Brevant, France

We went to Le Brevant today ... I am not sure what we did, but I think we traversed across to Flegere to try out the Linking cable car, and down the infamous L'Avancher coombe where Bryon had twisted his knee all those years before.

We would also have gone to the top station to have a look around.

Les Houches, France

The day started by trying the windscreen wipers again...  with no luck .. as the ski was drizzly there was a need to get it fixed ...  Calling AA 5* they called a garage in Chamonix...  who finally agreed to look at it ... they were the only Ford franchise in the valley.

I Drove the car up to Chamonix and finally found the garage after walking around a bit. They had a look at it and poked around some, before declaring that they needed to order a new wiper motor. Also they stated that it would be difficult to get the part before new year ... so it would be an anxious wait to see if we had a car before Saturday.

I caught the train back to Les Houches and met up with the others for a day on the slopes there ... I do not remember which pistes, but we would have stayed on the Les Houches side.

Le Tour, France

Today we decided to go to Le Tour, and see what we could make of the new snow.

We drove up and parked in the bottom car park.

I am not sure what we did but we would have played on the valleys and gullies leading down to the mid station.

Back in the car park, the windscreen wipers did not work, but I assumed that it was just frozen. I am not sure how this happened, but it would drive the actions for the next few days.

Les Houches, France

The clouds were down, so we just explored, and got rental skis and boots for Sue and the girls, then we took the sledges out in the field opposite for some fun. ....

There is a memory of some of us going too far and through the fence into the garden of the building below. Time for another run then!

2003 Ski Trip, France

Sue and Bryon had booked an apartment in Les Houches for this year, and we (Chris, M-J, as well), all met up at the village and looked for the building, which was up one of the roads up the hill.

The road was covered in ice, and we had to put the chains on just to get up the first part.

We had the whole of the first floor, including two kitchens! The girls claimed one and the adults the other.

We woke up in the morning to a winter wonderland, just outside. the low cloud stayed for a few days then when the sun shone later we had great views up the mountains behind to Mont Blanc.

Trip Time Line

	|
	|	Arrive Les Houches
Les Houches	|
	|	Le Tour
Les Houches	|
	|	Brevant
Les Houches	|
	|	Les Houches
Go Home	|

Day Trip, Dry Ski Slope, Bracknell

I Took Katie and Steph to the dry ski slope in Bracknell so they could get some exercise and also see what the difference was to the real stuff.

Banff Gondola

Last day in Banff, and after checking out of the the hotel - Banff Park Lodge, I drove up to the Banff gondola station, past the Info centre and this impressive totem pole. ... the gondola takes you up to a viewpoint on Sulphur mountain overlooking the valley.

I walked beyond the obvious tourist bit to the peak in the photo ... only 10 mins, but the view was spectacular.
After this I walked down the trail rather than ride down, to get the exercise for the day.

Looking back up from the centre of town ... this peak - Mt Rundle dominates the town more than Sulphur Mt.
From here it was back into the car and off to the airport in Calgary.

Lake Louise

Continuing on from Johnston Canyon I followed the road to Lake Louise past grazing Elk wandering over the road. At Lake Louise I went up to the big Fairmont hotel and parked in the car park, before going for a walk along the lake ... the original intention this morning was to go up to the glacier, but after my side trip to the waterfalls I was short of time.
I walked around the lake and to the end of the forested section before turning around .. back to the car and then straight down the highway to Banff after a good day out in the fresh air.

Johnston Canyon

A free day today after three days of intense meetings and seminars... so off for a bit of fresh air ... I took the back road up to Lake Louise, and stopped at Johnston canyon.
From here I saw a trail up to the falls and on to the "ink pots" ... the bottom section to the falls was very popular, but I was alone on the top section, until I reached the ink pots - cold volcanic springs filled with mineral coloured water.
On the way down I passed some people who asked if I had seen any bears .. and wasn't I scared being on my own ... perhaps I should have researched before starting off, or at least told someone! - Note to self this is not the UK.

