One quiet drive home

Vysočina - Czech countryside at its best

Vysočina is a region of gently rolling hills about two hours east of Prague. Tiny villages connected by unbelievably narrow roads, shaded by birch and mountain ash alleys, deep spruce forests with winding ancient roads and medieval castles... Time did not quite stop here, but the whole region, in the middle of modern Europe, transpires a sense of unexpected anchrony and calm disconected from the modern world.

Sasso Lanzone Crossing

Sasso Lanzone is a narrow ridge in the Ticino Canton in the Southern Switzerland. It is a 6 hour, 3,000 vertical feet hike between Scaletta and Bovarina huts. It doesn't get much better than that as far as hiking in Switzerland goes. Spectacular, moderately exposed, secured with fixed ropes, tough, fun. Hiking on ridges like Sasso Lanzone is especially rewarding not only for the breathtaking vistas around and below, but for the unusual feeling of very little ground under the feet and lot of air around the head. As the Swiss say, you need a solid foot and not suffer from vertigo...

Mountain Silhouettes and Reflections

Heinz, mountain guide from Cadlimohütte

Heinz took us on a ridge climb from the Cadlimo Hut over Piz Curnera to Piz Borel (2950m). Rain turned to sleet; at least fog graciously concealed the depth on each side of the ridge, making Vincent's first alpine climb visually less exposed.

Plaun La Greina

Plaun La Greina, in the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the last truly remote, wild and undeveloped areas of Switzerland that has been preserved from hydroelectric development in the 1970's. Its beauty is more subtle and subdued than most tourist attractions in Switzerland but we were rewarded by dramatic vistas after a late July snowstorm that covered the surrounding peaks with fresh snow, leaving the plain green. Like most alpine regions, it has been used for cattle grazing for generations, providing an improbable sound background of cow bells ringing all over the valley.

Black and White Greina