French Alps Holiday

Yey, Holiday Time! The original plan for this holiday was centred around Tim running the TDS - one of the UTMB races. Going from Courmayer to Chamonix the race covers 110km with 7000m of ascent - so not a short or easy one. Unfortunately injury led to Tim pulling out of the race but the holiday was still on. Tim's written about this over on his blog.

We got ourselves a 4 day lift pass so we could enjoy the Aiguille de Midi station, and get up higher on a few days without the 1000-1500m of ascent needed to get out of the Chamonix valley and on to the high paths. Cheating perhaps, but with a 3hr walk up switch-backs, it isn't something you want to do every day.

Weather was super hot the first half of the holiday, then mixed with a few days of low cloud and rain. We went from super hot to -10 degrees on our last trip up the Aiguille de Midi!

On our way up to the Aiguille de Midi, 3842m
The cable car journeys take 20mins from the valley floor rising 2700m 

Mont Blanc with Digital Crack on the chunk of rock...a hard climb (understatement I'm told)

Back down at the Plan de l'Aiguille at 2310m we had a wander up to Lac Bleu

On the first Saturday we headed up to the Gorges de Notre Dame for a walk up to Col de Bonhomme, an 18km round trip with nearly 1200m ascent.

View from Col de Bonhomme

The next day we headed back up to Chamonix early, wanting to avoid the heat of the day for our walk. But first, Tim headed up to the Plan Praz cable car station the hard way - up the Vertical Kilometre route which goes directly up underneath the cable car. I took the easy option in the cable car this time.

Mont Blanc from Chamonix town centre

I met Tim at the top, and we caught the high level cable car across to Le Brevent. Thankful of the cloud cover, we walked over to the Refuge Bellachat for coffee then down a million and one switch backs back down to Chamonix town centre.

Looking across to Mont Blanc from Le Brevant, 2525m

Heading down the first steep section from Le Brevant

On Tuesday Tim was off doing some Alpine climbing with Kev who we were staying with....you'll have to ask Tim for details of what they did, I just went to see them off as they left the Aiguille de Midi station, out of the ice cave and down the arete onto the glacier. I watched them get smaller and smaller as they crossed the glacier until I could no longer make them out.

Kev and Tim getting ready in the ice cave

They're the two on the left, just leaving the ice cave

and off down the arete

They're just visible by the sticky up rock on the arete

With the majestic Mont Blanc as a backdrop, Tim and Kev are down on the glacier next to those round dots....they're tents!

I took myself off on a delightful run/walk across the high level path from Plan de l'Aiguille to the Mer de Glace train over at Montenvers. Apart from a couple of guys up ahead and a few other runners I had the path to myself - my pace was somewhat slowed because I couldn't resist stopping to take lots of photos!

The Mer de Glace, claiming to be the largest glacier in Europe it is sadly retreating at an alarming rate

The next few days were rainy so we had a good relax, short runs and walks and caught up on doing 'not a lot'. On one of those days we did a little driving tour up to the Col Des Montets - visibility was not great but we did see plenty of markers out for the UTMB races.

Lac Passy - a lovely 2.5km circuit ideal for running, but also windsurfing and swimming

Our final day came too quick and with it more low cloud and rain. Perfect for me to give the Vertical KM a go. Now, this is no easy thing. The Chamonix VertK is one of the toughest because to be classed as an official VertK route the overall distance covered can be no more than 5km, obviously with a minimum of 1000m ascent. The one in Chamonix covers a short 3.5km - meaning it is steep. Very steep. And, to top it off - with no option to go around, right near the top is a section of via ferrata - not ideal when I get vertigo!!

Nevertheless, this was on my list of things to do so here I was. Tim was giving it another go (without getting off course this time!) so we set off together and once he'd finished he'd come back down to give me some encouragement to keep going. I was pleased to get over 700m before he came back down to me.

About a quarter of the way up and in the cloud

Maybe halfway now....totally in the cloud and feeling the calves burning

Yey - I've done the via ferrata section, calmly helped by Tim's reassuring words

After celebrating at the top we didn't hang around - it was cold and we needed to change clothes so we jumped on the cable car down to Chamonix.

