-25C skiing

A cold snap has hit Europe and it is currently -12C (that's 10.4F) on the streets of Geneva.

Luckily for me I've spend the day skiing in -25C conditions (that's -13F) so have to a degree (ho ho) become acclimatised.

I'm pretty sure those exposed ski lifts were even colder - maybe down to -27 or -28C (-18.4F) with wind chill so had to rely on that old reliable to warm up:

More to come as feeling returns to the fingers......

Restricted visibility

This is the view from the upper slopes of Flaine down towards the resort.

It is there, honest, somewhere under the clouds which caused a bit of a navigational hazard in the afternoon:

The solution that worked for most of the time was to stick to the higher ground but of course at some point its necessary to head down through this right pea-souper.

I was thinking about the sound's that ships must make when sailing in fog and for a brief moment wondered what the skiing equivalent was, until it became clear - and I'm sure skiers out there can guess what it was!

Skiing in Flaine

The weekend's ski trip was to the resort of Flaine, about an hour and a half's bus journey from Geneva.

It is not an attractive resort, a relic from the 1970's school of concrete brutalism. But the setting is great - a "natural amphitheatre" like bowl surrounded by ice capped mountains, and spectacular views from the top.

No frost-biting on Lake Geneva

This was Lake Geneva yesterday and there was not a sail to be seen.

Though of course this being Geneva there are other things that can be done in winter, sports that also relate to H2O, sports that really need the cold.

Lake Geneva's Neptune

This is the La Neptune, built in 1904 and still sailing on Lake Geneva.

She was originally used to transport sand and stones but is now available for charter. Apparently La Neptune has 3 sails with a total area of 275 square metres.

I think she uses a form of lateen rig as can be seen on this site.

Geneva's Jet d'Eau

There's fast flowing water and then there's the Jet d'Eau.

Water leaves the nozzle at 200 km/h, driven by twin 500 kW turbines to reach 140 metres into the sky.

If the sun is out you can see a lovely rainbow: