It is time to leave the heat of the Riviera so Anna, Yannick and I went to Le Suquet in the Vésubie Valley for a 42 km loop. It was still warm, humid and we even got a storm but the Trail was very nice. Climbing Cime de Simon (© Philippe Gatta) Trail distance: 42 …
A week after the Vertical Km race, we went back to Saint Martin-Vésubie for a 25 km +1800 m Trail. We did the Trail #8, Lacs des Millefonts as described on the Trail resort of Saint Martin-Vésubie website. We started off from the signpost 69 instead of Saint Martin-Vésubie to avoid the first kilometer on …
Trail: St Martin-Vesubie – Millefonts – Pepoiri Lire la suite »
Yesterday, just a week after the Gobi race in China, Anna and I participated in the first Kilometre Vertical race in Saint Martin-Vésubie. The rules are simple; run up-hill on a 5 km distance and 1,150 m of elevation gain. The runners start every 30 seconds and the ranking is based on the time at …
Last weekend I went back to the Boréon in the the Valley of Vésubie and climbed the Right Gully in the West face of the Cime Fremamorte (2730 m, 300m, AD+). There are not much snow/ice left, but the conditions in the Gully were okay, with 4 short sections of mixed climbing. Instead of going …
For this first day of 2012, I woke up at 5:30am and went to the Boréon in the the Valley of Vésubie to climb the Couloir Nathalie (III, AD+/D, 650m) in the West face of Mont Pelago. The weather was great but it was too warm and the conditions in the Couloir were awful: very …
Alpinism: Pelago – Couloirs Nathalie and East Lire la suite »
Sunday Anna and I went to the Madone de Fenestre to climb the West Couloir (II, AD / 3, 300m) of Gélas (3143 m). The snow starts above 2300 m and after several weeks of rather warm weather, the snow is pretty hard. The conditions in the West Couloir were rather good in the first …
Today I went back to the Madone de Fenestre to climb the Couloir Délaissé (300m, 45-50° max) in the Southwest face of Mont Ponset (2828 m). The conditions in the Couloir were not too bad but with the current temperature the snow won’t last long. Then I climbed down the Southeast face and since it …
After the snow fall of last week, I was excited to start a new ski touring season. The snow starts at 2200m so I decided to go at Madone de Fenestre and climb the Gélas (3143 m). The conditions were not so good when I started ; very strong wind and frozen snow. I skied …
After almost two months spent in Nepal for the Kangchenjunga expedition, I was really excited to run again. Earlier this week I resumed the interval training and Sunday we went to the Vesubie valley for a short and very pleasant Trail. There are only 1250 m of ascent, mostly on gentle slopes and the trail …
Trail: Suquet – Col de la Porte – Peira Cava Lire la suite »
If you are looking for a technical Trail with lots of ascents and descents, there are mainy choices within one hour drive from Nice. Sunday I made one that is a perfect training and test for an Ultra endurance race. It crossed 3 valleys: Vésubie, Tinée and Paillon, 5 passes (Cols) for a total of …
Trail: St Jean la Riviere – La Tour – L’Engarvin Lire la suite »