On Valentine's Day we went on our first backcountry ski trip of the season. We had hoped to get into the Alps but with a bunch of unconsolidated new snow avalanche danger was quite high. Instead we took a trip to the
Jura mountains. The Jura mountains are located along the North/Northwest border of Switzerland and also reach into France and Germany. The Jura had also received a fair bit of snow-- 30-50cm in most higher elevation places (The maximum height of the area we were in was about 1400m)-- but due to the topography and absence of larger open slopes, the skiing there was considerably safer. The Jura reminded me a little bit of being in Vermont. We took a train to a small request-only stop called "Im Holz," which translates to "in the wood(s)." We stepped off of the train, walked across a small street and immediately put on our skis. We started up through a field and skirted above a small town before turning and climbing up a combination of small logging roads and hiking trails to eventually gain a high ridge. Skiing up through the initial deciduous forest woods made me feel like I was back in the NE US. As we were skiing up, I spotted a tree with some writing on it. I looked closer and discovered it was painted with stenciled letters (very neat and tidy graffiti, very Swiss-like) that said "Ingrid, Ich liebe Dich" (Ingrid, I love You). Since it was Valentine's Day I thought it was very timely graffiti.
After working hard to gain the ridge, the plan was to ski down the other side and then possibly over one or maybe 2 more ridges that day. The wind was blasting over the top of the saddle where we emerged from the trees so we stopped in a lee area just long enough to remove our climbing skins and have a quick snack. We dropped over the other side into heavenly powder skiing down through some narrow meadows that resembled ungroomed ski runs. At the bottom of the meadows we intersected another logging/farm road and began following it down as it contoured around the ridge. When we stopped at an intersection I was still feeling so giddy about the fine turns we had had up above that I suggested that we go back up and do another lap rather than continue on to climb the next ridge. We climbed back up in a light snow, heading in the general direction of the small pass we had come over earlier. I was feeling quite pleased with myself when the small spur I chose to ascend brought us back exactly where we wanted to be. On the second lap down, the slope had more tracks but there was still plenty of untracked powder and amazing conditions that felt effortless to turn in. The fun skiing part went by too quickly.
This time we continued down the road and had one more small meadow before we exited on to a driveable road that we skied down until we reached the main road. We had already decided to call it a day here. We took off our skis and walked 5 minutes to another train station. Although we had to wait a while for the next train, it is still such a convenient way to get around.
On Valentine's Day we went on our first backcountry ski trip of the season. We had hoped to get into the Alps but with a bunch of unconsolidated new snow avalanche danger was quite high. Instead we took a trip to the Jura mountains. The Jura mountains are located along the North/Northwest border of Switzerland and also reach into France and Germany. The Jura had also received a fair bit of snow-- 30-50cm in most higher elevation places (The maximum height of the area we were in was about 1400m)-- but due to the topography and absence of larger open slopes, the skiing there was considerably safer. The Jura reminded me a little bit of being in Vermont. We took a train to a small request-only stop called "Im Holz," which translates to "in the wood(s)." We stepped off of the train, walked across a small street and immediately put on our skis. We started up through a field and skirted above a small town before turning and climbing up a combination of small logging roads and hiking trails to eventually gain a high ridge. Skiing up through the initial deciduous forest woods made me feel like I was back in the NE US. As we were skiing up, I spotted a tree with some writing on it. I looked closer and discovered it was painted with stenciled letters (very neat and tidy graffiti, very Swiss-like) that said "Ingrid, Ich liebe Dich" (Ingrid, I love You). Since it was Valentine's Day I thought it was very timely graffiti. 
After working hard to gain the ridge, the plan was to ski down the other side and then possibly over one or maybe 2 more ridges that day. The wind was blasting over the top of the saddle where we emerged from the trees so we stopped in a lee area just long enough to remove our climbing skins and have a quick snack. We dropped over the other side into heavenly powder skiing down through some narrow meadows that resembled ungroomed ski runs. At the bottom of the meadows we intersected another logging/farm road and began following it down as it contoured around the ridge. When we stopped at an intersection I was still feeling so giddy about the fine turns we had had up above that I suggested that we go back up and do another lap rather than continue on to climb the next ridge. We climbed back up in a light snow, heading in the general direction of the small pass we had come over earlier. I was feeling quite pleased with myself when the small spur I chose to ascend brought us back exactly where we wanted to be. On the second lap down, the slope had more tracks but there was still plenty of untracked powder and amazing conditions that felt effortless to turn in. The fun skiing part went by too quickly.
This time we continued down the road and had one more small meadow before we exited on to a driveable road that we skied down until we reached the main road. We had already decided to call it a day here. We took off our skis and walked 5 minutes to another train station. Although we had to wait a while for the next train, it is still such a convenient way to get around.
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