More cow fighting. Amazing.

Courtesy of Oli A Dannat: the high drama of watching two slightly narked cows argue over a few square feet of grazing. Enjoy:

Cow fighting

Take a load of excited bovines who've spent the whole winter in a shed and then let them loose, and they get a bit feisty.

Add a bunch of Swiss farmers who've spent the morning drinking wine in the sunshine and arguing about who's got the biggest cow, and, to be honest, you're in for an amusing afternoon.

This year the Combat des Reines was back in Chable, and it looked a little something like this:

And Maryse is a legend...

Not only is it Maryse's birthday today, she decided to celebrate by doing the Patrouille des Glaciers starting four am today...

The PDG is a big deal - like a marathon across the mountains on skis - and there are two versions: one from Arrolla, and one from Zermatt (which is the longer of the two and reserved for the clinically insane).

And the Swiss military get heavily involved, too, which is why my afternoon (hangover recovery) nap has just been interrupted by six fighter jets trying to get as close to our balcony as was humanly possible. Er, thanks.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be1iVVhLFaA

Rocky Horrific

What were we thinking? I'm still wearing nail polish - I didn't really think at the time, but how do you get this stuff off?

Yellow Maike's last night in T-Bar

Well, nearly - he's back tonight for the Rocky Horror show end of season party, and some more of this...

The ES staff night out. Messy. Very messy. And it looked a bit like this (no in depth analysis or explanations - I don't think I'm feeling capable):

I'm not being critical (but)

I know weather forecasting is tricky, but this is, apparently, the weather that's coming (and already been), and it still doesn't bare a lot of resemblance to either what was promised and what we've got...

Changeable weather

I'm not making excuses, and I don't want your sympathy, but there are reasons that sometimes our weather predictions are a little off. The information we're given isn't always accurate, to be honest.

Take today for example; all week the powers that be have changed their minds constantly, and snowfall predictions have been bandied around left right and centre. I mean, what are we supposed to beleive:




And the thing is, there isn't any snow falling at all this morning...

Welcome to winter.

Ok, it's not that cold, but we are getting snow on and off, and with alarming regularity. Yesterday it closed in, snowing heavily in town.

And, although the snow wasn't settling in resort, it's all over the trees a little higher this morning.

It seems like every other night the view from Chateaux du Sandy et Guy has been coloured in white all the way to Médières, and sometimes to the valley floor. Not complaining though, although Sandy's legs will need fake tan if we don't get some proper spring weather...

On a different note, S Dog went to the Pub's beach party last night, so we should get some disturbing pics from that (I choked and went home to hide).

And a certain website is forecasting snow, so instead of telling you now, I'm monitoring the fluctuations in their predictions, and on Friday we'll compare what's been suggested all week with the reality.

That's not because you'll be interested, it's because I'm a bit of an anorak.

More snow. Again.

That's right, just when we're dusting down our flip flops and bracing ourselves for Sandy unveiling his milk-bottle-like legs, it snows again.

I know there's been snow in the UK, and that we haven't got the monopoly on late wintery weather, but it's been crazy - we should all be sunbathing by now.

Naturally the weather boffins/buffoons are saying more's on the way, but these are the same people who said today would be a bit cloudy. Beautiful blue skies and sunshine this morning, so not a great record on prediction...

Still, it's another great view from Chateaux du Sandy et Guy this morning...

Victory

Yesterday saw the return of the Carlsberg High 5, so lots of people in free white helmets and green race bibs were hammering about about resort 'training' (many of whom might not quite have been of the standard that their swagger suggested).

That said, there were some great riders and skiers on display, including world cup legends in the pro catagory.

Now, we always have a few instructors who enter, and largely give a good account of themselves. However, this year, the Ackner family took it upon themselves to take it to the next level. OK, just Em, really.

And impressively young Emily came first in the women's snowboarding - an overwhelmed bystander, Mr Oli Pinnochio Dannat, said "She was amazing - way better than all the other girl riders and most of the blokes". High praise indeed, for someone who's world view largely consists of him at the top, and everyone else's achievements some distance beneath him...

And this is what Champion Ackner Jnr looked like:

Yellow Mike returns

Yes, Kato's stunt double is back in town and played a very appreciative T-Bar last night, where it was ABSOLUTELY RAMMED.

Naturally, it was an amazing night, and it looked a little something like this:

Just because it's April 1st doesn't mean I'm lying.

April Fools Day it may be, but that doesn't change the fact that it's snowed - as predicted by the weather boffins.

I can't make my mind up whether or not they just got the forecast right as some kind of hilarious prank, and by tomorrow they'll be getting it miles off again, but I can be certain that it snowed all yesterday, although, due to the mild temperatures, it didn't settle on anything other than the snow already on the ground.

It's not loads, but it's snow and it all counts...

It's also started settling on the trees over night at exactly resort height, making the view from the windows of 'Palais de Guy et Sandy' look rather pretty. Which is nice.


The other big news in resort is that the droopy muzzer is back. Calm yourselves.