Getting to the restaurant is a 20min walk up from the end of the cleared road and you can hear the restaurant before you can see it (I won’t spoil the actual surprise). It’s not to far to go with kids and gets the appetite going ready for dinner.

Dinner is a simple but tasty affair with Savoyard specialities the only dishes on the menu, and I have to say one of the best potato gratins I have ever had. Mark’s a great host full of stories, games and tricks, including going to find two of our group who got lost on the way up on the snowmobile.

Dinner time!

Liv and Carla from Mountain Spaces

That’s an egg Mark (in the red) is about to throw into the fondue pot via the ceiling to mop up the last of the cheese.

Remains!

Mark and Rupert the bear at the bar

No caption will do this justice, book for yourselves and go and see.

Cheaper and considerably more dangerous than a sledge on the way home.

Not a particularly cheap evening out but well worth it for a taste of alpine transport.

People out for a weeks holiday are often hesitant about off piste for a variety of reasons, they don’t want to ‘waste’ a day hiking, the cost of a guide and avalanche equipment, or they mistakenly think they aren’t good enough. I would definitely recommend anyone who has a chance to get a guide and give this route a go, it’s a 20min traverse round from a lift so no height to gain and as long as you’ve played around on the side of the piste a bit before you’ll be fine putting your turns in.

The Col is one of, if not the oldest route through the Western Alps with evidence of use as far back as the Bronze ages. The pass is appears in history around 390BC and is well documented by the time of Julius Ceaser around 60BC. Napolean also famously crossed the pass in May 1800 with 6000 men and there’s a staue at the top to commemorate the feat.

This season a rare gap at the end of January allowed us to take our 4 staff, Danny, Carla, Liv and Chris all over to Switzerland and trek up to stay the night.

The guys at All Mountain Rental very kindly lent me an Atomic Poacher split board to test out which also meant I could take Kates board as she was 3 months pregnant!

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, if you ever get the chance to visit the refuge, even if it’s just in the summer when you can drive up it’s well worth the detour.

Atomic Poacher Split Board

Weather conditions settled down and we had brilliant blue skies the whole way up. First time hiking for Liv and Chris and the first ever time off piste for Danny and Carla!

Pack Horse and Kate!

General Faffing and Taking Photos

Glorious Randonee Weather

The Crew at The Top

Danny Man of The Mountain!

With snow right down to village level and to Mountain Spaces HQ we decided it was time to make the most of what’s on out doorstep, quite literally. With a deep enough base down over the hills in the village we made our way to the top on snow shoes checking out the snow depth and some lines on the way.

Just outside our front door, snow-shoed up and ready to roll

Not quite a husky but he still follows us up the hill!

Mountain Spaces HQ

At the top

Picking out lines on the way down

It doesn’t always have to be on the lifts and getting out away from the crowds can be amazing, only 1 run but well worth the effort.

It’s always hard to judge when a walk is an infamous as the Roc D’Enfer for claiming several lives over the past few years but the warning signs are well justified. Going well prepared with plenty of time, taking a map, making sure someone knows your route and the the weather forecast is nothing but clear skies with no wind is as much as you can do. The rest is walking confidently within you limits and not being afraid of turning back if you are either unsure of the route or not confident in your ability.

Having said that the reward was an exhilarating walk/scramble along one of the best ridge lines I’ve ever been too!

There’s loads of lovely recipes but it’s hard to beat the Hummingbird Bakery

Potato and Parsnip Gratin (4 good size servings)
450g potatoes
450g parsnips
200ml semi-skimmed milk
50ml pouring cream
250ml creme fraiche
25g butter
handful of wild girolle mushrooms (optional)

Method for Gratin

Put the milk, cream and creme fraiche into a pan and bring slowly to the boil with a touch of seasoning.

Scrub the potatoes and parsnips really well and without peeling slice them into approx 1cm thick round slices.

Add to the pan with the milk mixture, cover and simmer gently for 15-20mins or until the potato and parsnip are turning soft but well before they become soggy.

Using tongs pull out the slices and arrange in a shallow dish (it should be about 3-4 slices deep). Pour over the mixture from the pan, this should almost cover the slices but not quite, put the knob of butter on the top and season.

