The weather in Norway looked poor, France looked better, but Scotland turned out best. That was about the long and the short of it. However, we had an awesome trip back home to Scotland for Christmas, reconnecting to fiends and family and then off to Briancon, to mixed conditions of cold, snow, ice and some rain. I guess that is the Alps in winter these days.
Our trip to Briancon this time was last minute and at New Year, which meant one thing. Expensive and poor quality accommodation. Indeed, by the end of the first night the bed was broken. Still enthused we headed off to Ceillac to climb the ultra-classic Y Gully, which this year was in great condition, but the dry autumn had clearly impacted the way it formed. A low stress day was spent on the moderately angled ice, albeit with a step or two.
We then headed to La Grave for some road-side ice at the Grand Tunnel Les Clots. This was quite an urban experience and the expected short steep pitch to bolt belays quickly turned into poor communication, unconsolidated snow and a dodgy belay on a dead tree. A short abseil saw us back on the road, then some idiot when ass up in the carpark onto his shoulder.
Snow and warmer weather had us walking for a few days and we eventually happened on the beautiful Thanon Falls near Cervieres, on the Izoard Road. A really stunning spot, although we got stopped after two pitches. Minor excitement was caused by the leader trying to boulder up a rock wall and landing in the snow. The high point of this day was putting Mandy on the lead for the bottom ice-fall, which was a great experience, albeit over all too quickly.
A couple of trips to Fressinieres Valley saw much walking and little climbing, due to warmer temps. This really is one of the most beautiful valleys in France and an absolute pleasure to be in under any circumstance.
Our final day climbing was back at Ceillac on the famous Easy Rider. A quick race saw us ahead of the guided party and the route went in one very long pitch to ice belay. It is usually split in two. I thankfully ran out of rope at a good piece of ice, with one screw and a piece of cord for the belay. Mandy did an awesome job of leading us up steep snow to a tree belay, which quickly became and pee and tea belay.
Our last day was quite dreak, so we headed over to Vallouise for some nordic skiing in the forest. Having only done this once 30 years earlier, it took a bit of getting back into. However, we were soon moving and the downhill was surprisingly good fun. Back to the car and soaked, necessitated both pizza and crepes for lunch.
All in all an awesome trip, with further exploration of this most beautiful part of France.
