Monterosa

This is a guest blog post written by Siri, a Swedish girl who worked as a  seasoner in Champoluc for TheAlps travel agency. Thank you Siri!

“Hello!

My name is Siri and I am going to write a guest blog post here on Marta's blog for you.

I recently returned from a fantastic winter season in Champoluc. I was there for three and a half months, enjoying the stunning mountains and the beautiful small village. During my time there I worked with TheAlps. What an experience!



Champoluc gave me an impression of solidarity. Everybody was so open...

After a day spent on the mountains, fully immersed in wild nature, I was forced to deal with mobile phone operators and Codice Fiscale ID-numebr issues – the last something you cannot live without when you spend more than one or two weeks in Italy and strictly bound with everything you buy, mobile phone cards included. A nightmare when you live in a small village in the mountains!

To reach the goal I need to drive to the nearest city: Aosta, one hour by car from Champoluc, and make a visit to all the offices in one day to be efficient and be able to do more than one of the bureaucratic tasks i have to, in order not to drive the road again the next day. Cues and very arrogant employees are part of the adventure of today.

Extremely satisfied because of the positive exit of my mission, I started to look around me driving on the way...

What is ski randonnée?

Basically it means going upwards with your skis with the help of special skins under the skis. To make it easier to walk you must be able to lift only the heel of your foot, so there are special bindings for that- On the way down you put the heel back and ski as usual.



When my parents were young it was only some people who preferred the quiet of nature before the lifts and the well prepared slopes, who practiced the ski randonnée. Besides...

Sardinia is much more than white beaches and crystal clear ocean, Costa Smeralda and giant yachts. Something that many people never meet is the heart of the island, the mountains and the people who live there.

We had a couple of days of bad weather this vacation in Sardinia, and we happen to discover what we had never found before in our 15 summers spent on the island.

Nuoro a town clinging on the cliffs in the very middle of the island, surrounded by mountains, forest and herds. You don't eat fish here, but the best pecorino and sheep casserole you can imagine. We came here a day of rain in the middle of summer - strange for July. The town was empty, but we found a nice cafe, all similar to what you could find in so to say Austria by the cozy furniture of sofas and small tables, but without a cake in sight. I have not understood what the nuorese people eat for their afternoon tea...

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Hello! This time I'm presenting a guest blogger, Maja Aase. She writes of her experiences on her and her son's trekking trip with me to Refugio Arp. Enjoy!

Suddenly a Capricorn appears. And then another. And a little kidling. The whole Stambecco-family is jumping on the ridge of Colle Palasinaz (2 670 m) and looks down at us. We look back up at them and establish that their horns look better than our sweaty hats. To see Capricorns while hiking is a super-bonus, so to see three, is super-super-super-bonus!

 

Ok, I was exaggerating about how nice it was to just lay down and feel the warmth of spring sipping into my bones for a week ago…. The weather in Monterosa this winter has been gorgeous regarding to the sun hours and the plus degrees. We had a hot January, with an end of 20 minus for a couple of weeks, but then again, at the end of February we were thinking probably we should pack and go home earlier. Flowers, 15 plus in the village and at least 20 in the sun. Aosta had higher temperature tham Palermo, in Sicily….

And then yesterday snow and today powder. Again. And sun and blue skies. The Alps. Monte Rosa in the background and I woke up with a feeling that season is not ended yet. Take your skis and get off to the mountain.

Ok, what are you supposed to do when you have 16 happy guests coming to Monterosa for skiing 3 days and the snow has not come yet?

You worry like crazy and think how the crap you are going to manage this.

Then as a miracle, you are driving your rental car to Champoluc and white flakes fall slowly to the road – and you don’t even have any chains….



But this is amazing and all is going to be fine at the end!

Well, it is not...

It is Halloween or even better in Italy it is called ”The Dead”. It is the holiday when people are allowed to leave their jobs for a couple of days to go home and honor their dead ones. An old tradition, still living in the soul of many.

I was making my trip to check some new hotels and places in Italy for coming travels with my guests, and had totally forgotten about the celebration that was expected. Except for the fact that nearly everything this time reminded me of dead, witches and phantoms.

Sardinian sea, the step seems long. But in the morning we woke up at Rifugio Guide di Ayas, Lambronecca, 3420 m, and at 9 pm we drove in  our car in a ferry to Olbia.

The differences in the Italian landscape are huge, as everyone knows. The mountains are big and real and the Mediterranean is always present not only because of the blue sea that surround nearly all the borders of my country, but also because it is the cause of the good food and wines, and of the spirit of the people, even the people living in the Italian Alps.

I have had a pretty busy day –  taking care of my guests, a little climbing and biking, driving the minibus on the tormented roads of the Italian hills, finding good restaurants and having lots of fun in the meantime. When I finally went to my room at midnight I was to bed in seconds, tired but happy. It uses to be at this moment of my day as a guide in my own travel business, that I can relax and perhaps overview the spent hours mostly with a smile in my heart.



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