Mountain Lifestyle

The Mountain Lifestyle Blog

  • Starting Pitches…

    Starting Pitches…

    A rather disjointed day! We managed to climb quite a few pitches of rock, but didn’t top out on a single route! Sometimes that’s the way it goes… After an early start, we were clipping the first bolts at around 07:30am. We thought we’d be climbing in the shade, but as our climb was on… Read more

  • Refuge des Bans (2083m)

    Refuge des Bans (2083m)

    Last summer, some huge floods and landslides caused all sorts of chaos in this alpine region and today we saw some of the devistation first hand on the walk up to the Refuge des Bans. For a start, the road to the car park was still closed to traffic. This could have put an end… Read more

  • Mossy Multi-Pitch Climbing

    Mossy Multi-Pitch Climbing

    We set out to climb a ‘new route’ in the valley today, only to find that it was a bit too new and still covered in moss and pine needles! Also, although the topo made it look pretty good, the climbing was mediocre and disjointed, so although it was a nice journey up the hillside,… Read more

  • La Blanche (2953m)

    La Blanche (2953m)

    You can see the peak of La Blanche, from the terrace outside our front door, where I’m writing this, so thought we ought to try and climb it. Rather helpfully, the nearby chairlift gives a good head start and for 13 euros this time, we got quickly wisked up to 2200m. We had initially planned… Read more

  • Ailefroide Gorge Via Ferrata

    Ailefroide Gorge Via Ferrata

    Just a few minutes from our chalet are a couple of very popular ‘Via Ferrata’ routes that wind their way though some stunning terrain in the Gorge d’Ailfroide. Having made one aborted attempt, (we retreated after finding a long long line a people ahead of us!), we returned early on Sunday morning to a bid… Read more

  • Climbing at Gramuson

    Climbing at Gramuson

    We decided to have a semi-rest / semi-active day today, starting with a nice stroll down to the bakers for some fresh croissants as a late breakfast. What a commute to have… Later in the day we went for a bit of an ‘explore’ to see what the climbing was like on our local crag.… Read more

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