18-May-2011
Posted by : Vixie
After the non-stop madness of the winter season, it takes a little while to adjust to the void that is inter-season.
Of course there are always things to do, but they’re rarely exciting and usually involve some sort of French bureaucracy. For example, I spent two and a half hours in the tax office in Bourg d’Oisans yesterday, waiting for advice on my income tax form. Once that was completed I found myself with a free and sunny afternoon. What better way to pass a chunk of time than with a long walk with a good friend?
08-May-2011
Posted by : Vixie
I rarely hear my own heart beating in my ears. But I hear it now; loudly. My legs tremble, my hands burn. I try not to look down to the river running 100m below me but I can hear it gushing over rocks between heartbeats. A bird flies past my head and above me the clouds are gathering. I ask myself – not for the first time – why I’m doing this.
And then my breath kicks-in. And I realise that via ferrata isn’t just great for the body, it’s a mental sport too, requiring focus, strength and a kind, supportive, inner voice. A great lesson for life as well as for the rock face…
01-May-2011
Posted by : Vixie
Category : Alpe d'Huez, Featured
Tags: 2010, 2011, Alpe d'Huez, climbing, glacier, Hiking, Les 2 Alpes, pistes, skiing, snow, snowboarding, spring, summer
Winter 2010/11 is finally over, and I don’t think I’m the only one who’s glad to see the back of it. Perhaps it was the lack of snow and the almost permanently sunny skies that made the ‘winter’ seem to last for ever.
Looking back at my reports over the season, it probably only snowed a total of ten times. And the sunshine – usually a welcome sight during the dark winter months – became monotonous, taunting us from the centre of clear blue skies devoid of snow-filled clouds.
