The Sentinelles passed between the drips of the pandemic, again this year abandoning the worrying Mount Viso in a sealed off Italy, for the carefree Pigne d’Arolla in a yet untouched Helvetica. A change which was less difficult than last year’s when the lack of snow had reshuffled the cards in emergency. This time, the permanent contact with the transalpine Sentinelles, stuck in their mountains, allowed for a planned early relocation.
It was at the head of the Val d’Hérens, after having passed through the geological oddities of the Pyramids of Euseigne, that we congregated in a good Swiss inn, the number of Sentinelles was diminished due to the lack of their Italian brothers. Four days of beautiful skiing, a varied alpine itinerary, the discovery of the local enthusiasm for aerodynamic outfits in Elastane and, of course, cheese, cold cuts and Christ’s blood to activate all those beautiful hamstrings. An event full of mountain joy in spite of the anxiety which, coldly, reached the summits.