L'Ice 2011

Despite warm weather, we stuck around the Ecrins for the ice climbing festival from 13 - 16 January.

Here's their preview of what it would be like ...


Trailer Ice Climbing Ecrins 2011 qui au 14 16 janvier 2011
Caricato da tlcprod. - Guarda altri video di sport estremi.

... and it certainly lived up to it!

We got to try out some different gear from Petzl, met loads of new people, tried dry tooling (Mark apparently is a natural, Jen was just confused) and did some great ice climbing too. Sure, the crags were packed and there were many queues for routes, but the atmosphere was super friendly. The fact we're Australian certainly made us unique!

On the Saturday night, there was a "big air" ski and snowboard jumping competition, as well as a free-style dry tooling competition which was really inspirational. Figure-4's (hanging off a ice tool, and looping your leg over that arm to reach higher with the other arm) were made to look easy - so easy, they could be done whilst dancing or in a costume. Showing off, perhaps!? But great fun to watch.

Limo Nero ... some photographs

We set off up the valley in the sunshine. There'd been fresh snow, so it was slow going.

On the way we passed by many old, some abandoned, farmhouses made from the local stone: a fabulous location.

And ahead of us was Limo Nero - a long, darkly coloured icefall.

Up close, the fall was silver, rather than blue. Apparently it is a mineral in these mountains that gives the ice this colour, but which one we don't know.

Mark lead the way. Recent snow and then a freeze meant the fall had some crusty patches, for all its interesting colour.

After two very long pitches, it started to snow and the wind picked up. We were not far from the top but decided to head down - naturally, once this decision was made, the weather improved!

Sunset.

Italia

Climbed all the moderate routes that are in condition? Weather report showing temps into the early teens? Time to leave town and cross the border ... to Italy!

Ah, Italy - where the air is colder and the hot chocolate unbelievable.

Our destination was Val Varaita, home of the first icefall climbed in Italy - as well as many others, of course. We first parked up in Chianale, an extremely picturesque little town at the top of the valley, covered in snow. Even for a weekend, the place was very quiet, and although we saw other parties on both Saturday and Sunday, the ice was never crowded.

Both days we headed towards a nearby canyon to a small amphitheatre of icefalls called Martinet. There's one short section of ice to be climbed to get there, and once in the amphitheatre, there are at least five lines to choose from. These range from an easy II/2 on the far left, to the scary looking chandeliers of the (not yet properly formed) left branch of a II/4+. As we are most happy on 3+ and 4 terrain, it was perfect for us!

Looking back down into the amphitheatre ...

Mark leading ...

First up was the sustained right hand side of "Gola del Martinet - Original Route". Although it's been stepped out by many previous parties, its continuous, 50 metre-long arc of ice is stunning to look at and, with parts of the ice feeling a little hollow and the roaring water directly to your left, it feels like a challenge for the grade. (There's a further top pitch which was mostly water, and although it was climbed by parties on the days we were there, we decided it wasn't for us.)

... Jen rapping off

And then the next day, it was the first pitch of Bianca Sirena. Sadly the top got a little too thin, even on the right side, but that left us enough time for ...










 ... Cascata di sinistra! Mark lead this in one long pitch, using all the length in the rope (plus its capacity to stretch!) and with Jen almost having to start climbing. The top section was deceptively steep, and although a little damp on the abseil down, it was another fun climb.

But that's not all Chianale has to offer. With our gear soaked through, we decided to hang it out in the van and crank Fred's heating - then, still wearing our wet clothes and gloves, head to a bar to dry ourselves off. We found this place: Le Montagnard.

We walked through several doors into the warm and cozy cellar, and soon had our clothes spread out in front of the fire, a glass of red in front of us - and a basket of fresh bread, a large platter of local meats and four slabs of only handmade but homemade cheese. With the assistance of one of the other guests to translate (our Italian is marginal!), the owner explained that he had made all four of the cheeses himself. One was a rich and creamy "three milks" (cows, sheep and goats), and the other three were harder and crumblier, one with chilli, one with garlic and the other with juniper berries. Delicious. And amazingly enough, considering the massive portions, we finished it all ...

A problem with gas

A standard VW California (like Fred) has the stove in the middle of the vehicle, behind the driver. This connects to a gas pipe that runs down the side of the van, to the bottle at the back.

As a consequence, you need to open the back door every time you stop for the night or drive off to turn the gas on or off from the bottle - unless you want a live channel of gas running down the side of the vehicle, which probably wouldn't be great in the event of an accident. Not that we have accidents. But this isn't exactly handy - and with the rather heavy Fiamma box on the back, it's even more unhandy.

Secondly, when it's cold, the gas bottle has a tendency to freeze up because it's tucked away, far from the heat of the cabin. This usually happens half way through cooking dinner. The bottle gets colder and colder, and the stream of gas gets thinner and thinner ... and your pasta won't boil anymore. We've tried insulating it, but in the Alps in winter, that only delays the problem. The only cure is to open the heavy back door, get the bottle out and warm it in front of the heater, then put it back in its box. Again, pretty unhandy.

