Photo of the Week: Freedom of the Hills

Since returning last week from a month long, bicycle-powered skiing adventure in the Alps (more posts HERE), we’ve been thinking a lot about the incredible freedom, access and mobility that bicycles and camping make possible. (Caution: If you throw skiing into the mix, too, you might not ever come back.) During our recent adventure in the Alps, we were also pleasantly reminded (again) of how vital it is for all of us to regularly immerse ourselves in the outdoors for longer periods of time, to …

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: High Passes, Big Moon, Spring in Switzerland

Powder skiing during the 40-50cm storm that nearly broke the 20-day stretch of daily/nightly snowfall that welcomed us to the Alps. Between sunny days, snow fell for two more nights as we rolled east to Austria and Italy.

Skiing as the 70-80 mph gusts of a good old …

Photo of the Week: Somewhere in the South Tirol

After pedaling our bikes out of Switzerland’s beautiful Engadin Valley and into the Austria-Italy border region, a week long corn cycle is luring us higher than usual into the mountains of the South Tirol and Ortler zones. Down in the valleys, fruit trees are blooming, cows are being turned out to pasture and people of all ages are out and about in the fresh air of springs – tending their gardens, mending fences and simply soaking up the warmer days upon us.

For more about our pedal-powered skiing …

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Mid-Winter in the Rhaetian Alps

If we didn’t take the snowflakes flying among the budding birches and blooming daffodils upon our arrival to Zurich back on April 7, we should have. For all but one of the last 18 days, beautiful fresh snow has been falling from the skies above us in the Swiss-Austrian-Italian Alps.

And this past Sunday may have taken the cake. We woke at 3am in Switzerland’s lower Engadin Valley to more heftiger schneefall (heavy snowfall) threatening to collpase our roomy, …

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Heftiger Schneefall

Relaxing back at camp in Switzerland’s Engadine Valley – Credit: EmberPhoto

We’re pretty sure that’s German for “heavy snowfall”, and although we’ve managed to score some beautiful sunshine-filled days in the alpine over the last ten days in eastern Switzerland’s Engadine Valley, heftige Schneefall has been the norm here (stay tuned for some more photos when we score normal computer access).

Luckily, with spring in effect, we’re able to comfortably camp at snowline, where the snow only sticks …

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Snowbound near St. Moritz

After landing in Zurich tempted to pedal our way straight for the mountains, a forecasted major winter storm had us throwing our bikes on a train bound for the Engadine Valley in eastern Switzerland – home to St. Moritz, several world class ski areas and endless backcountry skiing options. Our plan also meant experiencing one of the most scenic rail rides in the world…and passing up a 2-3 day bike ride toward snowline. This …

Photo of the Week: Freedom of the Hills

Since returning last week from a month long, bicycle-powered skiing adventure in the Alps (more posts HERE), we’ve been thinking a lot about the incredible freedom, access and mobility that bicycles and camping make possible. (Caution: If you throw skiing into the mix, too, you might not ever come back.) During our recent adventure in the Alps, we were also pleasantly reminded (again) of how vital it is for all of us to regularly immerse ourselves in the outdoors for longer periods of time, to …

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Mid-Winter in the Rhaetian Alps

If we didn’t take the snowflakes flying among the budding birches and blooming daffodils upon our arrival to Zurich back on April 7, we should have. For all but one of the last 18 days, beautiful fresh snow has been falling from the skies above us in the Swiss-Austrian-Italian Alps.

And this past Sunday may have taken the cake. We woke at 3am in Switzerland’s lower Engadin Valley to more heftiger schneefall (heavy snowfall) threatening to collpase our roomy, …

Photo of the Week: Freedom of the Hills

Since returning last week from a month long, bicycle-powered skiing adventure in the Alps (more posts HERE), we’ve been thinking a lot about the incredible freedom, access and mobility that bicycles and camping make possible. (Caution: If you throw skiing into the mix, too, you might not ever come back.) During our recent adventure in the Alps, we were also pleasantly reminded (again) of how vital it is for all of us to regularly immerse ourselves in the outdoors for longer periods of time, to …