It’s a beautiful morning in the mountains and our Canadian guests are easily dissuaded from leaving until after a gentle stroll. The chosen route is a steep climb up  through the woods to Sous la Dent and then doubling back to Signal de Bonavau and down to Chez Christine’s for lunch. A couple of hours plus lunch should do it, Ross reckons. At first all goes well, gorgeous views down to Champery…

Ross has not calculated the effect of the late snowfalls we have been having. The first indication is when we have to cross a stream which is covered in snow, and he volunteers to go and make some steps. At the crucial bit his leg suddenly disappears down a hole to the river bed! We follow rather gingerly…

Not deterred we keep on going up the chosen route – some Swiss women with a child decide to turn back as they are scared of risking an accident. Around every corner we find another snow shute where our intrepid guide has to cut steps. Although the snow is soft it is lethally slippy underneath, and steep, and the path is obscured so we are essentially hiking across a slope.

And so it goes, the long slow slog, which includes an immersion for Adrian, a slip by Connie on the snow and a wet bum, and a slide by me (luckily Ross was holding my hand at that moment or I would have gone a long way) resulting in a deep graze on my calf!

Soon we are at the top and its a relatively simple scramble down the meadow where the wild flowers are blooming in abundance. And Lunch! Assiette Valaisanne and beers for the boys.

Our adventure took us four and half hours, included 500m vertical meters of ascent and we covered over 10kms. Normally this is not to difficult but, with the snow, it is something else. Not bad for a one-legged cripple, I think! Our Canadian friends got more than they bargained for!