Easter egg hunt is very traditional here in France…and not the sort of place to adopt American ‘traditions’ although Halloween is more and more poular. Sigh.

Here, it’s not the Easter bunny though….it’s ‘les cloches’ which are bells…

I wonder if there is a link between flights and incessant kit buying and this change in when we can ski?

Supporting local businesses is often touted as a +ve thing. However the biggest winners are the huge corporations that own the resorts that are pumping more and more money into water canons at the expense of the environment and the local communes drinking water supplies/ aquifer and supporting national ski federations etc; who then spend huge amounts on bidding for the Winter Olympics which will need more and more snow making infrastructure: see this years Kandahar that was cancelled after huge amounts was spent on making and transporting snow. Syndicates like the ESF etc. are far from blameless in the economics and politics too.

De-luxe chalets keep on getting built in what were small villages that have become centre parcs. Where new generations of the locals can’t afford to live anymore.

Resorts are ferrying snow in by truck at night.

Ski tourism as we know it needs to end folks. Too many huge corporations are ignoring and insist on more and more growth to satisfy their shareholders. Meanwhile more and more lower level smaller resorts are shutting and leaving their infrastructure to rot all over the mountains. Volunteer organisations now organise clean-ups to put things back to closer how they should be.

I now think carefully about buying a lift pass, and more often than not head off on my touring kit. If I didn’t live in the alps I wouldn’t take a flight to ski on the white gold.

Disappointed that most resorts did not take the opportunity of covid to diversify, sure lots put in a few signposted ski de rando trails… but no wholescale change. The change that is needed.

Some provocative statements, maybe, but if it makes someone think then it’s worth my effort.

Maybe a bit different as my related exposure to this is in France.

But I would strongly suggest visiting a few coworking places: more of the growing a community ones, rather than just rent a desk places. Here ,they have evenings dedicated to practicing the art of pitching products, by doing exactly that….on an open mic style. I think they would have resources to help you, but also form what it sounds like, your target audience on their books.

(I occasionally go to such a place as I work for myself and appreciate sharing my working day with other people in real life, as a change from working at home and seeing no one for days on end.)

Good luck, sounds exciting!!

Dan

(I work for myself so hang around in such places as a means to work alongside others from time to time rather than being alone at home.)

If we’re talking anger, I would suggest you take a look at why anger. It’s mostly thought of as a bad emotion, but emotions are emotions: neither good nor bad.  Anger is your self protection kicking in: it’s alarm bells to maintain your boundaries. ‘The language of emotions’ is a good reference book. Sounds to me there’s also an element of self-regulation in what you describe to go with the alarm bells of anger. As a self-help techniques then yes meditation can be extremely beneficial and it might also be worth taking a look at grounding practices including breath techniques. Some further books that come to mind: Ground Brad Stulberg, Breath James Nestor, Men’s Work: Connor Beaton. I would also suggest that it sounds like a professional coach/ therapist would be useful to help you explore this all.

That’s great…but why the support vehicle? https://www.thebmc.co.uk/three-peaks-challenge

https://whatbars.com 

might be useful.

Great to hear you enjoyed the area @highlandman

I ski a lot in the Belledonne, so the range on the other side of the col de croix de fer.

Before the middle of last week it had been looking like Spring and thoughts were turning to spring high altitude touring. However….

It’s been (and continues to do so) dumping it down over in the east on the Italian border due to ‘le retour de l’est’…so Haute Maurienne, Val Cenis, Queyras etc. Been sent some phenomenal photos. I was planning a day hit with maybe a night out over in the Queyras (I live in the Chartreuse) over the weekend as  but now the avalanche risk is currently high. If not one thing it’s the other right!!

Camp in the pass and pay the witch 50p per person.

Is this still a thing?

OP, what part of the world/UK are you in? This is part of my profession as a freelance geotechnical engineer. I suspect a small geotechnical/ structural consultancy may well be the best port of call for deciding on plan of action,but also most importantly to stand with you wrt. your insurers. This is right up the street of one of my current clients, especially if you are based in the SW.

