Swiss BBQ in sun drenched Hyssington
Back in April we were skitouring in the Swiss Alps when stopped to catch breath, admire the view and consult map. The snow was hard and icy and, as Sally swung her rucksack back on, the map and guidebook, both neatly wrapped in a plastic ziplock bag, fell to the ground and skittered away down the slope gathering pace as it headed toward a steepening couloir. That was the last we saw of the the map and guidebook despite all the inevitable soul-searching and the gripping ski back down the couloir in an attempt to find it.
Little did we know then that this trivial mishap would have such a happy ending. For, later that evening, we were in the Wildhorn Hut when Sally spied a Swiss couple poring over a map and she went over and asked if she could photograph it. With great generosity the couple insisted that Sally kept the map and would take nothing for it.
We all went our separate ways the next morning but Sally carefully noted down their address from the hut log book and duly bought a replacement a few days later. As a reward for their generosity she also bought a guidebook to mountain biking in Wales as we had chatted about their passion for mountain biking around the world. A week or two later the parcel of replacement map, cycle guidebook, together with a note of thanks, was duly sent off to them in Berne.
What we didn’t expect was a lovely email of thanks back and the news that they had been inspired by the Welsh guidebook and had booked themselves a mountain biking holiday for a week in Wales. Better still it was a week when we would be at home.
Even the Welsh weather played ball and yesterday evening we fired up the BBQ and cooked rib eyes for Vincent and Alexandra on a lovely warm summers evening in Hyssington. Great to see them and to swap stories of adventures planned and adventures past. A new friendship born out of a simple act of kindness that wouldn’t have happened without that most minor of mishaps.