We visited the Nordic area (comprised of St-Cergue, La Givrine and La Cure) which is perfect for enjoying cross-country skiing in the Jura Mountains.
Whenever I look in our cave at home, I am reminded of the phrase “all the gear and no idea” as I pick my way through Jean’s bags and bags of pristine golf clubs, expensive unblemished tennis rackets and shiny brand new ski goggles.
Amongst this selection however, we dug out two pairs of snow shoes, still with tags on, that he had obviously bought in a previous life and never used. We decided that we would put them to use this weekend and collected some from Decathlon for Jude this morning to see if we could answer the question “can you snow-shoe with a toddler in a carrier on your back”?
We went up to Col de Givrine this afternoon as we saw on the webcam there was plenty of snow and it’s not far from where we live. We had to park a little way away from the start of the walk as it was very busy and then, because we hadn’t thought to regulate the shoes and poles before we left, we had to spend a large amount of time fiddling about before we could set off.
The slope that had looked fairly gentle when we came last time with Alba on foot, suddenly felt more challenging as I toiled away with Alba jiggling and singing on my back but it was definitely manageable and enjoyable apart from the nagging irritation buzzing in my mind “have I got a stone in my shoe or is it my sock bunched up”?
We didn’t walk far on this first outing as it was pretty cold and we wanted to leave while Jude was still enjoying himself but it proved to us that it’s definitely a nice activity even with baby carriers. Jude at 5 really enjoyed having his own little shoes and poles to manage and we were really impressed that he did so well without complaint.
We learned to check all the shoes and poles are well adjusted before we set out, to wear good socks that avoid friction and to take some ear plugs for Alba’s eye watering renditions of “Let it Go”.
Information
Parking : Yes
Toilets : Yes (inside the restaurant)
Baby Change Facilities : Not that we saw
Accessibility : Not suitable for pushchairs - Front baby-carrier advised
https://www.lacote-tourisme.ch/en/V771/snowshoes-and-winter-hike-la-givrine-le-vermeilley
Duration: 1h30 (one way) Length: 4.5 km (one way) Difficulty: easy-medium Difference in altitude: Ascent 157m / Descending 147m Highest point: 1345m
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