In search of coffee....we headed back up the Aiguille de Midi one last time

We had a day pass so thought we'd nip up and see the snow that had been falling - rain in the valley is sure to mean snow up there and we weren't disappointed. In the picture above you can see the lighter green stripe up the opposite hill - that's the cable car route up to Plan Praz - and therefore you can clearly see the route of the Vertical Km which we'd just done!! 

Snow scoured mountains became obvious - but only on the return trip down from the Aiguille de Midi - on the way up the cloud was so thick you couldn't even see the cable car cables!!

Mont Blanc is in the background....honest!

Back in Chamonix town centre it was heaving - the UTMB race was expecting the first finishers in a few hours so we grabbed the most delicious burger and chips I've ever tasted (Poco Loco not far from La Poste if you go to Cham you must go). That VertK had given me a raging appetite!  So, we ate, hung around and soon we had the first UTMB finisher  - Francois d'Haene in only just over 19 hours - incredible for a race 170km long....then 15mins later Kilian Jornet came in second.

A superb holiday, with a good mix of adventure and relaxation. We'll be back to the French Alps - there's a lot to discover out there.

Frosty Sunday Saunter

Today dawned cold and very crisp, with a bright blue sky. On with my big down jacket, hat and gloves...and camera...and off for a Sunday Saunter. Here's the best of my photos...enjoy!

Glen Shiel, Scotland: Sunshine & Wise Choices

We caught up with Alasdair, another Glossopdale Harrier at the campsite in Morvich on our second day in Scotland. Together we cycled down the valley for dinner, where plans were hatched for the following day. It was to be the Forcan Ridge - a 'difficult but classic scramble' where the exposed parts can, if necessary (ie for me) be avoided. It sounded like a challenge, but doable for me knowing I had the guys there to look after me.

heading up the valley

The three of us set out early, before 7.30am, so a civilised early for a day on holiday. The car was left at the campsite near Glenshiel Lodge and we made our way alongside the river in a vaguely southerly direction. At some point we'd left the path to take the first left valley, and the terrain underfoot was somewhat challenging. After working out we needed to cross the river and traverse under the nose of Sgurr na Creige we were on boggy, marshy, tufty unrunnable ground. It was already hot, but the majestic views distracted me. Tim and Al were clearly stronger than I was on such terrain, but we were all out for a good day so there wasn't any rush.

Across the river again, and we spied a delightful looking plunge pool which we picked out for later in the day, if we returned this way. A trod was found (yey!) and moving upwards we eeked towards 6km out in nearly 1hr 10mins. I was struggling. The heat was immense, the views distracting, but the tiredness and realisation that we'd only just about got to 400m dawned on me. I wasn't going to get up to Sgurr na Forcan (1010m) and The Saddle and across the ridge. I would be moving way too slowly and knew I'd run out of energy and water. I admit, I was gutted to make the decision to turn back. I reckon the previous day's adventurous walk/scramble/run in the baking Glencoe had drained me more than I realised. At only 13km long but with 1300m+ of ascent that was a big day for me. Plus the heat was really intense, damn you nice sunny weather!

Running up the decent path
(Sgurr na Creige? at the head of the valley)

Bummer. I really wanted to give the Forcan Ridge a decent go. I bid a teary bye to the guys and insisted they carried on. Them returning with me was never an option.  I wasn't going to get lost retracing my steps, and was in no hurry to return to camp so I slowly descended back to the trod, back down the valley and found a lovely shallow spot to cross the main river, before picking up the decent path back to the campsite. I eyed up the plunge pool as I went past, but decided against it....cold water isn't something I choose to dunk myself in, especially when alone in a remote part of Scotland. I loitered a little as I crossed the stream lower down and cooled off with lots of splashing instead.

I had a brief pause to chat to some campers and find out the best route back to our camp, then had a very steady 5km road/track run back. Looking at the kilometre split times I clearly wasn't up to much, barely managing to keep a 6:30min/km pace. Back at our camp I barely had time to shower, have some food and sit down before Tim and Al were back. They'd had a super time across the ridge, had an interesting down climb where I wouldn't have been very happy (exposure and heights would have brought out the safety rope for me no doubt). Once recovered and refreshed we broke camp and set off for the next instalment of our Scottish adventure....Skye-ward bound.

Tim and Al looking for a path....or a good point to cross the river

Lovely little yellow flowers....to be identified!

Sgurr na Creige, hiding the Forcan Ridge behind

Hard terrain to run on, honestly!

Enjoying the shade before entering the sunshine

View from my high point looking towards the Forcan Ridge

Although I was really unhappy to turn back and not head up the ridge it was the wise choice. The mountains will be there another time, and I was only on day 3 of 12 of our Scottish holiday. No point totally wearing oneself out so early in the holiday.

Welsh Mountain running

Another week in the summer holidays and another trip to Wales was planned. This time our base was Nant Peris for two nights. Tim was doing some Welsh 3000s guiding work and he headed off from Pen-y-pass to have a recce of Crib Goch and the route down to Nant Peris.

Heading up to Foel Goch with Elidir Fawr still cloud free

Meanwhile, I headed up the north side of the valley to Foel Goch (831m). The climb from the campsite is brutal - starting at about 120m that makes for 700m+ of ascent in a little over 3km. There are sections where the angle is touching 50degrees, and it is mostly above 25degrees of steep, tufty-grassy-ness. I also did a spectacular job of completely missing a trod lower down and found myself battling amongst some seriously big soft rush grass. But, I made it up to the ridge just north-west of Y Garn (where I'd been last week with Tim) and the views  down into the Ogwen Valley and across to Snowdon were spectacular.

View down to Ogwen valley with Y Garn to the right

The summit of Foel Goch is an impressive lump with a seriously steep drop off a corner - thankfully a fence prevents you from getting too close, but the 'vista' is a little airy for me!

Descending rocky section off Foel Goch with  Mynedd Perfedd in view

and looking back to the summit of Foel Goch

Next was a downhill rocky section to a lovely path, across the saddle and up to Mynydd Perfedd (812m), then onwards to Carnedd Filiast (821m). It was delightful to be able to run across the tops, hopping from rock to rock and picking up a decent trod.

Summit of Mynedd Perfedd with Carnedd Filiast in the distance

The summit of Carnedd Filiast is a jumble of rocks that made progress slow and the descent even slower. I'm not sure if I missed a path, but looking at satellite images I can't pick out any decent way down.

Descending Carnedd Filiast in the jumble of rocks, 721m north summit just visible through the cloud

Descending to the Marchlyn Mawr reservoir - Elidir Fach should in the cloud somewhere!

The lower north summit of Cardedd Filiast (721m) was reached easily enough once I left the rocks behind and from there I dropped down to the Marchlyn Mawr reservoir. A pair of stonechats kept me company for a while with their unmistakable song as I made my way along the tarmac track under the reservoir, and there was a buzzard soaring overhead. These were my only company for most of the run, not another soul in sight otherwise.

All along the route so far I could keep an eye on my final two peaks....Elidir Fach (795m) and Elidir Fawr (923m). Trouble was, the cloud base kept rolling in and out and as I headed northwards both summits completely disappeared into cloud. I reckoned cloud base was around 750m as I left the reservoir behind. I've never run in this area, so, out came the compass and a bearing was taken to the summit of Elidir Fach. I found a decent line to climb up and reached the summit with no issue - well apart from the 20m visibility! I'm sure the view up there must be spectacular.

Summit of Elidir Fach

From Elidir Fach I continued round and up to Elidir Fawr. Tim was making his way up from Nant Peris and we met at the summit shelter in the clag. No view to be had here either so we made a direct descent south west on a good path back to the campsite 800m below.

Summit ridge of Elidir Fawr

I was really chuffed to make it all the way round this route. It was my first big mountain exploration on my own (though company from Elidir Fawr where I met Tim) and although I didn't run a lot of the route due to the steepness or rough ground, I feel that I had a good adventure. Total distance was just short of 15km in about 3.5hrs (strava says 2.5hrs moving time) but with 1251m of ascent the slow pace is understandable.

Final part of the descent to the east of the slate mines