge waves but perfect sunny conditions now. In fact, I’m going for a cheeky swim. N #
24. #LakeGenevaChallenge Verbier Peleton has finished in the last few minutes. Cracking effort & pictures to follow… G #
25. #LakeGenevaChallenge The boys collapse after their epic 175km trip… G http://twitpic.com/2gi6gb #
26. #LakeGenevaChallenge Neil is pushing through the pain barrier – hands are shredded, blisters on blisters. But taped up and still going… N #
27. #LakeGenevaChallenge Waiting in Geneva at the Hotel Kempinski for Neil’s triumphant return. Krug’s on ice & cigars are ready. Not long now.N #
28. #LakeGenevaChallenge Neil might still be on the water but the internet is already buzzing with news… G http://www.planetski.eu/news/1966 #
29. #LakeGenevaChallenge Have just spotted the big man approaching the finish. SO close. 11.5 hours in that boat – I’ve got a tear in my eye. N #
30. #LakeGenevaChallenge He’s done it – Neil has climbed his Everest. OK, he finished a while ago but we were so excited we forgot the tweet. N #
31. #LakeGenevaChallenge So to conclude: 75km in 12 hours(ish). Legendary. Impressed? Please donate at http://www.justgiving.com/Neil-Aherne #

>I know, on paper it seems a bit daft. The lifts are running, but everyone seems obsessed with racing them not riding them up. Hard to say, but I must admit to slowly coming to enjoy nearly having a cardiac arrest on my way up to Croix de Coeur…

The only real justification (unless you try it and become similarly masochistic) is the fact tat when you get to the top you get views like these:

I had a great text from a mate in London this week: “So what are you actually doing in Switzerland when there’s no snow?”.

His understandable points were what do you do (see our previous blog on this classic ski instructor question), how do you make ends meet and isn’t it a bit dull.

And it made me laugh a bit because I got it when I turned on my phone back on after getting off a flight to Geneva which approached along the lake, taking in epic views of the snow on all the peaks over 3000 meters – from the Bernese Oberland across to Mont Blanc.

(The picture above hardly does it justice but click on it and you can zoom into it and pick stuff out).

Best of all though, the Grand Combin (that’s the really big mountain on the other side of the valley from Verbier – you know, the one with the slanty glacier on top) stood out like a sore thumb – fresh snow on the summit and the biggest one for miles around… You can just see it here, next to the wing tip:

And I sat in my seat like a grinning idiot, brimming with excitement and just stupidly happy to be coming back. So when I got that text from Lee it seemed to underline why it’s amazing to be in the mountains at any time of year. It’s an amazing place, in a brilliant (if a bit quirky and cheese-obsessed) corner of the world.

And, to underline this, when I got off the bus to Verbier, the fact that it seemed appropriate that it was the warm up for Swiss National Day – basically yet another reason for the Swiss to have a party, eat cheese and drink white wine.

Which made it somehow more perfect, and is also the reason I’m typing this with what feels like a pair of knitting needles behind my eyes.

So are there better places to live? Yup. Probably. But why on earth would you bother looking for them when you can be here?

Firstly I would like to apologise for not keeping you good, loyal folk in-touch with the goings-on in Verbier.

But there really is no point in keeping you up-to-date on nothing. We lead a tranquil, slow-paced life here in the summer. Really – nothing has been going on for the past week.

So it’s good to see town buzzing again now, it’s also good to have a couple of weeks of solid sunshine. Thats much more like it.

As well as the festival we have a weekly market on every Sunday. The usual deal, pretty much cheese, honey and knick knacks.

But this week there were a few familiar faces with stands; Lucy Dunnet from donut designs had a number of her fab painting on show (see below). Also Jo Chandler from Petit Verbier stall lined the street offering face painting and a play area for the kiddies.

Once we made it up to Ruinette we waked over to the area by the Restaurant La Marmotte. We came across what can only be described as a Val de Bagne version of the Bath and West show. A proper agricultural shindig complete with the fizzy white wine (Fandant) and tonnes of melted cheese (Raclette). Just as were heading off the ‘main event’ started; The cow fight.

Now I thought this happened in Sambrancher or Le Chable at the end of the season. A kind of gladitoral going home event for all the ‘etrangers’ of Verbier. From what I gather this is qualifying. Which is hilarious. Not only that, I have recently found out there are different classes and weights. This perticular event was for 2 year old virgins..! I am not kidding.

Don’t get your hopes up, it’s a slow process, if the process actually starts. A number of the ladies were not keen to fight so were disqualified. Once a fight does commence there is no understanding of the rules. Only one thing can be counted on, one will win and one will lose. How they actually manage to determine this is completely beyond me….

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