We have snow in Switzerland

We had wonderful weather today. It started off at freezing point and during the day went up to 8° C with clear skies and sunshine. I was talking to a colleague at work that works in our IT department about the photos I sometimes take at work and he said I should try it out on his side of the building as he gets the sunrises and I only get the sunsets. Then we started exchanging our photos shots by mail and internet where mine usually arrive eventually.

He went snowboarding last week-end in the Bernese Overland and was on the Männlichen, one of their skiing places and took some photos with his mobile, cell phone or whatever it is called - in Switzerland we call them handies.

I was so impressed that I asked him if I could show them here, so here they are. It was a nice sunny day in the Bernese Overland. The mountain on the lefthand side is the Eiger. On the flanks of that mountain there are windows from the Jungfrau railway which goes through the mountain. You can't see the Jungfrau properly on this picture, just the beginning of it on the righthand edge.

Here is a good photo to show the strength of the sun on that height which is about 2'343 meters over sea level. When I think our local mountain, the Weissenstein, is only 1200 Meters high. I know the Bernese Overland very well, also this area. It is where the big ski races are carried out in Winter, but I know it mainly from the Summer holidays when it is green and the meadows are full of beautiful flowers, cows and wondnderful scenery. I have often gone hiking up the mountains (not climbing) and when the weather gets a bit more summery I will scan a few of the 500 photos I have of the Swiss mountaines in Summer for a blog. They were taken in the old days when I didn't have a digi camera and the photos had something called a negative.

I don't ski and don't go to the mountains in winter for the simple reason that I am accident prone and would guaranteed break something. I can't even ride a two wheel bike. I am also not keen on the car rides to get to such places, especially if they are somewhere at the end of a country road leading to the alps. Bernese Overland is not so bad, you very rarely need to put chains on the wheels, but if you go to Grisons or Valais, then it is a different story, so I stay in the lowlands in Winter and depend on my friend's photos to show how it is.

There you can see some of the brave skiers getting ready for their downhill run. And thanks to my colleague for letting us enjoy a day out on the slopes of the Bernese Overland.