From Col du Galibier
From l'Etape du Tour 2017
From Tour Germaine
From Col du Granon Walk
From Chamonix CC & Birthday Skiing
From Springtime France
From Powder, powder and more powder
From Six Days of Ski Fun in Chamonix with Dave and Jon
From Mini New Year Break in Chamonix

Col du Galibier

One of the ultra-classic Tour de France mountain climbs, the Col du Galibier, was part of my acclimatisation efforts ready for the Etape du Tour…

l’Etape du Tour 2017

Monday, 24th July 2017

To try and gain some altitude acclimatisation in preparation for the l’Etape du Tour, I’d cycled up to the Col du Galibier (2642m) from La Grave, did a high level ridge walk from the Col de Granon, climbed a ten pitch rock climb that started at 2189m, and finished by sleeping the night at the …

Tour Germaine

Thursday, 13th July 2017

Steve, Laetitia, Zac, and I set off for what looked like an easily accessible and long (10 pitches) relatively easy (max grade 5+) rock climb. The guidebook said it was a short easy approach. It turned out to be super sunny, hot, very uphill, and well over an hour long. It was tough work for …

Col du Granon Walk

Wednesday, 12th July 2017

As part of the efforts to get acclimatised ready for the Etape du Tour – we had a great medium length walk with Steve, Sandra, Laetitia, and Zac from the 2413m high Col du Granon.

Chamonix CC & Birthday Skiing

Wednesday, 15th February 2017

Last week we were visiting Chamonix for a week of winter sports. We weren’t sure the skiing would be up to much as this year as there has been very little snow. So we had prepared for what might be ideal alpine winter climbing conditions. However, as it turned out there was a large dump …

Springtime France

Wednesday, 25th May 2016

We’re recently back from a couple of weeks in France, what an amazing (and weird?) series of spring weather conditions we had though…

Powder, powder and more powder

Saturday, 13th February 2016

There’s more snow here than a very snowy place, and it’s fantastic.

Six Days of Ski Fun in Chamonix with Dave and Jon

Friday, 29th January 2016

Of course with the mad-for-it speed machines Dave and Jon in the team "take it easy" didn't really work out...

Mini New Year Break in Chamonix

Saturday, 2nd January 2016

The snow conditions were looking very poor in Chamonix with the endless sunshine in the Alps. The Atlantic frontal systems that should have been delivering frequent snow storms were being concentrated in to torrential rain over the north west of England. However, it still seemed like a better option than watching that endless rain in …