Thursday 07 February 2008

Lost in the snow

On Saturday afternoon as I walked southeast along the river Sihl, I observed snow covering the trees on the Uetliberg. I've hiked up the Uetliberg in the snow before and didn't want to miss such a good opportunity to do it again. I headed straight to the base of the hill near Albisgütli and began my ascent. For South African readers, a hike up the Uetliberg is comparable to a hike up to the block house on Table Mountain. As such, you might call it a 'stroll' or 'meander' rather than a hike. After a quarter hour of walking, I discovered that I was no longer on a path. I was lost in the snow. 'No problem,' I thought because you can never really be lost on a hill: you can always head 'up' and eventually reach the top or go 'down' and reach the base. That was the theory anyway. My first attempt at 'up' left me edging along an ever steepening and narrowing ridge. When it finally got too risky to continue, I backtracked and attempted another 'up'. This time, I tried following a stream. But this path proved too flat. I sought to gain altitude by scrambling up a nearby incline. After some minutes, I could see no end to the climbing. I abandoned this 'up' too and decided instead to go 'down'. Going 'down' when you've just scrambled 'up' is a slippery business. My descent quickly turned into an uncontrolled slide. I raked into the snow with my fingers to slow down. This left a trail of resurfaced leaves behind me and left me with very cold fingers. Luckily the rest of the 'down' was straightforward and an hour later I was home. Despite failing to reach the top, I enjoyed myself: The snow-covered hill was both beautiful and peaceful. No other people were around and the only sounds were of trickling water and melting snow.
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