Is it possible to connect the bottle straight to the stove, so the bottle is in the cabin of the van, where it's always quite warm? NO! Some bright spark at Westfalia has put different types of connections on each the end of the pipe in the van. Nice work, buddy.

Stove to pipe: press valve connection. Pipe to bottle: screw connection.

Is it possible to just get a connector from one to the other? A simple adapter? NO! Well, not in France. In France they have a different system of gas connections than they do in Germany, or the Netherlands. You thought Europe was one big happy union, didn't you?

We spent today visiting almost every single handware store in the greater Grenoble area. Each time a very helpful assistant would explain they didn't have the part - it being a German part - but perhaps this other place would. And off we'd drive.

Eventually we ended up at a camping / caravanning store (the name of which, ironically, we had had all along). Again, he couldn't help us ... but he gave us the name and address of his mechanic, who might be able to import a VW part into France for us. The mechanic also couldn't help us, but asked us to follow his young apprentice down the road, to yet another place that might perhaps have the appropriate bits.

By this stage, we had been driving between hardware stores for 5 hours. Yes really.

The apprentice took us to a building supplies shop, and walked in as if he owned the place. Before any business was discussed, he greeted and shook the hands of every staff member there. We felt quite informal, nodding and smiling and pretending we spoke French.

The issue was explained, again in French, and we were told that it would be really no problem. Easy, in fact. Particularly as he had one of the two connectors, the screw connection, in stock - success at last! We just had to cut the pipe from the stove, removing the press valve, and replacing it with a screw connection. Then it could go straight to the bottle, which we could put under the stove in the warmth of the cabin - hurrah!

But that would mean we could never again connect the stove to the pipe in the van ... Which one day, in summer, we might want to do. So, the man took the discarded press valve and its short section of hose, and added another screw connection onto it. Too easy. Well, when you have the right bits!

So we now have a short section of hose, with the press valve on one end and the screw connection on the other. An adapter at last - double hurrah!

... and the cost? Free. Nada, nothing, happy to be of service. Smiles and thanks all round. Brilliant. :)

2011: A New Year

Happy New Year!

For us, it has started slowly ... we are onto our third rest day, using time to sort photos, do laundry, eat and drink, watch a movie or two, and so on. A bit of a hangover on the 1st didn't help, after an incredible night out at the local party. We didn't have high hopes for the event, as it was organised by the tourist information centre, but there was hot wine and fireworks to start, then great food, cheap booze and a dancefloor filled with locals of all ages. Before midnight, the party hats, peashooters and whistles were handed out, and the countdown to midnight in French made it a New Year's Eve to remember.

But tomorrow ... tomorrow we'll shake off our 2011 lassitude, grab the ice tools from the drying room and hit those falls again. The fall nearby, which over Christmas was water, is now looking solid ... it's great to see the ice keep getting better and better!

It's climbing time.

When we first arrived here in the Oisans valley, we were a bit concerned about the ice - or rather, the water. But the temperature obligingly dropped on Christmas Day, meaning we had some fantastic days out climbing.

On Boxing Day, we headed up to Vallon de la Selle (or, Vallon du Diable - depending on who you ask!) for very cold temperatures, clear blue skies and - after a stunning but long walk in - a short and mildly disappointing pitch of ice. This was merely a reconnaissance mission though!

Looking back down the valley ...

... and up the other way.

We were also joined by a mate from Amsterdam, Dan, who was keen to get out there on ice for the first time. So we headed with him back to La Grave, for more of the falls up the north side of the valley ...

Jen starting off on Croupe de la Poufiasse, in La Grave

... and then up to falls near the small villages of Notre-Dame and Reymond, too. The drives to these places were adventures in themselves, consisting of steep, narrow roads that cling to the sides of the mountain and sometimes tunnel through, with large chandeliers of ice dangling above (and sometimes smashed onto the tarmac).

Villard Notre-Dame

Each village, perched so high above the valley, has its stone church tower and a small cluster of oddly-shaped old buildings, and of course spectacular views to the mountains. Not bad, eh?!

A great way to round off the year - and lead into 2011: The Year of the Holiday.

A White Christmas

Merry Christmas!

We hope you had a wonderful day with friends and family, celebrating, giving, eating and drinking. 

Christmas morning in the Ecrins

We elebrated on Christmas Eve with some steaks, a bottle of pinot noir and phone calls home. And then woke up late on Christmas morning, here in Venosc in the Ecrins. There had been snow overnight, making it a classic image of a white Christmas morning. Jen may have been brought up with the hot Australian summer Christmas, but for her snow somehow feels appropriate at this time of year.

Being cool and crisp, we headed out for a walk towards a nearby ice fall that afternoon... with our gear, just in case. But sadly, the icefall is still a waterfall (although a rather pretty one).

We saw animal tracks on the fresh snow - deer, wild pig, and maybe a fox or feral cat? - and came across a ramshackle hiking hut, with an incredible purple woodstove, an eclectic but vast array of cooking equipment and a few candles in old wine bottles. Although it had recently been fitted out with new windows, even with the stove going it would be chilly overnight to stay there ... but we can't say it wasn't a little tempting.