Weekend hiking with Sj and Adam

With Sarahjane and Adam over for the weekend it was time to dig out the walking boots. Making use of the last few open lifts in the valley we decided to head up to Planpraz on the Brevent lift and walk up to the Lacs Noirs to gain some stunning views of the Mont Blanc Massif and the Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve.

After a stop for lunch we continued the traverse over to the much more touristy Lac Blanc. With its easy access from the Index Chair Lift and Refuge, its a popular stopping spot for walkers and definetly lacked a remote mountain feel. From here it was a plod down to the Flegere lift and a well deserved drink at Rhodendrums hotel in Les Praz and then to MBC for a birthday beer and burgers all round.

On Saturday we headed over to the Emosson dam, we had all previously climbed the long road up to the dam on bikes so it was a pleasant change to be in a car!! Parking at the dam we negotiated (slowly for some!) the hanging walkways before traversing over to the Loriaz refuge with some stunning views into the Swiss alps. From the refuge the steep climb up to Col de la Terrasse loomed large.  The 600m climb went on and on before the sting in the tale a steep little climb onto the terasse where a large group of kids slightly ruined the mountain ambiance!! However we found a quiet enough spot for a well earned lunch. The descent back to Emosson dam via the Gorge de la Veudale was much more gentle and at times wondered whether it would make for a brilliant descent on the bike... think in the end there would be too many walking sections though.

After two long hikes a "lazy" sunday was in order. With the pool closed in Chamonix we headed to Lake Passy and a very pleasant swim to ease the aching muscles. We then headed to Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval to visit the waterfalls that I had heard about... definetly worth a visit!!


More photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwestwatson/
 

Weekend of biking and climbing with Ian

 

 

With Ian over for the weekend from Aberdeen it was time to get back onto the mountain bike. With bike quickly rented we were able to get a quick ride in on the Thursday evening. I had thought that the descent over the back of Les Houches down Hugh's Way to St Gervais would be a great warm up to Alps riding and let Ian get used to his bike. However despite a couple of days of dry weather the trail was wet and the mix of clay based soil and tree roots turned this into a slip fest! Both of us ended the ride with cuts and bruises.

The next day I had planned a tour of the Chamonix valley making use of the lifts where possible. From the Flegere lift we descended to Tre-Le-Champ on a great trail, I was loving the technical riding, Ian less so! From here we climbed up to Le Tour  and a slightly dissapointing run on the mtb trail under the top lift. Grabbing a quick Coke at the Refuge de Balme (despite 7euros for two cans of coke we were stictly forbidden from eating our sandwiches!) we then descended into Switzerland on the Les Jeurs trail. An awesome descent of flowing singletrack finally brings you down to the Swiss border at Le Chaterlard. From here it was a bit of a climb up the road to Col des Montets. Feeling the effects of two harder days riding than expecting and nursing some bruises we decided to take some easy trails back to Chamonix and enjoy well earned beer and burgers at the MBC.

On the Saturday we made the most of the continued good weather and headed up to the Index to try to tackle the Chapelle de la Gliere. It's a long (400m) route so we made an early start and despite getting the second lift had to queue for about an hour to get onto the route. It was perhaps a slightly ambitious undertaking for Ian's first outdoor climbing and if hanging around at the bottom didn't help to settle his nerves the polished awkward nature of the first pitch certainly didn't! Still we battled on... the second and third pitches being slightly easier before the fourth led to a tricky corner pitch with some great climbing. The bolting of routes in the alps can mean the climbing is a lot more sustained than UK mountain routes and with 8 pitches still left and energy levels dropping we made the decsion to retreat. This is where the bolting really comes into it's own making the 3 abseils back to terra firma fairly straightforward. Again the early retreat meant we could get the lift down and enjy a few beers at MBC!

By now Ian was definelty after a more relaxing Sunday, so we headed up to the Chezerys slabs and had a very pleasant day climbing in the sunshine. We first tackled Voie Jaune and although the grade was only F4b was 120m of nice sustained climbing. Ian took the chance to "sunbathe" whilst he belayed me on the first pitches of a couple of other routes. With the clouds building and the sun dissapearing behind the hill we headed down the hill for a beer at... yes MBC and an excellent cheese fest at Le Boccalette.


More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwestwatson/
 

Hiking in Le Tour

On Sunday the weather finally cleared enough to get back into the hills. Simon was over visiting for the weekend from Luzern and although the intention was to do some climbing, with some fresh snow above 2500m we decided to head up to Le Tour for a hike.

From the village we headed straight up to the Albert 1er hut alongside the Le Tour Glacier. By the time we reached the hut (2700m) there was a thin covering of fresh snow but this in turn meant great views over to Mont Buet and the Aiguilles Rouges. We managed to escape the guard of the hut dog (although it did try to take a chunk out my leg) and stopped for a hot chocolate before heading back down the path for a couple of hundred metres and the taking the narrow path around to Col De Balme.

We were quickly back into the warmth of the sun and great walking conditions. From the Col we headed up Tete de Balme and then over to Aiguilliettes des Posettes before dropping back down to Le Tour for a couple of shandies in the sun.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulwestwatson/