My Mountain – a guest post by Clare Ungerson

SwitzerlandI’ve just come back from a week in the Swiss Alps.  I had started reading Sheila’s blog before I went away and was loving it, but in Switzerland it took on an extra dimension of pleasure.  I came to think of it as that tiny piece of chocolate the Swiss produce with whatever you are drinking (tea, coffee, even hot chocolate) – a value-added sweetness at the end of a hard day in the mountains.  A little gift from Sheila that made me smile… and even, dare I say it, LOL (particularly when Worried Pat got involved).

I wasn’t skiing – that was for the brave and expert.  I was walking with my sister-in-law, up and down along snowy Alpine ridges, or steadily downhill from a high up ski station to the village.   Some days the snow was slushy and slippy, others it was fresh and deep. I learnt two lessons: first, never approach physical exercise without getting properly fit first, and second, always take the right equipment!  The first couple of days were pretty agonising.  Not only was there the extra pressure of downhill walking on my poor old cranky knees (one of which was bust when I last stood at the top of a mountain and tried to slide down it on little wooden planks 25 years ago). There was also the issue of my boots.  They were comfortable enough but not built for walking on snow.  So for the first couple of days I was basically terrified of once more sliding down a mountain, totally out of control.  Bend Ze Knees! echoed in my distant memory of trying to learn to ski in my twenties, so that is what I did. Margaret and I trudged through lovely forests of pine trees covered in icing sugar snow and through huge glacial valleys with stunning picture postcard views.  But of course, come the evening and a bottle of wine by the open blazing fire, the knees retaliated…

Yaktrax
Yaktrax

And then bossy Caroline, Margaret’s friend from Norwich, sprang to the rescue.  Caroline had thought she might be too scared to ski so she had brought with her something called ‘Yaktrax’ – a pair of sort of tyre chains which you attach to your walking boots.  But fortunately Caroline, and William (my husband, who hadn’t skied for 25 years), formed themselves into a morale boosting skiing partnership, and were off early every morning to tackle the pistes and enjoy boozy lunches at ski stations with new pals. So Yaktrax was available for me.  Suddenly I discovered, whatever the snow conditions and whether we were going steeply up or down, my boots would hold. This pair of chains kept me upright. All day.  The knees stopped complaining, and instead of watching my feet and sticks all the time I could relax and enjoy the blue skies, the stunning views and the cold fresh air in my lungs.

As we walked I thought of Sheila and the Kili Climb.  At least Sheila will be as fit as she possibly can be (I wasn’t, even for these relatively miniscule Alpine ups and downs) and she really does seem to be researching what is needed, in terms of equipment, for this adventure.  That is a comfort!  And I also thought of my own encounter with Kilimanjaro – I think it was 1969 – but that, maybe, is a story for another day…

Clare and Sheila striding out
Clare and Sheila striding out
Jae muscled into the front of the photo at William and Clare's wedding!
Jae muscled into the front of the photo at William and Clare’s wedding!