26 February 2014

corner view

corner view :: experiment


This weekend my husband and I had our own little experiment in the great outdoors: snowshoeing. And while this might seem like a no-brainer to you, please remember that I am from the Deep South and am much more comfortable in swamps and rivers than I ever will be in the mountains, even with my new-found love of said mountains. And the snow...goodness...the snow. In the grand scheme of my life, it's all fairly new, friends.


So there is a great deal of testing and exploring that has to be done, and I don't know the rules...I bet there are rules. Everything has rules. This day we rented the snow shoes, inquired about a starting point, and off we went.  After two weekends in the mountains and observing folks from all walks of life participating in this activity, we were sure we should, and could, too. How hard could it be?


By the time we were about thirty minutes into the walk, the next tall guidepost labeled "Percorso Ciaspole" (Snowshoe Route) was nearly up to its neck in snow. After that one, we never did see another.

Hello. What the heck are we doing out here in the unexplored back country?  We did take the course marked "facile." Soon we were off course and doomed, equipped with only a pair of phones sans reception. We didn't even wear snow pants! Richard forgot his hat. Clearly, rules exist for a reason.


At no time were we exactly alone out there or very far away from civilization, and we did favor form over speed. (We were slow!) But let me remind you...I'm a Cajun, a Cajun married to a reluctant sportsman, both in the deep snow on a blustery day high in the Italian mountains, with no fancy gear like all the others who passed us.

We did end up off course at some point, and we did climb the edge of the ski slope as skiers raced down, giving us odd looks. Hello! There were snowshoe tracks ahead of me...surely we weren't the first to blaze this trail up the slopes with our ciaspole. And...really...what was I thinking...I might just take up downhill skiing as it sure beats trekking up a hill in snowshoes. Geeeezzzz.

Maybe there are rules about things like this after all.



But I suppose that "all's well that ends well" with mountain experiments.  A little post-adventure mountain refreshment was in order, of course.

Next experiment: cross country skies.
Laughable, to be sure.
Stay tuned.

................
We rented snowshoes or ciaspole  or racchette di neve with poles for the day from a ski rental place right at Passo Coe for only 8 Euro a pair. Better rates for extended rental periods are offered as well. Of course, we kept it simple, but you can hike out in the wilderness for hours and can even join groups on guided walks.

Corner View is a weekly appointment shared by people around the globe, an appointment started in the spring of 2009 by Jane in Spain and currently hosted by Francesca over at Fuori Borgo. We welcome you to join us; next week's theme is "slow."

23 comments:

  1. Good Luck with cross country. It is a lot of work. I will take downhill any day!

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    1. I think you may have just talked me out of it. ;)
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    2. But at least you tried it! You get HUGE bonus points, too! And as a fellow southerner, I can honestly say you did a billion times better than I would have :-)

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    3. Doubtful! But I suppose we are living proof that ANYBODY can do it.
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  2. i love chiaspole, and i love going as far as possible from the crowded ski slopes (except when I get lost and happen to cross one:))

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    1. Goodness....and risk getting lost? Not ready for that yet!
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  3. Wow ... your adventure is fun to read about ... from my warm home in the Australian summer!!

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    1. Ha. It was a cold adventure. I think I prefer summer mountain adventures.
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  4. Looks like it was a fun experiment and it's even more fun as a blog post! Thanks for the chuckle this morning! I've never been snowshoeing and my skiing experience was a disaster....so I'm more of a "look at the pretty snow outside my window while I sit here with my mug of cocoa" kind of person.

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    1. Ha! Maybe I am, too. But then I start to feel a bit guilty about that...not sure why!?
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  5. It must be our age b/c I have been eyeing snowshoeing recently! Think I'm well over skiing... but perhaps not. Can't wait to hear how it goes with you.

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  6. Cross country is harder than snowshoeing but the downhill bits are fun.

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    1. you may have talked me out of the cross country. I think that I had the wrong shoes because I was sinking way too much!
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  7. This is a wonderful experiment. I have written on my list of things I still want to do. The scenery is great. I like landscapes that are lonely.

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    1. Well, Kristin, we weren't very lonely for most of the adventure. I'm not brave enough to get us too far away from other people, considering neither of us knows what the heck we are doing!
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  8. i'm amazed how much snow there is ( i guess you went to Passo Coe?)!
    that must have been an snowy experiment if you are mostly used to sunshine! walking on those special shoes in the snow, must be a fun thing to do!

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  9. Haha, oh dear, this sounds like an experiment, indeed, which turned out an adventure!
    I was born in a region which is usually rich of snow in winter (apart from this year), but I never tried snow shoes, I even tried skiing only once and that was it...so nothing to do with where you're coming from, I would've ended up the same way, I guess... ;)))

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    1. Give it a try. I have proven that ANYONE can do it.
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  10. Love this story. You guys are awesome!!

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  11. ps cross country skiing is so much fun, you will love it.

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