Via Ferrata - Chapelle d'Abondance

There is an infinite* number of sports and activities to be done in the French Alps.  It doesn't really make much sense when i tell people i want to be an Alpinist and then have to admit to an over-developed fear of heights.  And there are a lot of heights to be found in the mountains.

Anyway so we recently took up Rock Climbing (Escalade).  We've previously climbed indoors so we have some basic knowledge and have been learning to lead climb at our nearest wall which is just down the road at Bas Thex.

But so far, because we are beginners, we've not got much more than 15 - 20m off the ground, and although this is clearly high enough to kill you as much as you can drown in 2 inches of water in the bath tub, we wanted to get out of the tub and get some real exposure.  Enter Via Ferrata - which is basically climbing a rock face which has been laced with steel cable and steel horse-shoe shaped rungs in the form of ladders.  You clip yourself onto the steel cable with a specialised karabiner and cowslip which has a shock-absorbing system built into it.

I actually didn't realise it would be so vertical, or over-hanging in a lot of places, and i certainly didn't realise that the exposure would be so huge, for the entire trip.  Anyway, it was definitely good for my heights fear - but as usual Natalie had no problem with it whatsoever and climbed it like she was climbing a flight of stairs!

* For large finite values of infinite.

Snowboard Shopping

This weekend Natalie and I went snowboard shopping. Yes yes, we've taken up the evil sport but ya know what? It's actually kinda fun. That must be why all these "moron boarders" do it! Anyway, shopping for the boards was equally fun. We could not, of course, make any decisions without our consultant snow-board gear experts, Runa and Scarlett:

And no... we did not get boards with any obscene graphics on them... Pah - snowboarders!

Learn to Ski

If you really want to learn how to ski, i recommend skiing with the 9-year-old son of a ski-instructor for an afternoon. My goodness me, i have never skied so fast or done such crazy things in my young life. We followed little Mick, age just-turned-9, and currently 4th fastest in his ski-club, down the stash in Avoriaz/Lindarets. It was the first time i'd attempted any features and i still got dirty looks for only doing the baby "table" (like a rail but wider).

Next we were blasting down very mogully runs in a whiteout skiing by feeling our way with our knees only and watching Mick take 2m of air at the side of the piste. After that we just had to bop down 45 degree mashed potato powder over rocks and roots. Exhausted, you get to the bottom, only to be greeted by Mick who got there several days ago wondering what took you so long.

Thanks for a brilliant afternoon Mick - sorry we were so slow!

I love France: Reason #1, Exhibit B

More Mont Blanc, this time from the top of the Aiguille du Midi at 3842m.

Note the teeny climber dude to the far right, about to casually climb a ladder onto the viewing platform with a 1000m drop to his right.

Reasons why I love France: #1

Mont Blanc

As seen from the top of "The Elephant". I continue to be amazed at the fact that the Vallee d'Aulps at St Jean d'Aulps probably has the best view of this magnificent mountain. The mountains part for a perfectly unspoilt view of it which is unbelievable considering how far away it is and how difficult it can be to get to see it from anywhere in the Chablais. This photo was taken on my iPhone just after sunset. This is about a 35 minute 300m vertical run from our house, which is down there in the clouds, just to the left of the shot.

Snowboarding

Despite many promises, my long awaited next post has just failed to materialize. There are many half-written entries begging for time to be finished but that time is as elusive as the snow has been in January. Anyway, just a quick one. We tried snowboarding for the first time today.

After years of dissing snowboarders, actually... I'm ashamed to say it was really fun! We were padded like American Football players with impact shorts, wrist, knee, and elbow guards. That didn't stop me mashing my shoulder, however. After 4 hours including a 2-hour private ESF lesson at La Grande Terche we were able to make linked turns on the nursery slopes at the top of the Terche. As with skiing, it's actually easier when it's a bit steeper.

I'm not entirely sure what my aspirations as a snowboarder are just yet, but we're definitely going again. I'd like to get to the point where the whole resort is open to us on boards so it's always an option if the skiing conditions aren't up to it. Mostly it's just good to be learning something new.

Catchup

Many of my readers (ok one reader) have been wondering if i've been buried in powder for the last 3 weeks. Sadly not as there IS no powder. We haven't had fresh snow since the- ... since i can't remember it's been so long! Like since forever man! Anyway, i did note down 12 titles on my iPhone so I can remember what I have done every day. I'm happy to report that our of my EUR 612 lift pass i've currently spent about EUR 450. Can't wait til it's all finished up so I can stop skiing the resort and get out into the Back Country! Anyway... in-order but very very late updates to follow shortly...