A winter holiday in Sainte-Foy offers so much more than the traditional skiing experience, and International Mountain leader Iona McDonald is on hand to reveal some of the mountain’s forest secrets to you. Her warm smile and friendly manner tells you that this is about having fun, and having been promised an igloo we are keen to hear more!
Originally from North East Scotland, Iona was a project manager in mechanical engineering before coming to Sainte-Foy 13 years ago. As they say, you can take the girl out of the mountains, but you can’t take the mountains out of the girl, and Iona says it was inevitable that she would end up living in the Alps.
It was three years ago when Iona started working with Misha at Snocool, that they had the idea to provide snowshoeing excursions as an alternative activity to skiing and boarding. “At the start it was just for children, but now we have more and more adults wanting to explore the forest with us” explains Iona, before adding “it’s all about being in nature and showing people a different side of the mountain.”
Snow shoeing is one of the oldest and most efficient ways to move around on snow, and we are keen to try it out for ourselves. Snow shoes are like big tennis rackets strapped to your feet which distribute your weight over a larger area, thus preventing you from sinking in. They are quick and easy to put on, and we are soon ready to go.
We set off on a trail into the ‘forêt communale de Sainte-Foy’, and Iona is quickly into mountain leader mode. Her knowledge is fascinating, and we soon learn the difference between tracks belonging to animals at play, and those in the more survival mode of conserving energy and looking for food. Before long we have identified mountain hare, deer, and black squirrel tracks in the snow.
With nature at the heart of everything she does, Iona tells us that “it’s also about having fun, playing in the snow and creating memories”. She is a master at creating confidence and soon has a grandma sliding down the snowy bank with the kids. Everybody is laughing now, especially the children, and Iona muses that “kids laughter is like medicine for the soul”.
We enter a small clearing in the pine trees, and come face to face with an igloo which Iona built earlier in the winter with the help of some of the Snocool ski instructors. It’s an impressive construction and big enough inside for six people to sit on carved snow seats. Like a mountain rabbit pulled from the hat, a flask of hot chocolate magically appears from Iona’s rucksack and we all get to try some. I’m not sure whether the génépi I’m offered next is to go in my hot chocolate, but I decide to drink it on its own and savour the herby taste of the génépi plant which grows on the rocks a little bit higher up the mountain here in Sainte-Foy.
When the sliced saucisson and selection of local cheeses are passed round, we reflect on how cheese and dried meat is the traditional way to preserve food and nourish you through the long winter months in the Savoie mountains.
Outside the igloo, Iona is a veritable French Bear Grylls, and demonstrates some bush craft to wide eyed children and grown ups alike. There won’t be a shortage of toasted marshmallows to go with our hot chocolate.
Pleasantly refreshed we continue up the trail, and the kids stay close to Iona as she’s now telling a few jokes. It’s a good test for my French, and I’m happy to say that the ones I understood were very funny!
We start our descent and Iona explains that “contra to skiing when children are trying not to fall over, we encourage kids to jump in, fall over and slide in the snow . . . and they love it!”
This is all part of the fun and, as if by magic, we arrive at another suitable bank of snow dropping into a small clearing. Before we know it, grandma is sliding down the slope again with the children following. The main difference is that grandma forgot to shout “watch me! watch me!” before launching into her slide.
The children scamper up for a second go, whilst those of us already satisfied with our snow sliding accomplishments quiz Iona about the eagles and vultures living in the valley. “You must remember to look up” she reminds us, adding that “the brilliance of stars on a clear night in the mountains is quite stunning”. There are evening excursions to the igloo and on a clear night, when Iona will point out a few constellations and teach you how to find north using the stars. “There are more stars in the mountains. Perhaps it’s because we are closer to the heavens” suggests Iona. It’s a lovely thought.
After a few more tips on snow shoeing technique we continue our descent and Iona confides to me, “I love nature and the mountains, and it’s a more fun way to earn a living”. It’s easy to see why Iona loves it here.
