36 hours off work, GO.
I finished work on the Monday afternoon and cooked some food whilst trying to figure out how best to use my time. I drove over to Les Deux Alps for 5pm with the intentions to do the Venosc Via Feratta which scales the rock face to the right of the gondola - bringing you back into the town.
I fannied around in town for a bit too long, picking up some much needed skate shoes and catching up with someone from previous seasons. I started my descent past the lift station at 18:10 and decided I would try and race against the setting sun, running down the path to reach the route.
Sweating heaps I made it to the start of the route and set off upwards as the sun slowly crept towards the Pied Moutet which would cast its shadow across the route. I’m not sure why I wanted to stay in the sun, but I challenged myself to race against the encroaching shadow (hence why there is no photos from this evening)
The route was mellow and allowed me to stay ahead of the shade and top out in the sunshine at 19:20 total time down and up 1 hour 10 minutes.
I popped into a couple of bars around the Venosc end of town, seeing old friends before driving back down the mountain. For the following day I had my sights set on the mountain range which Alpe D’Huez overlooks to the South so I drove up to Villard Notre Dame that night, ready to set off early to try and beat the forecast thunderstorms.
Setting off at 6:20 I walked up the path which winds its way up to a basin at the bottom of Le Rochail, which is the biggest peak of that area. The path ends at 2300m where there is a small refuge for hikers, climbers and skiers. I wanted to at least make it up to the hut, getting my bearings for a possible return in winter, but the idea of getting to the summit of Le Rochail was in my mind.
Stuck to the ceiling of the refuge were old photos of climbers from the 60′s - with an impressive route up the Meije with a Bivouac on a snow shelf. Even with modern kit this kind of climb would be an achievement - but 50-60 years ago!? Inspiring.
The weather seemed to be closing in early and as I reached the refuge it started lightly raining with dark clouds passing above. With legs feeling increasingly heavy from the race down the mountain the day before I started my descent, the rain never came back and the rest of the day remained dry and pleasant. I could have done Le Rochail...
It was another fast pace, making it to the refuge and back down in about 3 and a half hours with legs starting to hurt.
I drove along the the small track which links Villard Notre Dame and Villard Reymond where I got my first glimpses of an area of mountain which I stared at all last winter, imagining the ski possibilities there. There are many paths that way so I snapped a few photos and drove back into the valley thinking forward to exploring that area, hopefully with some sort of summit.
I’m struggling to walk today.