Sounds like many things going on: structural defects to remediate, drainage measures to improve, potentially deep seated failures relating to the slope etc. It sounds like a soakaway will not work in your ground, and it could have been expected that your insurers procured ground investigation would have stated this in their conclusions…

Feel free to contact me.

Dan

I suggest a read of Breath by James Nestor.

Maybe not back on to topic so quickly…

There’s a great book about the importance and relevance and advantages of working using ones hands. It’s called Shopcraft as Soulcraft and I thoroughly recommend it. It is American centric, but the issues and philosophies discussed are fairly universal.

Does winning a bike packing race

Lots of tangents on this thread that are relevant in a discussion of the wider subject,

but to me, I’m not aware of, certainly the more popular events/ races being defined as ‘bike packing race’. The term generally used is self-supported.

In the years that I have been following such events, around the time of the 1st TCR I don’t note much change: people have always used different styles and placed different emphasis in terms of sleep and where they sleep in their methods.

From a personal point of view, I feel more fulfilled the more I sleep out on these events. Notably on 2 consecutive years a c.1200km event I used to ride (route differs each year): the 1st year: no use of paid for accom or accom in buildings. Felt ‘complete’ 2nd year: one night sleeping out. i felt cheated of an experience. That said the 1st year was a mountains and wilder places route, 2nd year was down a touristic coast so landscapes (and my associated feelings) and offerings etc. were not comparable.

Holland is great. But we preferred Denmark. Have done 2 trips to both. My favorite was island hopping along the S coast of Denmark along to Copenhagen. Better campsites as well. Less urban. Variance in coastlines and nature and landscapes.

Has news of this only just reached you? Wow!

Complete carnage here…the autoroute around Grenoble as well as towards Lyon has been deserted/ barricaded/ turned into a tractor parking lot etc.

Went to the local supermarket on  Monday: No fresh veg or fruit. Heard others saying the impact was worse than covid.

I have 2. The Tenéré has not been on the road for 2 years..and that was just 30km to find out it needed the carb sorting out…which has turned into a real good clean up, some re-wiring, new inlets etc. before that it was off the road for about 5 years with a stripped thread on the oil filter cover on the magnesium clutch cover…now sorted. Just need to unwarp the airbox and re-fit. It has 25 000 km on the clock and is very clean. Not sure how original it’s history is….It does have a stripped grub screw on the rocker box which holds the decompressor valve in. It’s chemical metalled in so works fine and doesn’t leak…it’s an engine out job to sort it: so in reality it will be at engine rebuild time…the carb float valve seat has been broken sometime and repaired by a previous owner. Needs a rear spoke replacing and the alternator coils probably replacing as it doesn’t fully charge. Might actually have to do the spoke as it will now need a Controle Technique/ MOT….up to this year motorbikes never needed a MOT in France.

The Mz is one of the last German built 2 strokes before Kanuni bought the rights and built them in Turkey. It’s all stripped down with all cycle parts re-plated or powder coated etc. and the silencer re-chromed. Got a 300 head and barrel for it.  Been off the road for over 20 years. It was my first bike on passing my test.  Maybe I’ll finish building the wheels this year…

Why does nowhere ever post that they get their fancy denim…from Nimes? Or nearish? Tuffery denim is supposed to be good…. but not really in relation to the OP..sorry…somewhat off tangent this morning…I’ll go back to mumbling into my mild.

Not what I’d get for the purposes outlined. However as it seems to be name a random motorbike thread…I’ve got a 1986  Yamaha Tenere XT600Z 1VJ in Gauloises livery sitting in my living room with only 25 000km on the clock. Been off the road for about 5 years. It’s very clean…. Just need to re-fit the airbox for this spring. …and then get better at getting it in and out of my narrow front door…Also got my old MZetz251 in bits in the loft. Mostly been re-painted and plated etc. Next job in the process is to finish building the wheels.

The Classic motorcycle channel reviewed the Triumph 400’s recently. They sounded pretty good.

I regularly travel all over France (where I live) by train with a bike either at the start or end of a ride including cross Paris transfers via the metro. If the TGV does not have bike spaces then it can be bagged/ boxed and taken without any extra cost or booking. There are maximum sizes, but all doable ime. Finish ride. Head to nearest shop, buy a roll of large heavy duty bin bags and a roll of parcel tape, wheels off, wrap it all up. Bish bash bosh. Or better still for the environment, buy a rinko style bag that packs down and can come with you on the bike. Also serves as a bivvy bag.

A friend once flew over from the UK for a 2 day ride with me. Flew to Lyon, assembled bike, rode out of airport to nearby woods identified beforehand, secreted his cardboard box, rode to mine. At the end of the trip recovered the box for flight home.

To avoid trains in france where your bike has to be boxed/ bagged/ disassemblemed i.e take the TER rather than the TGV, then the German train travel site is the one to use for planning:https://www.bahn.de/

I’ve got a similar looking drill labelled Dewalt. The 2nd handle on mine is as shown…but it clamps around plastic…last time I drilled a large dia. hole in a wall with it I ended up with a similar injury to Footflaps caused by the 2nd handle slipping down on to the chuck when  the holesaw jammed…..My 15 year old son coming out with a well meaning ‘ca va papa?’ got a slightly less polite response I’m ashamed to say.

Anway, lath and plaster, I’d be trying a multi-tool first…whilst holding my breath…

This steep hill…how stable is it…and how techniclly robust is that determination?

See that road labelled Under Hill Road…it’s under your hill…..if there was to be a landslip from your hill causing damage to that road and the properties below…how liable are you?… see ‘Undercliff Drive’ in the IOW.

That’s the question with my profesional engineering geologist hat on.

With my high horse hat on…you want to borrow money (so keeping the wheels of an economy based on infinite growth at all costs (including the environment) greased) to ‘buy’ land that you don’t need to live, off someone. Where did that person get the land from?….somewhere down the line it’s been stolen. …What you are buying is something that you don’t need, that you will never actually really deep down own with money that you don’t have which essentially that comes from destroying nature..’ The Commons’…(to use the principles outlined in ‘Sacred Economics’ etc).

Does it prevent someone/ something else taking it and destroying it?

I’ll get down off that horse now….I don’t really like it up there….devil’s advocate etc etc.

You can go up from the col du Vallon and back down the same way: you’re right in that it’s fairly obvious.  The ‘classic’ is to do the traverse and come down that way. All off the beaten path, certainly not on offical marked trails.

Not sure how many people doing the GR bother with it…they often have enough on their plate!

Aha! Les Cerces and Thabor are fab. Also my terrain if you need any assistance with planning. Great easy ski touring as well.

Great peak that…bit of a bushwhack in the forest and easy to waste time….

Currently investigating the spec of a Canyon Commuter 6 for a friend.Nexus 8speed with belt drive.

Scratching my head a bit as asked to look at it as there was a concern it ‘wouldn’t work on hills’ difficult to compare when I’m not yet supplied with the gering of the bike it might be replacing.

@B.A.Nana maybe @13thfloormonk meant the Pointe de l’Aiglière.

Completely agree re. the weather.

ticking the follow up box..

I can imagine the scenario! It’s a fantastic trip. Truly authentic with a different feel to the northern alps. And yet also not completley southern alps. You will experience a change in vegetation and climate: the romanche valley in the north and the Valdaugemar in the south as well as the influence of the Durance over to the east. Way more varied than the TMB in so many ways.

Tour des Ecrins? Way quieter and wilder than the TMB.

Traverse of the Belledonne?

Would you fancy some guiding by an english but fully qualified and legal to be working in France accompagnateur en montagne to help discover for example the local culture, the local food and wine, the landscapes, the history, the geology? If so feel free to get in touch!!

How about the pre-alpes and Ecrins area? so around Grenoble, south of Lyon? Lyon is alos a fnatastic city….The Vercors (the high limestone plateau nature reserve, the bouquetins,  the wolves, the resistance), the Chartreuse (monks, manstries, ancient beech forests, lynxes, the liquer…), the Belledonne, the Ecrins? Away from the trodden path.

Less high summits upto 2500m upto 3000m if include the easier parts of the ecrins and Belledonne….further south than the northern alps like Chamonix and Morizine so generally drier more stable weather. Some lifts may be open. But as TJ said…lifts = mess. In September the main alps can be having its first snow fall. It can also be a lovely indian summer.

Would you fancy some guiding by an english but fully qualified and legal to be working in France accompagnateur en montagne to help discover for example the local culture, the local food and wine, the landscapes, the history, the geology? If so feel free to get in touch!!

Not hung any new Christmas present wall art recently?…….

My daughter is called Pia. I had no idea this was going on. However 5 minutes ago she nearly destroyed the front door tying to get in the house.

*professional mountain leader  = for trekking on foot. Not biking!!!

Does sound more and more that Morzine is the place for your biking!!

If you want easy, no need to spend time planning routes, driving from one are to the next for the next ride etc,  mountain biking that gives you the feeling that you have biked in the alps then it’s difficult to justify not going to the Morzine area based on purely those criteria.

If you want to explore and enjoy the mountains , maybe more from a hiking persepctive then please please get in touch. For this I personally feel you could get a more authentic and different experience away from the more beaten paths (that is admittedly popular for a reason) such as the Chamonix valley and Morzine.

I’m a complete advocate for the Oisans area around Bourg d’Oisans and La Grave  (so where L2A and L’Alpe d’Huez stations are as well as further south Briancon and beyond as well as other authentic gems in the more overseas tourist popular northern french alps.

Would you be interested in engaging the services of a professional mountain leader  who has been based in the real french alps for over 16 years and is fully integrated in local life and a memeber of the STW parish since 2002 to take you on custom designed great trek(s) and sharing with you many things you wouldn’t discover by yourselves? Just saying like….. ;)

This is probably the best within 10km of me for something that is actually currently  built (plots with brand new houses built to measure are also available) for an equivalent amount of €. https://www.leboncoin.fr/offre/ventes_immobilieres/2422639253

This is the 3rd year (or 2nd enforceable year) of the new winter driving equipment laws in france that each Mayor has decided applies or not to their commune. … All the communes you will be going through will have signed up to it so to speak… so..that means winter tyres, 4 season tyres or chains must be available to legally use the vehicle in that commune. …this also includes the commune where you are hiring the car from. See here: https://www.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/chacun-son-mode-de-deplacement/dangers-de-la-route-en-voiture/equipement-de-la-voiture/nouveaux.

Think you mean the D884? It kind of works….The more logical route to avoid buying a swiss motorway vignette is to head round to the s side of the lake to Thonon and then up to Morzine via. St. Jean d’Aulps.  There’s a carrefour just before Thonon near Anthy. I’ve driven between the lake and Morine lots and it’s a gorge based road…it might actually remove the chances of getting stuck in traffic..Different winter risks to the other route: think dark gorge rather than mopuntain switchbacks. . It’s a fairly well used route for the Genevois heading in that drection.

It does sound like a wasted space…but maybe you have enough space already.

Air is a pretty good insulator …..

Hi James,

If pocket allows may I suggest speaking to Cyclefit and getting a fit. Pretty sure they will be alternatives to the LeMond method. Probably the longest standing in recent times bike fitters in the UK and they will actually look at your body moving and its range of movement. I had a fit by Jules back in like err…2008?  when Serotta were a thing and before he took all he learned from me and went to adjust Fabian’s saddle height….

Dan

Saw a really good video about this on the skill builder channel…can’t remember exactly which one it was though.

https://www.youtube.com/@SkillBuilder/search?query=shower%20install

Lyon is the most logical for summer flights (excluding Turin….which is the nearest….). There has been a thread on this in the last 12 months. I live near Grenoble. The train line to Briancon comes up from the south coast. Train from Lyon to Grenoble and then bus would be one option. For the TGV trains a bike usually has to be bagged/ boxed and the dimensions are pretty tight. Do it regularly for bike packing and it’s easy once you have it sorted but use binbags sourced at the supermarket etc closest to whatever station am at rather than boxes. I’m thinking your boxes will likely be over the size limits. There’s not a TGV to Briancon anyway…which means local trains which means bikes no problems. Feel free to get in touch.

I got a handmade wee cog one. Really really tough. Made out of cordura. Minimal things to break. Simple. ….however looks like they are no longer around…sorry…