Canada Trip Extension, Banff

I was attending a workshop/ vendor presentation ...  held at the Banff park lodge hotel ..  I arrived on Sunday at Calgary airport, and attended the meeting. However due to the cheap flights available I was not due to fly out until late on the Friday.

So I had almost two days to explore around.

• Day1 - Johnston Canyon
• Day1 (part2) - Lake Louise
• Day2 - Banff Gondola

Three Cliffs Bay, Rock day

Gentle climbing on the 3 cliffs

2003 Old Farts Meet, Three cliffs bay

A gathering of the clans .. Chris, M-J, Sue Bryon, Alan, Lynn, and ourselves all gathered with dogs and children at 3 cliffs bay campsite ... for beach games and gentle climbing.

• Day1 - Three cliffs Beach
• Day2 - Three cliffs Cliffs

Three Cliffs Bay, Beach

Beach games, and walking

Le Rabel/ Roche Olvera, France

The skies were clear again, and this would be our last day here, so we wanted to get out.

After our little tour the other day around the Roche Olvera Bryon and I had eyed up a slope we thought we could go up to the top.

So off to our favourite parking spot, from where we set off up the route to the col de Galibier.

As we climbed up the first slope, with good views back down the valley.

As we got to the top of the initial slopes we cut up right to the ridge line we could see above us.

The main problem we encountered was that the slope was south facing, and we had not made allowance for the heat in the sun.

As we got higher on the slope we started to get problems with the snow pack, and we started to worry about the adhesion, and potential avalanche risk.

So we turned around ...  this was a good idea as we dropped down the snow was also very soft and the "splendid" lower slopes were a bit heavy, and did not trouble our memories from earlier in the week.

Back at the van we reflected on a frustrating day, but we had learned some good lessons, and should have been up earlier.

Tomorrow we would head back home

Via Ferrata Poingt Ravier, France

Back at the apartment we soon got bored in the hot afternoon.

On the other side of the valley to the via Ferrata we had been on earlier in the week, was a chapel high on a hill. Looking at the map we saw that there was a small road leading up to it.

We quickly came up with a plan to walk up to the chapel and then come back down the Via Ferrata .. a much easier one than last time.

Getting up to the chapel was simple, but finding the start of the via Ferrata was much harder...  eventually we found the start and set off down.

A good excursion to fill an afternoon.

Via Ferrata Poingt Ravier
Graded PD (not very difficult), for every levels from the age of 7.
Length: 500 m - Variation in level: 200 m (from 1430 m high till 1630 m)

Col de la Ponsonniere, France

The early mornign mist was due to burn off as the day wore on, so we planned for a longer trip .. deep into the valley from our usual parking space, aiming for a col on the ridge line.

This will take us past the point from the second day where we turned up to the col, and continuing South(ish).

Leaving the van, we struck off up the valley and were soon climbing up a central rib on the other side of the river to the second day.

As we reached the high meadows, then we had our first good look at where we were aiming for,  the lower bit in the middle.

Time for a reflection and a bit of breakfast, before continuing. (pain Raisin seems to be the favourite).

The next section was to follow the flatter bit around the valley base as we approached the ridge line

Then there was a very rounded gully with lots of tracks (popular route) heading for the col. this was where we had to zigzag for a while, before finishing on the col.

The col was really pleasant and sitting in the sun we looked south to the Ecrins, trying to pick out the peaks or guess the names..

Then it was time to descend ..  we had waited until we thought it was the optimal time ...  the top section in the combe was a little hard, and ridged, but where we could find some smoother parts was brilliant, then we traversed across dropping down to the base of the valley ... taking care with the one "risky" section that already had some avalanche debris.

From here we followed the central rib as we had on the ascent. dropping over little humps and troughs looking for the next line down.

Before too long we were back into familiar territory working down the  valley to the van.


One final look back to the col from the car park, before packing the gear away.

Heading back to the apartment, we were a little earlier than anticipated - we were getting fitter and more used to the conditions.