Jared Bloch
Final call for Saleve airlines...
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – How’s this for a quick getaway; hop a bus to Veyrier, grab the first gondola up the mountain and catch a flight on Saleve airlines.
Saleve Mountain Instructor Hubert showing the "ropes"
The Etrembières based paragliding school joined the Saleve Mountain Bureau, the Saleve Tramway, Horizon Restaurant, the Maison du Saleve cultural centre, Illico Travel, Segwaygeneve, the Geneva South Port Convention Centre and the Annemasse les Voirons Tourism Office on Thursday afternoon for a mountain top exhibition of their respective services.
So I went for a solo parasail… Not quite, but I did get the lowdown on what it takes to get your parawings – about two weeks of flying instruction and 1,200 CHF.
Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – With my car out of commission last weekend and the need for a good outdoor fix, I grabbed my backpack, snow shoes and a pocket full of change and ran down to Gare Cornavin to catch the number eight bus to Veyrier.
Jared Bloch
Ready to climb
LA PÉTROULE, SWITZERLAND – This year I am preoccupied, maybe obsessed with dreams of snow.
This is the first year since I have lived in Switzerland that I have gotten more than a week’s consecutive use from my down parka, and I have realized, I really like a good winter. And, I am liking it even more having rediscovered back-country skiing.
The view up top
At less than one hour from Geneva and with a nice combination of gentle pistes backing up to open space, La Dôle-St. Cergue is a great morning/afternoon ski fix.
Arriving at 11 AM on Saturday to an all but empty parking area, I happily noted a few seasoned back-country fans packing up their equipment after an early outing.
Jared Bloch
View from above Im Fang - Jaun, Fribourg
KAPPELBODEN, SWITZERLAND – Sunday morning I woke up with a stiff back, looking at cloud covered evergreens through my frosty breath in serious “Heidi country” as my wife says.
What to do when life is looking a bit too ordinary in Geneva? Grab that book you haven’t cracked, pack the motorcycle and head to the mountains.
Haunted or maybe inspired by the notion of how lost I could get in 24 hours, I followed the Gold Coast to the autoroute towards Fribourg, then hung a right at Bulle and headed for the peaks.
My first thought was “damn! I don’t have GPS,” followed quickly after by the realization that most of the road miles and nearly all of the real adventures in my life, were logged charting road and topo maps – yes remember those flimsy contraptions with squiggly lines detailing goat paths?
In fact, they work well when getting lost.
Post Bus or Bike, "Sometimes you gotta get lost to find yourself."
I had forgotten how unwieldy 30 pounds can be on your back with the wind tugging at you.
Jared Bloch
Unexpected bonus - rainbow over Gex
GEX, FRANCE – “Go climb a rock!” That was my brother’s favorite t-shirt when I was 9 years old and he had just returned from a hiking adventure camp in Yosemite National Park in California. That cryptic slogan only began to make sense once I discovered rocks myself some years later.
Since then, there are few places I feel as at home as on top of a mountain, preferably above the tree-line, with a glacial cirque in sight.
This weekend, I made a long awaited trek on my mountain bike up the ski trails around La Fierney in the Jura and found a little piece of home up there.
I followed the signs for the Crozet ski lift in Crozet and continued up the mountain towards the nature reserve, past the right hand turnoff for Gex, until the blacktop runs out at the parking lot.
Just when my legs were getting a good burn on, I veered right from the parking lot, up the dirt road, and then the real pain began. The track is straight and a moderate climb for 1-2 kilometers.
Jared Bloch
Taking in the scenery at Furka Pass
Furka Pass, Switzerland – There’s nothing like having friends visit to inspire the exploring spirit.
Last weekend, with a friend in town from London, we packed the car with water and food supplies and headed out on the open road.
With Geneva in the rear view mirror, I felt my bones settle into the cocoon of the firm driver’s seat and my mind plotted the secondary roads we would discover haphazardly as we made our way towards the Valais.
I had been traveling through the Furka Pass in my mind, ever since I tried to drive out of the Valais one afternoon in April four years ago, only to find the pass still closed for the season. Read more…
Jared Bloch
Bicycle nirvana at St-Prex pier (click to enlarge)
Lausanne, Switzerland – Tired of waiting for good snow I gave up and hit the road for Lausanne on my bicycle. Last weekend, emboldened by the mid-day sun and 14 degree weather, I hopped on my bike and worked my way towards Lausanne along the Lake Road.
I have probably only traveled the length of this road twice in my five years in Geneva.
How is it I have forsaken this gem? I think; the fields stretching up to the Jura and down to a tree covered lake front, the sleepiness of the two lane highway after exiting the Geneva biosphere.
The map is mistelling of the truth I often find when I am two-wheeling through what are billed as frumpy little waysides.
Less than an hour later, I was warming my toes in the sun at the Nyon Marina.
Jared Bloch
Only tracks at La Givrine
La Givrine – What has no wheels, but glides along, makes no sound but hums a song? X-country or Nordic skis of course.
I can’t say I have had the pleasure of cross-country skiing yet in Switzerland, though I was outnumbered at least 4 : 1 by skiers last weekend as I toured the trails around La Givrine on snowshoes.
The snow was good if not great, still plenty of powder after the thaw, and lots of snowy solitude, broken only by the occasional Nordic skier, or small family groups gliding along.
I love the freedom of snowshoes, making tracks through empty fields, the joy of self-propulsion, not unlike… biking.
Jared Bloch
Shot from my first ascent; it didn't hurt nearly as much going up the backside and on my mountainbike.
Geneva, Switzerland – Those of you tuning in to my blog may have followed my recent ballade up the backside of the Saleve, which I described as “a realistic challenge for those getting back into cycling.”
Inspired by my intrepid upstairs neighbor, Karsten, who has been doing tours of local cycle climbs recently, I tackled the less friendly front side of the uplift this past weekend, and paid the price!
The climb starts in Cologne sous Saleve, and goes straight up to the top, with little respite in between.
A healthy dose of adrenaline, and perseverance is a must. Age and muscular atrophy aside, this was the first ride I can remember where my legs gave out before my lungs.
Jared Bloch
Before and after biking the Saleve
Preparing to bike up the Saleve in my own custom bike
Geneva, Switzerland – Four plus years I have been looking Eastward in the morning and evening, imagining the exhilaration of climbing the Saleve (in neighboring France) on my bike.
It has been both an unmet challenge, and a source of disdain when cycle friends tell me “you should really try the Jura, now that’s a ride!”
But the truth is, I hadn’t mastered any climbs in Switzerland on two wheels, until last weekend.
The Saleve is a realistic challenge for those getting back into cycling. It hurts, but not so much that you won’t go back for more.
The worst by far was the last two kilometers which seemed interminable – right about when your legs start cramping up.
I pedaled the last stretch on my left leg as I stretched out my aching right limb.
And the view! Read more…