Mountainscape - Swiss Alps

The first person I showed this image to told me that it was a sad photograph perfect to accompany a death notice... I did not see it this way... The back light brings up the top of the pine trees and emphasizes the thin clouds pushed up the valley by a morning breeze... The bell tower of the local church breaks the tree line to improve the composition... Well, what is your opinion?

Mountainscape - Swiss Alps

Back to black & white to show the air flows carrying the clouds above the mountains.

Mountainscape - Swiss Alps

As the sun goes down, the cable cars will cease their operations soon.

Chalet with flowers - Swiss Alps

In the Alps, many of the wooden chalets are decorated with colourful flowers during the Summer.

A curious sparrow - Swiss Alps

This sparrow came so close that it was at the shortest focus limit of the 70-300mm. While a very common bird almost all over the world, I thought that this cute one would deserve a post!

Ibex - Swiss Alps

Young ibex on a mountain ridge.

Ibexes - Swiss Alps

Playful fight between young ibexes.

Ibexes - Swiss Alps

A female ibex with two kids resting on a green patch between the rocks.

Ibex - Swiss Alps

The carrying of the "big gun" 500mm lens around for a few days, complete with tripod, finally paid off. It allowed me to stay at a safe distance from the ibexes and catch them undisturbed.

First sighting of an Ibex - Swiss Alps

On the third attempt to find some of the large mammals that inhabit these mountains, I was finally successful. I met with a herd of ibexes close to the summit of the Plattjen, at 2'570m. Pictured above is a young male, which was observing the rocks it had just dislodged and that were rolling off the crest it was walking along.

Mountainscape - Swiss Alps

Clouds among the mountain peaks.

Walk to the Britannia Hütte - Swiss Alps

A path leading to the Bitannia Hütte is marked in the snow from the Feldskinn station. In the Winter, the same route is opened and can be traveled with ski equipped with seal skins.

Above the sea of clouds - Swiss Alps

The Feldskinn station is located at 3'000 m where cable car must be exchanged for an underground train to reach the highest skiable point on the Allalin, at 3'500 m.

Snow is present all year long at these altitudes and skying is possible on the glacier, between Feldskinn and Allalin.

Capricious weather - Swiss Alps

Carrying almost 12kg of photographic equipment for the second day in a row trying to find chamois or ibexes (500mm lens, tripod, picture taken with 24mm, etc), the weather turned to the worst and I found myself in the middle of a cloud under a slight drizzle, 2h25 away from the village of Saas Fee. The rock landscape under the heavy and moving white cover was eery and mysterious, which made the walk worth it anyway. Unfortunately, no success in finding any wild animals this day!

Glacier - Swiss Alps

Further up the mountain the tongues of the Fee Gletscher had received a little snow overnight. Although in August, altitude limit for snow fall came down to 2'500m as temperatures had dropped substantially.

Following the shape of the rock base, the glacier forms crevasses and seracs on its gentle way downhill.

The path of the glacier - Swiss Alps

Over the past 50 years, the glacier above Saas Fee has shrank substantially. This valley used to be entirely under the ice. We can still see the tip of the tongue of the glacier up left and streams of meltwater.

Marmots in the Swiss Alps

When young marmots meets they usually get into a friendly fights. Adults have a different attitude.

Marmot in the Swiss Alps

A little break was necessary to catch up on some work, my apologies to the faithful followers of the blog!

Here is a marmot munching on a root, using its paw to hold it.

Mountain stream - Swiss Alps

Mountain stream with epilobes in the foreground.

Marmot in the Swiss Alps

While the clouds are running up the valley, the marmot watch over its territory.

Total change of landscape with the start of a short series of photographs from the Swiss Alps in August.