Plate of thinly sliced raw beef and an entire table full of sauces to dunk in. Lush! The beefy broth with dash of sherry makes for an unusual post feast soup. Oh yes.

The food is wicked here.

Cookie tucks into our tasty feast.

The buses here are run by the postal service. Dropping people and parcels off together. Very efficient!

It was the logical thing to do ;) Love that instead of Bed & Breakfast, the Swiss like a bit of Bed and Lager.

My kinda people.

Tasted great with garlic butter.

It’s chucking it down with rain today. Cookie and I only managed 3 hrs walking after the cable car to Jochpass. Now pretty soggy. Much less snow there so we’ll break out the crampons another day.

We’re soaked to the pants and drying out with a steak lunch in local Berggasthaus. Numerous stuffed wildlife surround us. They are looking at me funny - but that might be the beer(s).

Day Two: We only bloody made it!

Woke up the next day. Sun is up visability is good. Nicky has sinking feeling that the mission has not been aborted! : / We start out 3 hours early. Hoping the sun wouldn’t start melting the ice-morter that glues old snow faces together, til lunch time… We pegged it up the mountain like a ferret up a trouser leg - this time me ’speaking forcefully’ at Cookie to get a move on! Acutely aware of the rock debris around.

Pic below shows the pass we sped across ( and up ).

Quick pit stop after the mega windy ( sheerface ) crest of the pass, in an emergency hut for cheese sandwiches. Beers ahoy once over the snow to the valley. Then a swift 8 mile decent through the valley to Engleberg… Phew! Big day.

Day Three: All safe and well, bloggin from a cafe in Engleberg ( AngelMountain ). Slept face down on a bed most of today. It was amazing.

Bought ice axes and crampons for tomorrow. Jockpass awaits ….

Day One: Going into the deep cloud. About to be scared witless!

After a shaky start the weather finally arrived. ( This picture above is Day Two )

Day One was rain, wind, and thick fog obscuring most things around us. Quite creepy when you’re heading up an empty unfamilar mountain. Not knowing precisly where you are, ( Cookie pretty much knew) or how far there is to go, and the uncertainty of any challenges or dangers ahead, can make you feel pretty uneasy. Especially when you’re up a slippy slope a few thousand metres up in the snow and it’s a complete white out! It’s been all excitment so far.

Then we heard the Avalanche.

If you’ve never heard the sound of a (very) nearby mountain collapsing - let me tell you, it sure puts the underwear at risk of a good wash. Especially when you’re looking up into the biblically terrifying, unseen sound coming out of the white foggy space ahead. I was clinging on to a snow slope like … like I’m not sure what - Someone who’s absolutely shitting it!

But it all turned out well in the end. We turned back and had an emergency beer on the grassey ridge below. Then went to the pub and drank! .. And drank some more.

Heard 14 more Avalanches. Before we got to the bottom.

Monster-Munch is going ‘off piste’ for a while. Cookie is walking me across the Swiss alps for a couple of weeks. Cookie has the lowdown here. I’m set up with the Shozu app for my iPhone so you may be treated to some random shots of goats and cheese ;)

My little backpack is packed and ready to go. ( I’ve found a pair of socks that have not yet been made into a monster ). And just to prove i’m not making any of this up - here’s a shot of my survival kit!

The brilliant movie graphics site Film The Blanks has been going from strength to strength the last few months. Competition is raging as to who’s the top movie poster buff. But you’ll have to be extremely quick off the mark. I’ve never managed to get any points! The best thing is that John’s set up a tshirt shop, so now not only can we enjoy them as screen prints but wear them too. Awesome! Visit the tshirt shop here or find out more info on the design and printing here. I love the Life of Brian one below.

Tidy little radio design by Valentin Vodev from Pix Studio. Speaker on the top, and cheeky aerial poking like a cig from his mouth. Just shows how much character you can get into something using only simple functional forms, but jigging them in an imaginative way. Via Design Spotter. Reminds me of a salt and paper shaker for some reason.

These strange hairy aliens come in all shapes and sizes - each with his own unique, tailor made, hand blown glass space helmet. Standing at around 20 - 30 cms tall, a member of the cactus squadron would make the perfect desk buddy. The Domsai are made by Matteo Cibic in Bassano del Grappa, Nove, Italy. Grab one from the Monotono shop here.

From classic family portrait shots to action re-enactments, Mike Stimpson has created some bold and stylish shots of these iconic Star Wars figures. Visit his flickr to view the full set. Several of these shots are available to buy at RedBubble. My favourite is the Chewey Big Foot shot. Those trees take me back!

Woa! Check out the size of this beast.