If you are using the Girolle mushrooms (porcini or oyster mushrooms work well too) sprinkle these over the top now and make sure they get covered by the milk mixture.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 Deg C for at least 45 mins, you can always grill the top for 5 mins at the end to crisp it up while the joint of meat is resting.

Serve with a light fresh vegetables, lemon broccoli or mange tout.

Next up for the taste test is a delicious roast pork with an amazing apple and parsley stuffing and a twist on the French style potato gratin.

Ingredients

Rolled Stuffed Loin of Pork (4 good size servings)
1 kg rolled loin of pork (off the bone is easier to deal with)
- For the Stuffing
1 slice of wholemeal bread
1/2 eating apple
1 onion
100g lardons
2 cloves of garlic
handful of parsley
cinnamon (tiny sprinkle as can be quite over powering)

Method for the Pork

Toast the slice of bread and blitz it in a blender into crumbs, toasting it reduces the risk of the stuffing being too soggy. Add the remaining stuffing ingredients and blitz, it should end up with some texture but should stick together well, don’t over-do the cinnamon as it’s quite a strong flavour, a small pinch is plenty.

Take your loin of pork and remove any string that the butcher has used to keep it together, unroll it as far as possible then slice through the thickest part to further open out the joint.

Use a rolling pin and cling film over the meat to flatten the whole joint out to about 2 cm in thickness. It should now look like a flat rectangle of roughly even thickness. Take care not to bash it too thin or it’ll break when you roll it.

Take your stuffing mix and using your hands spread it over the rolled out joint, it should cover pretty much the whole surface about 1.5 cm deep. Have your string ready to re-tie the joint then roll up the pork and stuffing (left to right in the picture) and secure using the string, about 5-6 wraps round should be ok.

Rub the outside of the roll with olive oil and season, go easy with the salt as the lardons in the stuffing can be quite salty already.

Make sure you clean up properly after this section as raw pork should not be allowed to remain on surfaces and utensils.

Pre-heat your oven to it’s max temperature and sear the joint for 20 mins then reduce the temperature to 180 Deg C, 30mins for every 450g. Pork should NOT be served pink, the stuffing will help keep it moist if you do over do it a bit. If you have a kitchen thermometer the interior temperature should be 75 Deg C.

Use a little cornflour mix with the juice in the bottom of the meat tray with some water from any veg you are cooking to finish off with a delicious gravy.

In this post is a delicious  hearty pea soup with crusty croutons and crispy bacon, definitely a contender for an entrée on this years menu. Enjoy!

Delicious Winter Pea Soup

Ingredients (4 good size portions)

1 onion
2 potatoes
500g frozen peas
100ml creme fraiche
150g streaky bacon
1L vegetable stock (a good quality stock cube will be ok)
butter
olive oil
a good quality wholemeal loaf unsliced

Method

Peel and chop your onion and add to a decent size deep pan with a knob of butter and a glug of olive oil. Wait for everything to start to cook and sizzle then add a splash of water to stop the onions becoming coloured. Keep everything moving for 10mins or so or until the onions are soft.

At the same time bring your stock to a simmer, peel and roughly grate the potatoes and add it to the stock and let it simmer gently.

Add the frozen peas to the onions and keep stirring for a few minutes until the peas are defrosted and begin to soften.

Carefully pour in the stock and potato mix followed by the creme fraiche and stir everything together. Simmer gently until the peas begin to loose some of their bite. You don’t want them overcooked and mushy but you also want the soup to be lovely and smooth when it’s blended.

We find it easier to use a hand held blender in the pan you are cooking in rather than a food processor, this way you can taste and season and check the texture of the soup as you go. Once you’re happy turn the heat down to just keep it warm.

Tear some 1 inch cubes off the loaf of bread and toss them gently in olive oil, toast them in a thick based pan turning regularly to stop them burning. Once they’re done put them to one side and cut up you bacon into French style ‘lardons’ and fry until crispy in the same pan.

Serve with the croutons and bacon lardons in the centre of the bowl. The soup should be just thick enough that the croutons and bacon sit just on the surface.

You should get the lovely flavour of the peas with potato making it a more hearty filling winter soup and the croutons and bacon adding a bit of crisp witha tasty, salty punch.

Just to make sure,we do eat everything we trial for the chalet which is a hard job but someone has to do it!

Coming up next, plat principal (main course)