Summer Holidays

FIFAD Day 1

FIFAD Day 1 From the 6th to the 13th of August 2016 The International Alpine Film Festival, FIFAD, is taking place in the Alpine town of Les Diablerets. This is a week long festival of Alpine films covering the environment, extreme sports, adventure and more. Alpland Alpland is a photo exhibit outside of images of Alpine life in black and white. The images were taken by Romano Riedo The Flying Frenchies arrive The image gallery below shows the Flying Frenchies arrive at the film festival.

Via Ferrata and Edelweiss

Via Ferrata and Edelweiss can be combined. I was reminded of this when I was looking at Salanfe’s Instagram account images last night. I saw an image of a chamois and her young and then I saw the picture below of an Edelweiss and I wanted to share that I had also seen Edelweiss. #monpetitbonheur du jour ! Magnifiques #Edelweiss à#Salanfe#hiking#rando#balade#valais#moneteenvalaispic.twitter.com/soa6GEbe2Y — Fabienne Marclay (@salanfe) August 4, 2016 I saw edelweiss on the Via Ferrata de Rougemont on the 31st of August 2014 according to Google Photos.

1st of August - Fête national Suisse in St Prex

The First of August, in Switzerland is a national holiday. This is the day when Switzerland celebrates its own existence. The Swiss are celebrating the Pacte Fédérale from 1291. I saw a tweet saying that Switzerland is about 725 years old. They have only been celebrating this since 1891 when the confederation was 600 years old. [caption id=“attachment_3220” align=“aligncenter” width=“660”] Fireworks on their way to St Prex[/caption] On this day rafts covered in firewood are brought out on the lake and placed next to cities.

Networking around Pokemon Go

Networking around Pokemon Go is less interesting now that everyone plays the game. I have heard non geeks talk about Pokemon Go. They spoke about the large crowds that are staring at their phones in places like Ouchy. The value of social movements is to be part of a small, passionate group of players where the community is large enough to be fun but not so large as to become mundane.

A satirical look at music festivals as a form of psychological torture

When we’re 14-28 years old the idea of going to a music festival to see the artists we spend our free time listening to is fantastic. Imagine all that drinking, that mud, that food, those opportunities to seduce and best of all that ambiance. The prospect of going to a music festival is so appealing that we fantacize about going to work as bénévole to have the full experience. I have been through that experience several times as a result of which I chose to have a week off from socialising to recover.

Summer Nyon

[caption id=“attachment_3100” align=“aligncenter” width=“660”] Summer Nyon[/caption] This is an image of Nyon on a day when the thermometer indicated at least 31°c on a sunny Sunday afternoon. In this image you can see the CGN boat leaving Nyon and heading towards Geneva. You can see the Jet D’eau in the background. You can see a sailing boat in the distance, some kayakers nearby and two pedalos. What you don’t see in this image are the people playing volleyball, other people sitting at Nyon Plage or yet more people at the Nyon Swimming Pool.

Via Ferrata with Climbing Shoes

Today I tried a Via Ferrata with Climbing shoes. With a group we went to the Moléson which you see in the picture below. This mountain stands in the middle and has fantastic views on to Neuchatel, the Lac Leman, Bulle and more. The drawback is that this mountain is often in cloud due to its location and height. [caption id=“attachment_3042” align=“aligncenter” width=“660”] Heading to Moléson[/caption] If you’re still reading despite the mention of clouds then you will see that this is an enjoyable place to visit.

A 360 timelapse walk through the woods

Yesterday I went for a 360 timelapse walk through the woods above Trelex. I set the camera to take an image every 8 seconds. As the woods were dark and dense it took some effort not to walk in too much mud and not to slip too many times. The result of the timelapse is not as good as I had hoped. Ideally I want to find a way to fix the camera so that it looks at my direction of travel.

Switzerland, Fitness centres and the mountains

For three years I was a fitness club member. I loved going to the gym up to three times a week when possible. I loved training so much that I bought apps and devices to track my progress. Any time that I could not spend three sessions a week at the gym I felt disappointed. That passion, when you are in full time work can be hard to keep active. I tried going to the gym at 6am and I tried going after work but the habit never picked up.

Moléson Night - Via ferrata at night

I expect that going to do the Moléson Via Ferrata by night will be like scuba diving in the lake. I expect that on the Moléson night I will see the cliff face in front of me and that if I turn around I will see darkness around me. I suspect I will be able to see certain stars and city lights in nearby towns. I am curious to see how bottomless the void behind me will feel.